PEARLS OF PAUL
FRUIT OF THE SPIRIT – SELF-CONTROL
DR. JIM DIXON
GALATIANS 5:16-23
JUNE 18, 2000
On December 5, 1933, the Twenty-First Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, bringing the era of Prohibition to an end. Prohibition had lasted for 14 years, and it had been a dismal failure. Crime had proliferated in America during the Prohibition period what with rumrunners and racketeers and bootleggers. Crime had increased almost exponentially. So, on December 5, 1933, Prohibition came to an end. President Herbert Hoover addressed the nation. He said Prohibition had been a grand experiment, noble in its intent but tragic in its effect. He said the solution for alcoholism in America is not government control. He said the solution for alcoholism in America is self-control. Now, obviously alcoholism is very complex, both in its causes and in its remedies. Perhaps President Herbert Hoover was overly simplistic in his statement, but I think we would all agree on this that we are a nation desperately in need of self-control.
This morning, I want us briefly to examine three areas where we desperately need self-control. The first area concerns our physical health, concerns diet and nutrition. We would be gravely mistaken if we thought that God was not concerned with our health. God is very much concerned with your health and with mine. He is very much concerned with your diet and with mine and with the way we treat our physical bodies.
Years ago in New York City, a man was brought into the Metropolitan Hospital for emergency surgery. This man was obese, and he had a large mass in his abdominal area. When they opened him up, they were amazed to find three hundred pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, and subway tokens. They found spoons, knives and forks and car keys. They found more than 500 metal objects all assembled into a mass. This man had truly been an omnivore, consuming anything and everything. When they had performed the surgery and the man came out of recovery, they asked him “Why?” And he said he had no rational explanation. We can understand that. Incredibly, this man had received no damage to his intestines, to his stomach, to his esophagus, or his mouth. Apparently all of his damage was a little higher up. He had a damaged control center. He was out of control. In a tragic and exaggerated way, he’s symptomatic of this nation because, to some degree, in some measure, this nation is out of control. Certainly, in our eating habits, as a nation, we are out of control.
Studies, countless studies, reveal that we are one of the most obese nations on the earth. On a per capita basis, we consume more fat than any other nation or people group in the world. This past week’s USA Today, in the cover story of the Life Section, there was an article describing Americans as couch potatoes, eating more and more fast food and yet reading more and more books on diet and exercise. Of course, this is risky behavior. It’s risky behavior because it can lead to heart disease, and it can lead to cancer. It can lead to arteriosclerosis. It can lead to stroke. It can lead to diabetes, to a multiplicity of maladies. God is concerned.
Now, in the Old Testament, we have the Levitical dietary laws. The Levitical dietary laws were in part ceremonial, but they also reflect, to some degree, God’s concern with our health and with our nutrition. In the New Testament, the Levitical dietary laws are repealed in the name of grace and freedom, but we are warned not to pervert liberty to license. We are reminded in the New Testament that, as Christians, our bodies have become temples. As Christians, our bodies have become dwelling places of God through the person of the Holy Spirit, and we are to treat our bodies properly. We’re also warned in the New Testament with regard to gluttony. The Greek word for gluttonous in the Bible is the word “phagos” and the word for glutton for the Bible is “gaster.” These words refer to overindulgence or overeating, and they are condemned in scripture.
This is Father’s Day. My father died four and a half years ago at the age of 81. I was blessed to have a very good father, a man who loved Christ and served the church of Christ, a tremendous provider for our family. He loved our family and would have done anything for us. Like my brothers, I miss him very much. My father loved food. He loved to eat. He also loved to see his boys eat. He loved to see us eat. My dad’s idea of a great restaurant was an all-you-could-eat place. When we were young, he would often take us to an all-you-could-eat place. I remember when we filled our plate just heaping full, Dad laughed. He loved that. When we went back and filled it again, he laughed some more because he loved that. If we went back for thirds, he loved that too. I think part of that was economic because he felt he was really getting a good deal. He loved to see us eat, and he would joke about us having hollow legs. I mean he loved to see us eat.
My mom, who is 87 years old and lives in California, is doing great. My mom grew up in Missouri on a farm. My mom is an awesome cook. She bakes great cobblers and great pies, and she bakes tremendous cookies. I think it’s safe to say, as we were growing up, food was kind of celebratory. In the Bible, there are many places where we see food portrayed as celebratory. I think it’s safe to say that in the Dixon home we treat food as fairly celebratory, but I am learning that we need to practice moderation, and that takes self-control. I don’t always do the best, and I’m working on it.
Yesterday, Drew came home. Our son graduated from college. He came home yesterday. Barb baked cookies to give to Drew. It’s a family recipe for chocolate chip cookies that my mom used to bake (and my grandmother). It’s a multi-generational deal. These are really good cookies. They’re chocolate chip with walnuts. They’ve got oatmeal and lots of butter, and they really go down well with milk. So, Drew came home yesterday. Barb had made the cookies. The only problem was she made them too early. You see, she baked them on Monday. These cookies are particularly good when they’re refrigerated or frozen. They just seem to taste all the better. Well, she put two big bags of cookies in there… Drew is just looking over at Barb because he only saw one bag. The reason Drew only saw one bag was because I was there, and I ate the other bag earlier in the week.
I think for all of us, we are in a country and culture where food is constantly before us. We need to exercise better self-control. We need to exercise a little more moderation, knowing that God is concerned with our health.
We honored grandparents this morning, dads and granddads. I’m sure that all of the men in this room want to live to be a grandfather, or maybe you want to live to be a great-grandfather. You want to live to enjoy your grandchildren, and you want to live to enjoy your great-grandchildren. Of course, this is not entirely in our hands. God is sovereign, but He doesn’t want to see us committing slow suicide through the abuse of our bodies and the abuse of our diet. So, self-control in the area of health.
The second area that I wanted us to look at briefly concerns gossip and slander and the use of the tongue. You all go to the supermarket, and you know how it is when you get into the line to pay for your groceries. You can see the tabloids. There used to be just one tabloid. Now there are two, three, four, five different types of tabloids, and they’re all built on gossip. Gossip and slander have become, in this nation, a multi-billion-dollar business. As Christians, we are warned in the Bible about the misuse of the tongue and participating in gossip and participating in slander.
In the book of James, the Bible says, “We all make many mistakes. If anyone makes no mistakes in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to bridle the whole body as well. If we put bits in the mouths of horses that we may control them, we guide their whole body. Look also at the ships. Though they are so great and driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. The tongue also is a little member which boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by a small fire, and the tongue is a fire, an unrighteous world amongst our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the cycle of nature and set on fire by hell. For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind, but no human being can tame the tongue, a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our God and Father and with it we curse men who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. Brothers and Sisters, it ought not to be so. Can a spring pour forth from the same opening both fresh water and brackish? Can a fig tree, Brothers and Sisters, yield olives or a grapevine fig? No more can freshwater yield salt. Who is wise and understanding amongst you? By your good life, show forth your works in the meekness of wisdom.”
So, here’s a warning to us as Christians regarding the misuse of the tongue, which can be a deadly poison. And it’s a little member which boasts of great things and can cause great damage. The word gossip comes from an old English word “godsibb.” It was originally “god-sibling, god-relative,” but it was shortened to “godsibb,” and it was used to refer to godparents in the old English. Most godparents were distant relatives. When they came in for the christening of their godchildren, it was a time to catch up on old news. It was a time for small talk and exchange of information, so godsibb began to be associated with this “catching up on information and new relating to the relatives and small talk.” Then as the word evolved, its etymology developed, and the word godsibb, or gossip, began to refer to rumors and malicious information. The Bible warns us as Christians, as followers of Jesus Christ, do not participate in rumors. Do not share malicious information. Do not gossip. Do not slander. We are warned, and in the Bible it is called sin.
I know most of you have seen a starfish. Starfish are animals that live in the sea. They have, most starfish, five pointed appendages. There are varieties of starfish that have as many as forty pointed appendages. You know how it is with a starfish. You can cut off one of those appendages, and it will grow back. You can take a five-pointed starfish and you can cut off all five points, and all five will grow back. You can take one of those forty-pointed starfish, and you can take all forty, cut them off, and all forty will grow back. You can take a starfish and you can cut it in half, two halves, and both halves will grow back into a whole.
It’s an amazing animal, but people aren’t like that. Human beings aren’t like that. We’re not like that physically to be sure, but we’re not like that emotionally either. When we’re damaged, it can take a long time to heal. When people slander you, when people share malicious gossip about you, when people share rumors about you, it can wound you and hurt you, and you do not readily heal. As Christians, we are called to caution.
The University of Indiana just recently completed a 3-year study on gossip, the Sociology Department at the University of Indiana. They decided that gossip takes more than one person. That’s a brilliant conclusion, but what they were really pointing out is that it takes two people in compliance. If people are always gossiping around you, that tells you something about yourself. When somebody begins, they found, with a negative comment about somebody, maybe something like “She’s a snob,” how you respond to that is what determines whether or not gossip will ensue. If you say, “She sure is,” gossip will flow. If, on the other hand, you say something nice about that person, usually that’s the end of it. That’s what they concluded in this study at the University of Indiana.
Well, Christ has called us to use our tongues to bless people, use our words to bless and not to curse, to build up and not to tear down. So, we need to begin to exercise self-control, the ninth fruit of the Holy Spirit, and we need to begin today. So, we need to resolve this day that we’re going to change the way we talk about people.
There’s a third and final area that I wanted us to mention with regard to this subject of self-control, and that is the area of sexual behavior. I heard a joke recently about a young man who was very rich. He bought a Ferrari GTO, brand new. He took it from the car dealership. He was so excited as he was in this new Ferrari GTO. He pulled out of the car dealership and drove up to an intersection. He stopped at a red light, feeling very proud of his car. Right next to him, an elderly man came up to him on a Moped. The elderly man looked over at this Ferrari GTO, and he said to the young man, “What kind of car is that?” The young man said, “It’s a Ferrari GTO. I just spent over $500,000 on this car.” The elderly man said,” Well, why does it cost so much?” The young man said, “Well, this car will go more than 230 miles an hour.” The elderly man said, “Well, can I take a look inside?” The young man said, “Sure.” The older man took a look inside the car, and he said, “Wow! This sure is a nice car.’’
The older guy got back on his Moped. The younger guy, as the light turned green, decided to really put on a show. He was going to show this older man how fast this Ferrari GTO was. When the light turned green, he hit the accelerator. In 30 seconds, the Ferrari was going 160 miles an hour. This man looked in his rear-view mirror, and he was stunned to see this dot way behind him racing towards him, getting closer and closer. He thought, “How could something be faster than my Ferrari?” Well, the younger man brought his Ferrari to a stop, and the dot just shot by him so fast It was a blur. He couldn’t make it out. He sat there just amazed. Then as he looked out the front window, he saw this dot coming back towards him now, still racing fast, and he realized it was the old man on the Moped.
He was just shocked. How could a Moped go faster than a Ferrari? As he was contemplating this, he then looked in his rearview mirror and he saw the dot coming toward him again. The older guy was racing up behind him again on the Moped. This time he just crashed the Moped right into the back of the Ferrari. The older man fell onto the ground. The young guy got out of the car. He went up to the older guy and he said, “Are you okay? Is there anything I can do for you?” The old guy managed to say, “Could you release my suspenders from your sideview mirror?”
It’s just a dumb story, but it is true we have to be careful what we attach ourselves to. If you attach to the wrong thing, you can be in a whole lot of trouble. If you’re attached to the wrong thing, it can be very, very dangerous, and that’s true of pornography. Pornography is a dangerous thing to attach yourself to, and it’s a huge problem in this nation. It, too, is a multibillion-dollar business, and it is growing.
Pornography has gone from magazines and movies to videos and now the internet. The number of people in the United States of America addicted to pornography is increasing almost exponentially, and it is a scary aspect of our culture. Pornography is ruining marriages, and it is damaging souls. People are addicted and can’t get free. If you’re a Christian and you believe in Jesus Christ and you’re struggling with pornography, you need to get help. You might need counseling. You might need an accountability group. You might need to change your environment and distance yourself from temptation. You certainly need to spend much more time with Jesus in devotions, in the word and in prayer. Self-control is not easily arrived at, and we are a nation with very little self-control, particularly as it relates to sexual behavior.
I want to tell you a story about a woman who, just seven years ago (it’s a true story) in Washington, D.C. was a driving her car. She had her infant child in the infant seat in the car with her. She came up to an intersection, stopped at the red light, and two young men came up to the window with guns. They told her to get out of the car, but she refused because her baby was in there. They grabbed her right there at the intersection, threw her out of the car, jumped in and started to drive off. She didn’t have time to think. She only knew her baby was in the car, so she grabbed hold of the handle of the car. She hung on as they hit the accelerator and took off.
They could see, these two young men, and began to realize the mom was holding onto the car. They tried to scrape her off by driving the car close to buildings and to other cars by the side of the road, but this mom knew her child was in the car, and she was ready to die. And so, these two young men could see they weren’t going to get rid of her so easily. They took the baby out of the infant seat and just threw the baby out the window. Then the mom let go. She let go, but it was then she realized her clothes had been caught in the door, and the car began to drag her. It dragged her for a mile and a half until she died. Miraculously, that baby lived, but the story was carried from the Atlantic to the Pacific, and the nation was shocked. You might remember reading that story seven years ago. It was in the Denver Post and in the Rocky Mountain News.
Subsequent investigation revealed that these two boys, these two young men, had been born out of wedlock, and they had never had a dad. They were born out of wedlock and never had a dad at home. Further investigation revealed that these two boys didn’t have a single friend who had not been born out of wedlock. All of their friends that they hung with were all born out of wedlock, and none of the friends had ever grown up with a dad at home.
I have here a book called “The Index of Leading Cultural Indicators: American Society at the End of the Twentieth Century” by William Bennett. This book reveals that in 1960, only 5% of the births in the United States of America were out of wedlock births. Only 5%. Today, more than 33% of the babies born in this nation are born out of wedlock. The odds are most of those kids are going to grow up without a dad. In the African American community in 1960, 10.2% of the births were out of wedlock, but today, 69.3%. This isn’t an African American problem. This is a people problem. It’s all of our problem. It’s a problem of our culture. It’s a problem of our nation.
The argument years ago was, by many pro-abortionists, that abortion would lower the number of out-of-wedlock births. Of course, that is a tragic argument for abortion, but that was the argument. Of course, the argument for the proliferation of sex education in the public schools and for the education of America’s youth with regard to the use of condoms, the argument again was that this would lower the number of out-of-wedlock births. But you can see it has not happened since the passing of Roe v. Wade in 1973. In 1973, out-of-wedlock births in America was 11.2%. Today, it’s over 33%. It isn’t working because we are a nation desperately in need of morality and desperately in need of self-control.
But in this nation, this is true of so many areas of our thought and behavior. We don’t exhibit self-control, and if we have morality, we don’t practice it. So, we struggle with our physical health and our diet and exercise. We struggle with slander and gossip and the abuse of the tongue. We struggle with our sexual behavior. We struggle with temper, anger—or maybe we don’t struggle because we don’t even bother with self-control. But as Christians, as Christians we are called to righteousness. And as Christians, we’re called to holiness. We have this ninth fruit of the Holy Spirit, self-control, and it is a fruit of the Holy Spirit.
As Christians, we have a provision that other people don’t have, and if we would spend time every day with Jesus Christ, time in His Word, time in prayer, if we would have vital devotional lives, and if we would truly remember to fellowship with other Christians, pray for each other and encourage each other, we’d see this fruit of the Holy Spirit because it comes from the Spirit of God. We would see a special endowment of self-control begin to fill our lives and affect our behaviors. I’m not saying it isn’t going to take work. Even with this endowment of the Holy Spirit, we need to work, and it takes effort.
The Apostle Paul, in 1 Corinthians, chapter 9, in that passage on self-control, says, “Do you not know that in a race, all the runners compete but only one receives the prize? Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do this to obtain a perishable prize, but we, an imperishable. I do not run aimlessly. I do not box as one beating the air, but I discipline my body and subdue it, lest after preaching to others, I myself shall be disqualified.”
Now, in that little passage in 1 Corinthians 9 on self-control, Paul uses some really important little Greek words. He uses the word “agonizomai” from which we get the English word agony. Self-control requires a certain amount of agony. He uses the word “hupopiazo” which means, “to give a black eye” or “to beat up.” Paul is saying that self-control is almost like beating yourself up, like giving yourself a black eye. He uses the word “doulogogio” which means, “to force into slavery.” He said, “Self-control is like forcing your body into slavery.” “I pummel my body and subdue it,” he said. These are strong words indicating that you can’t get around the fact there’s effort.
In 2 Peter, chapter 1, the Apostle Peter writes, “Make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control.” The word for effort there is the Greek word “spoudazo” which means “to strain.” Even though this is a fruit of the Holy Spirit and an endowment that is given as we fellowship with Jesus and spend gobs of time with Him every day, it needs to be coupled with effort. It needs to be combined with effort. The question is, “Do you hunger and thirst after righteousness?” How much do we hunger and thirst after righteousness? Let’s look to the Lord with a word of prayer.