Practice Makes Perfect - Self-Control
I deal with men all the time who are struggling with life at every turn but who think that they have everything under control. They need God but they think that they know everything and they freak out as soon as self-control is mentioned. Why is that?
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Practice Makes Perfect - Self-Control
2 Peter 1:6
“...and in your knowledge, self-control...”
In the tiny New Testament book of 2 Peter, we learn what it means to have a fulfilling, meaningful life. It centers around having faith in God.
Having learned the importance of faith and moral excellence, Peter tells us to pursue knowledge. But, knowledge by itself is not an end. Knowledge is just a piece of the puzzle of a godly life. With knowledge we need self-control.
Knowledge by itself can make us prideful and arrogant. When those two elements are present people are prone to turning their backs on God and abandoning their faith.
In the book of Acts, the Apostle Paul was spreading the Word of God all over the Roman Empire. He had reached many towns and even some important officials. One of those was the Roman Governor Felix.
Felix was a relative of Emperor Claudius and he had plenty of knowledge. He loved listening to Paul talk. Paul made sense and he was a brilliant mind. Then the unthinkable happened. Paul talked about self-control.
In Acts 24:25, when Paul started to preach about self-control, Felix freaked out and sent him away.
Felix had knowledge but he was unscrupulous and corrupt. Self-control was a threat to his lifestyle and his passions.
Men don’t like that. I deal with men all the time who are struggling with life at every turn but who think that they have everything under control. They need God but they think that they know everything and they freak out as soon as self-control is mentioned. Why is that?
It is because they know the truth. They know that their lives are a mess and they need to change but they don’t want to. They are comfortable with their mess. They will do anything else but give up their bondage to their passions.
The Christian knows this message all too well. For us, we cannot come to Christ until we surrender our own passions to Him and allow Him to change our hearts.
For some it is the hardest thing they will ever do. But, when it is done, they will never look back. They have used their knowledge to purchase a new future and have buried a dead past.
