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THE TWELVE LIFE RECOVERY GIFTS :: SELF-CONTROL

REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES OFFERS FOUR THEMES FOR CONTEMPLATION EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR.
EACH OF THE POWER-PACKED THEMES ARE A 12-MONTH STUDY SERIES ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH BEGINNING IN JANUARY. IN MONTHS WITH FIVE FRIDAYS I’LL BE REVIEWING TOUCHING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC. COME ALONG. LET’S LEARN SOME NEW THINGS TOGETHER!
For my addiction recovery work this year I’m going through The Twelve Gifts of Life Recovery by Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. On the third Friday of each month in 2021 I will be sharing the blessings God brings us to honor our choices and encourage our recovery journey.
This is the eighth post in the series. Today we are learning about the gift of self-control.

The gift of self-control is the ability to control our emotions, desires and actions especially during difficult situations.

When the Spirit of Christ empowers your life, you are not dominated by the flesh but by the Spirit. ~ Romans 8:9

When we give in to our weaknesses and system of addictions we are opening the door for the enemy to attack us and shutting the door to God’s protection over our life. This is very serious. God has called us to live in His kingdom not the kingdom of this world. We aren’t supposed to look like the other people or behave like other people.

As you yield to the dynamic life and power of the Holy Spirit, you will abandon the cravings of your self-life. When your self-life craves the things that offend the Holy Spirit you hinder him from living free within you! And the Holy Spirit’s intense cravings hinder your self-life from dominating you!  ~ Galatians 5:16-17

Self control isn’t something we have the power to create in ourselves. It’s a fruit of the Holy Spirit.  When we make a decision to walk in our addictions we aren’t walking in the Holy Spirit. We’re actually grieving or squelching the Holy Spirit when we give in to our areas of weakness. We are preventing the Holy Spirit from having full reign or room to live in us.

God abandoned them to do whatever shameful things their hearts desired. ~ Romans 1:24

If we continue giving in to our weaknesses God may eventually give us over to those fleshly desires and allow us to go down the dark spiral of death. Sure we might still make it to heaven. But we will have lost our witness and the opportunity to bring others with us.

The gift of self-control changes our orientation: Instead of seeking to accomplish our own will, we desire to understand God’s will for us. The more our desire to do God’s will overrules our own will the more our experience of self-control grows. It’s not our willpower that does it; it is God’s gift to us in our recovery. ~ The Life Recovery Bible

We sought through prayer and meditation to improve our conscious contact with God, praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry it out. ~ Step 11

Let’s protect ourselves, our life, our family, our future and our testimony by leaning in to God’s loving hands. He will be with us and protect us as we do.

Be blessed by this short teaching by Stephen Arterburn on The Gift of Self-Control.

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THE HOLY SPIRIT :: Fruit of Goodness & Kindness

REACHING HURTING WOMEN MINISTRIES OFFERS FOUR THEMES FOR CONTEMPLATION EVERY MONTH OF THE YEAR.
EACH OF THE FOUR POWER-PACKED THEMES ARE A 12-MONTH STUDY SERIES ASSIGNED TO A SPECIFIC FRIDAY OF EVERY MONTH. IN MONTHS WITH FIVE FRIDAYS I’LL BE REVIEWING TOUCHING INSPIRATIONAL MUSIC.
On the second  Friday of each month in 2021 we’re studying the Holy Spirit. We will learn who the Holy Spirit is, about His gifts and fruit given to us as believers and how to walk those out in our life each day. This is the eighth post in The Holy Spirit Study series.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! ~ Galatians 5:22-23

While the gifts of Holy Spirit are virtues, the fruit are the resulting moral actions that flow from those gifts. With the help of Holy Spirit we are able to walk in these fruit during our daily lives and display them to those around us. In today’s post we will focus on the fruit of goodness and kindness.

GOODNESS: excellence; moral virtue; expressing itself in deeds

KINDNESS:  goodness in action; hospitality; benevolence; charity

Living our life while operating in our fleshly, worldly nature, we represent the antithesis, or complete opposite, of the qualities of Christ which flow in and through us when the Holy Spirit has complete control of our life.

The behavior of the self-life is obvious: Sexual immorality, lustful thoughts, pornography, chasing after things instead of God, manipulating others, hatred of those who get in your way, senseless arguments, resentment when others are favored, temper tantrums, angry quarrels, only thinking of yourself, being in love with your own opinions, being envious of the blessings of others, murder, uncontrolled addictions, wild parties, and all other similar behavior. ~ Galatians 5:19-21

We don’t have to look very far to see examples of ungodly behavior in our culture today. Sadly, even among people who claim to follow Christ. God truly wants more and better for all of us. If we will only give him full reign in our life.

Scripture tells us it is the kindness of God that causes people to turn to Him.  Unfortunately, some people never experience kindness and goodness in their life. When we express the kindness and goodness of Christ in our lives, we are truly being the hands and feet of God to those around us.

You’re kind and tenderhearted to those who don’t deserve it and very patient with people who fail you. Your love is like a flooding river overflowing its banks with kindness. God, everyone sees your goodness, for your tender love is blended into everything you do. ~ Psalm 145:8-9

As a beneficial by-product of allowing Christ to have control of our lives, the Holy Spirit produces the beautiful character traits of Jesus in us, known as the fruit of The Holy Spirit.  We have no control over how we get them. We can’t obtain them on our own.

If we want them to grow in our life we must know Jesus, love Jesus and imitate Jesus. When we do we will be living examples of Christ’s character that is so desperately needed in our world today.

Be blessed by this lovely worship song performed by Keith and Kristyn Getty and others.