In a world that pushes us to “follow your heart” and “do what makes you happy,” how are we supposed to live lives that are honoring to the Lord?
Self-control is something that is discouraged by society and the world around us. As humans, our flesh wants to satisfy itself and not control our desires for God’s glory. Society feeds us the lie that we should chase after our lusts and passions.
Christ directly contradicts this lie in Matthew 16:24. It says: “Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.”
Oxford Languages defines “deny” as, “refrain from satisfying oneself.” When we try to satisfy ourselves with the sinful desires of our flesh, we will never be truly satisfied. Only Christ and the freedom we can have in giving him control will quench our thirst for satisfaction.
If we go all the way back to the Old Testament, we see laws that God put in place for the Israelites to follow. God was not being dictatorial; instead he was protecting his people from the dangers of the world.
He told the Isrealites not to eat pork because it was unclean and could contain harmful bacteria. Even today, the things that God asks of us are for our own protection. We are called in Colossians 3:5 to, “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.” The repercussions of any of these actions listed in the verse above are detrimental to us. God, with that in mind, calls us to live controlled lives for our own benefit.
Ultimately, we are called to live self-controlled lives in order to glorify God. We are not very successful witnesses of the Lord if we consistently give into the cravings of our sinful nature. We are living double lives and unbelievers will definitely take notice of this. We have to practice what we are preaching.
We must live out proof of our salvation so that others may see the fruit of Christ’s sacrifice in us! When we instead deny our temporary desires and allow Christ’s precepts to control us, we will truly be satisfied.
