Fruitful and Thriving: God’s Vision For You

It’s last on the list of the fruit of the Spirit and, some would say, the hardest to grow. What would your life look like if you had more self-control? If you didn’t get snarky with your husband or yell at the kids or eat that last cookie?

Who would you be? What difference would it make in your life and relationships?

Parameters on Our Lives

It takes extra effort to set parameters in our lives, to say no instead of yes, to choose this instead of that, and to hold our tongues instead of spouting the things that hurt and harm.

Unless we have a vision of what’s possible, it can be hard to add self-control to our list of living a God-honoring life. The good news is that if we are Christ’s, then in Him we live and move and have our being (Acts 17:28). In Him, all things are possible!

It takes effort, but He offers a beautiful promise of who you can become if you exercise self-control. Look at this verse in 2 Peter:

“…add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control… For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5, 8 NKJV).

Fruit Bearers

God has called you to thrive in this life. He’s called you to produce the fruit of the Spirit—love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

Self-control helps us consider the consequences before we let our “self” dictate how we interact with the world. While the rest of the world may be greedy and grumpy, God has called you to bring life and joy.

In ourselves, we spout off to our boss, say whatever pops into our mind, and eat the bag of cookies with no regard for the consequences. We may feel bad afterward and even apologize, but what if we could circumvent our unbridled tongues and uncontrolled selves to choose God’s way?

What if we could become the fruit-bearing, life-giving person He envisions?

It Begins With Hope

It all begins with hope. Hope fuels us to put in the extra effort to cultivate self-control.

“…we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1 John 3:2-3).

We shall be like Him! You don’t have to be your old snarky self. Grasp the vision of the fruit-bearing person God has promised and let that fuel your heart to cultivate self-control.

What Self-Control Looks Like

What does self-control look like? Too often, we immediately apply it to our diet or exercise program, but it begins with controlling your thoughts, not letting your mind go down dangerous pathways, not listening to the voice in your head that reminds you of your past or tempts you to do or say something because “it doesn’t really matter.”

Self-control is submitting yourself to the Holy Spirit’s control instead of saying—doing—and thinking what you want.

Before you speak, pause. Listen to the Spirit of God. Let Him calm you, let Him give you wisdom, let Him temper your speech with kindness or gentleness.

Before you act, pause. Listen to the Spirit of God. Let Him guide you into the actions that bear fruit for His Kingdom. Let Him lead you in ways that help you thrive in this life.

Before you listen to the voice in your head, pause and consider: Is this the voice of truth? Is this the Holy Spirit leading me, or is this the enemy of my soul trying to lead me astray?

Exercising self-control may be hard at first, but over time, it will become a way of life, a way of living and loving others. The fruit will follow!

“You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit…” (John 15:16).