A man without self-control
is like a city broken into and
left without walls.
Proverb 25:28
is like a city broken into and
left without walls.
Proverb 25:28
This one caught my eye a few months ago, but I'd forgotten about it already. Basic Idea: Without self-control you have no way to protect yourself. Any temptation has full access.
When I was younger I always thought self-control was something I just needed to get. Like some people have it and some don't. I wasn't sure where one got this "self-control" but I wanted it. There were things in my life and in my head that I didn't want to do, think, say or eat.
Now I know a little more. The first tactic for achieving self-control? Letting my pure frustration and/or disgust cry out to HaShem. Over and over and over again. He can take it.
The second? Let Him do it.
The third? Make a choice, and be willing to get up anytime you fall and be willing to make that choice again.
Self-control is resisting temptation. A speaker once recounted how a man had asked this question: "How can Jesus understand my struggles when He was perfect?" The speakers response? "He was sinless, but that doesn't mean He wasn't tempted. Who would you rather lean on: Someone who has fallen into temptation or someone who had the strength to to resist the devil?
Yeshua (Jesus) is tempted:
(B)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1
He calls on God's word [and Yeshua is the Word] to resist temptation:
Submit yourselves therefore to God.
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
When I was younger I always thought self-control was something I just needed to get. Like some people have it and some don't. I wasn't sure where one got this "self-control" but I wanted it. There were things in my life and in my head that I didn't want to do, think, say or eat.
Now I know a little more. The first tactic for achieving self-control? Letting my pure frustration and/or disgust cry out to HaShem. Over and over and over again. He can take it.
The second? Let Him do it.
The third? Make a choice, and be willing to get up anytime you fall and be willing to make that choice again.
Self-control is resisting temptation. A speaker once recounted how a man had asked this question: "How can Jesus understand my struggles when He was perfect?" The speakers response? "He was sinless, but that doesn't mean He wasn't tempted. Who would you rather lean on: Someone who has fallen into temptation or someone who had the strength to to resist the devil?
Yeshua (Jesus) is tempted:
(B)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness
to be tempted by the devil.
Matthew 4:1
He calls on God's word [and Yeshua is the Word] to resist temptation:
But he answered, (H) "It is written,
(I) "'Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word
that comes from the mouth of God.'"
Matthew 4:4
He actively chooses to push the very tempter away:
"Be gone,(Q) Satan! For(R) it is written,
(S) "'You shall worship the Lord your God
(T) and him only shall you serve.'"
Matthew 4:10
Which brings us back to hiding His word in our heart, hence my study of Proverbs:
that comes from the mouth of God.'"
(T) and him only shall you serve.'"
Matthew 4:10
Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.
James 4:7
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