When you don't control your appetites for food, sex, money or anything else, they begin to control you. Christ can give you the power you need to master them.
Here are some ways you can strive to be more self-controlled:
- Confess ways in which your appetites have been spinning out of control. Be honest and trust God to deal lovingly and effectively with the issues.
- Pray for the Holy Spirit to transform every aspect of your life. Ask for strength for the specific ways you need help controlling problem areas.
- Seek to discover God’s desires for your life, and ask God to make those desires yours as well as His. Surrender any of your own desires that don’t align with God’s desires for you. Know that following God’s will leads to a joyful life, not a gloomy, austere one.
- Remember that God knows what’s best for you, and consider all the benefits of controlling your appetites in ways He intends (for example, greater physical fitness if you don’t overeat).
- Be careful how you speak, making sure that your words encourage others rather than hurting them. Try to listen actively to others and carefully consider what they say.
- Commit to sexual purity and set clear boundaries to follow. Ask a trusted friend to help you be accountable.
- Ask God to show you how He would like you to be a better steward of your resources – time, money, energy, attention, etc. Then devise a plan for doing so.
- Make God your top priority in life. If anything or anyone is a higher priority to you than God, rearrange your priorities to give God His rightful place and ask Him to renew you through His Spirit.
Adapted from Self-control: Mastering Our Passions from the Fruit of the Spirit Bible Studies, copyright 2001 by Jack Kuhatschek. Published by Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mich., www.BibleStudyGuides.com, 1-800-727-3480.
Jack Kuhatschek is an executive editor for Zondervan and the author of several books and Bible study guides.
