Written by Dan

It has been my observation – Paul tells us of the great race we are all engaged in, he often reminds us that every person who is involved in this competition needs to exercise self-control in all our thoughts and actions. We all know that in a human operated Tucson 10K Foot Race, the winner gets a medal. For us Christians, participating in the race that Paul speaks of, the prize is unique – it is imperishable. So then comes the question – what kind of things transition me into a top performer? Perhaps a better question is – what things will cause me to be the most useful to God’s mission here on earth? In a word – the answer is self-control.

In Galatians 5:22 we learn this discipline of self-control is a fruit of the Holy Spirit. This transfers management of “self-control” from me to God’s Spirit. The spiritual power we gain from self-control happens when we respond to the word of God, knowing that greater joy will come through self-control, when we trust the Spirit of God to give us fortitude, and when we embrace God’s glory in his victory over our life. The mechanics of this action is simple — our will yields to his nudge both from his voice and from the scriptures. This is a demonstration of God in us working his plan (implied in Philippians 2:13).

Paul is telling us there are strong urges that we have to manage if we are going to move like a winner and graduate into the crown of righteousness. The urges we have to control are the impulses to do things that will weaken our zeal for God, our earnestness in prayer, our hunger for Scripture, our longing to love, our passion for holiness. How do we resist? We yield to Jesus. Consult often with the Holy Spirit about how to proceed.

Galatians 5:1-12 says — It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery. Mark my words. I, Paul, tell you that if you let yourselves be circumcised, Christ will be of no value to you at all. Again, I declare to every man who lets himself be circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law. You who are trying to be justified by the law have been alienated from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For through the Spirit, we eagerly await by faith the righteousness for which we hope. For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (NIV).

So, the mature Christian asks, what will improve my prayer life? What will draw me into God’s word? What will strengthen my compassion for others? What will help me grow? This is a call to order, a review of the impulses, habits, and practices of my life that interferes with my hunger for God. Paul brings up circumcision because it is a trip line in our race. People will work extremely hard to impose their definition of spiritual walk on you if you permit them to. They will spend a bunch of time wanting you to conform to their view, so they are comfortable their view is the right view. The larger the crowd believing a given point, the higher the probability the view is the correct view. Huh? This is a fallacy in logic. Think about this. How are laws built on public opinion working out for you?

The deeper truth – We start out in the race, confident, running a good pace. Then we are sidelined by some crazy teacher who throws up a little dust in the air and obscures our view of the goal with a new rule to follow – if we want to be ‘really spiritual’. I am convinced that kind of human objective followed by persuasion and distractions do not come from the Spirit of God. Any time you hear something new, take the time to dig through the word, looking for evidence that the message aligns with things the Holy Spirit has already stated. We are wise to avoid the ideas that pull you into confusion, whatever that may be, so we can avoid the trip wire (see Gal 5). Our self-control should focus us squarely on the things that matter.

I choose Jesus.