DAY #13 - “Get a Grip"

2 Peter 1:5-6 says, “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge;  And to knowledge temperance…”

Any professional athlete, any doctor of medicine, or any accomplished musician knows the value of self-discipline. The word temperance in this passage is describing one having “SELF-CONTROL.”  For the Christian, self-control comes from submission to the control of the indwelling Spirit of God. 

Peter forthrightly notes the necessity for the believer to restrain his sinful impulses and wayward thoughts which halts any spiritual progress. Without having self-control our lives will fall into self-destruction. We are surrounded by such an unbridled society that it has affected and infected the church.  Today, it is kosher to say what you feel like saying, do what you feel like doing, dress how you feel like dressing without any sense of recourse from God. 

Do we not understand the danger of allowing our flesh to execute its evil in our lives?  I remember reading Jim Berg’s book years ago called “Changed into His Image.” I was convicted by a statement that he made in that book. He said, “That our flesh is a clone of Satan’s own nature, “ and furthermore, “If  God wanted to judge us, all He would have to do is turn us over to our own selves.”  Wow!  The thought that my flesh is so evil that if I give myself to it in an unbridled fashion, it will drag me to the most awful places.

Paul wrote to the church in Corinth about this same subject.  He said, “But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection:lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway.”  If we are ever going to touch the next generation for the glory of God, we must add SELF-CONTROL to our knowledge, virtue, and faith.

Get a grip on the following areas and God will use you to change the future of the next generation: 

• GET A GRIP ON YOUR THOUGHTS (2 Corinthians 10:5)
• GET A GRIP ON YOUR WORDS (Psalm 19:14)
• GET A GRIP ON YOU ACTIONS (Philippians 4:9)

GOD’S MAN CHALLENGE:
Get a Grip - your kids need you to live with self-control!

GOD’S MAN PRAYER:
Lord, help me have the self-control to get a grip on those areas of my life that are not pleasing to you. Amen