Self Control

Growth in the Spirit PART V
Rev Michael Keller
10 August 2014

1 Corinthians 9:23-27
23I do all this for the sake of the gospel, that I may share in it's blessings.  24Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize?  Run in such a way as to get the prize.  25Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training.  They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we doe it to get a crown that will last forever.  26Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.  27No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize.

Genesis 3:1-6
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made.  He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"

2The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.'"

4"You will not certainly die," the serpent said to the woman.  5"For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be open, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."

6When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for granting wisdom, she took some and ate it.  She also gave some to her husband, who was wit her and ate it.

Lack of self control is doing something that we want to stop doing but can't, for some reason.
Western society--happiness comes from the pursuit of self interest.
v.25 Self control requires strict training.

SAYING NO TO SAY YES
--Difficulty of us saying no comes from disordered and false beliefs.
--Our hearts don't serve God at face value.
--Serpent questions God's goodness.
--Say no to the lie beneath the behavior (no to greed, no to lust....)

SAYING YES TO SAY NO
--We can rationalize anything.
--Orient towards God will put other "loves" in check.

WHERE DO YOU GET THE ABILITY AND POWER
--Career success helps order things like laziness and productivity.
--When it breaks down, so do the other problems surface.
--Hebrews 12:1-3 - Reorient towards Jesus