A Wall you don't want Torn Down!

“They have some major walls up!” We’ve all heard that phrase and know it’s not a good thing to have walls up, but there is a wall God encourages us to keep in place. A wall He’s designed to protect us. Not walls of self-protection but walls of self-control. Proverbs 25:28 says, “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks self-control.” Self-control means to have restraint of oneself or one’s actions, feelings, or thoughts. Because its synonyms include words like constraint, discipline, refrain, and moderation it isn’t a word that most of us have fond feelings toward. Yet, God says without self-control in our lives we are like the ancient cities of old with broken down walls. When an ancient city had broken down walls, they were a sitting duck for their enemies. Having their walls broken down was an open invitation to invade. The goal of invasion was to bring destruction upon the city, to loot all that they could and to destroy the possessions the inhabitants held dear. It was a necessity in the days of old to have walls around what you valued so that it would not be attacked, even God’s temple had walls around it. As believers we are now the temples of the Holy Spirit and we also need to have walls of self-control in place to protect what’s inside.

“Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.” (1 Pet 5:8) When we are easily agitated and frustrated, when we indulge and are excessive or obsessive then we are acting in the opposite of self-control.   Is there an area of your life that you feel has an element of indulgence or is excessive? If I’m being honest I think there are seasons of life when our schedules are excessive. We are trying to do much with too little time. As much as we may not want to, in order to have some control over our schedule we need to say “no”. “The grace of God teaches us to say “no” to ungodliness…& to live self-controlled godly lives.” (Titus 2:12) We do realize that we have to tell ourselves, “No” sometimes don’t we? If we give into everything we have a whim or craving for then we get into the habit of self-indulgence always letting ourselves indulgent in whatever we want whether it is having another doughnut or letting someone really have it! Prov 29:11, says, “A fool gives full vent to his anger (like kicking down a portion of our wall) but a wise man keeps himself under control.” Where do you need to say, “No” right now? Remember self-control can mean to restrain one’s actions or thoughts. I also need to reign in some anxious thoughts I’m letting remain on my mental Ferris wheel of worry. I need to tell myself, “No” quit thinking on that same thing over and over, your worry isn’t solving anything. Here’s how Paul explains self-control looking in his life, “I have the right to do anything…but not everything is beneficial. I have the right to do anything-but:

I will not be mastered by anything

I will not be dominated by anything

I will not become slave to anything

I will not allow anything to gain control over my life.

I will not be brought under the power of anything.

( 1 Cor 6:12)

Here’s the good news that verse in Titus 2:12 said the “Grace of God” teaches me to say, “no”. I’m so happy it can be learned. Beyond that God says he empowers self-control in our lives. “For the Spirit, God has given us does not make us timid; instead, his spirit fills us with power, love and self-control” (2 Tim 1:7) Self-Control is a fruit of the Holy Sprit (Gal 5:22) and it can fill us with the self-control we need. In 1 Pet. 1:13 when we are told to, “Prepare our minds for action (because lets be honest so often that’s where the battle for self-control is fought & won); be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace given to you in Christ.” There it is again a secret to keeping our wall of self-control up and intact, “the grace of God”. When we meditate on the goodness of God’s grace & all He’s given us it helps us to say “no” to ourselves in areas that aren’t beneficial.

2016/04/22 at 3:59 pm