Remain in Self-Control
Dying to our flesh is a daily surrender.
We made it to the final post in this series on the fruit of the Spirit! It has been such a joy, and honestly a learning lesson for me each week, to dig into each fruit written in Galatians 5. These fruits are outward and inward works that we as believers are able to experience and extend to others because of what Jesus has done in our lives. They are the evidence of abiding in Christ, in his Word, and in his truth.
And I want to say this again as we close out: these fruits are not ones we pick and choose from. There is no “I only feel like showing this one today.” When the roots grow deep, and we are daily in His Word and seeking his face, these fruits naturally come. And others see it. And they want it too.
The final fruit mentioned in Galatians 5 is self-control. And friend, this is one I have to surrender to the Lord every single day.
A Daily Choice:
When we are born again, we read that we must pick up our cross daily and follow him (Matthew 16:24). This isn’t a multiple-choice question or an “if you feel like it” response. It’s a call to action. A clear, black-and-white command from Jesus. You have two options:
Option 1: Pick and choose what sounds good that day. Live your own life, do your own thing, whatever makes you happy. Listen to your heart and let it lead.
Option 2: Every morning, you wake up, give thanks to the Lord, pray and ask for fresh eyes and a renewed heart, deny your flesh, pick up your cross, and follow him.
I don’t know about you… but Option 2 is the life I want to live.
Is it easy? No.
Is it always worth it? Yes. Every single time.
Denying the things our flesh wants is hard. Our flesh wants things that can seem so good for us in the moment, but they can slowly kill us on the inside. And our flesh is sometimes so hard to overcome; we are weak individuals. But having the self-control to say “no” and to fall on your knees and ask Jesus for the strength only he can give is so humbling and so hard. But he can restore us. We don’t have to do any of this on our own. Thank you, God.
What Self-Control Really Is:
When you practice self-control, you’re really practicing obedience and selflessness. It’s a posture of the heart that says:
“God, this body is yours. Help me to see clearly what is truly good and what is not. Give me fresh eyes to see, fresh ears to hear, and a renewed heart to know when I need to turn the other way, for your glory and not my own.”
At its core, self-control isn’t really about us at all; it’s about him. It’s giving the glory back to God, because he’s the one who gives us the capacity for self-control to begin with. We wouldn’t even be able to practice this without Jesus going to the cross first.
And it’s worth noting: Titus 2:11-12 tells us that it is grace, not willpower, that teaches us to say no to ungodliness. Self-control isn’t white-knuckling it on your own. It’s grace producing something new in you.
So we practice self-control because Jesus exemplified it first. He is the model. He is the reason.
When Our Flesh Fails:
There are so many things that require self-control, and mine might look completely different than yours. I actually wrote one of my very first Substack posts about self-control because my flesh failed (I just haven’t actually hit “post” yet). And that’s life here on earth. We will continue to fall short, mess up, and stumble. But what matters is how we get back up and how we run the race afterward.
Things That Help Me
Pray for eyes to see. I ask the Lord regularly to reveal blind spots in my life, the areas I can’t see clearly on my own.
Turn the phone off. So much distraction lives on social media. Sometimes the most spiritual thing you can do is put it down and open your Bible instead.
Confess sin. I know.. it’s uncomfortable, messy, and icky. But I promise you, freedom is found on the other side of the thing you don’t want to tell anyone. The enemy wants to keep you stuck in silence. The Lord says there is freedom when we confess to our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Get in community. You can’t confess if you’re not around other believers. Get out of your house and into a church and a small group. You need people, and they need you.
Remember that your sin is already forgiven. You don’t need to live in shame when you fall short. Receive the grace. Move forward. Don’t pitch a tent in the place of your failure.
None of these works in isolation, by the way. They all point back to the same thing: staying rooted. When the roots go deep, the fruit grows. And that’s been the whole thread of this series.
I pray this series has blessed you and given you a deeper look at what it means to bear fruit as a believer. Not fruit we manufacture on our own, but fruit that grows naturally when we stay close to the vine and abide.
Let’s keep running this race well. Let’s keep watering where the Lord has planted us. Because from deep roots come deep fruits: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and yes, self-control.
Love,
Katie Jane 🤍
