After mentioning the need to add moral excellence and knowledge to our faith, Peter listed self-control. These first three characteristics are closely related. As we learn the difference between right and wrong, we must do what is right (display moral excellence) and refrain from doing what is wrong (exercise self-control).
“Now for this very reason also, applying all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence, and in your moral excellence, knowledge, and in your knowledge, self-control, and in your self-control, perseverance, and in your perseverance, godliness, and in your godliness, brotherly kindness, and in your brotherly kindness, love. For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they render you neither useless nor unfruitful in the true knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5-8).
What Is Self-Control?
Thayer’s Greek Lexicon defines the Greek word (egkrateia) as the virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites. Self-control can only follow after knowledge and learning about righteousness, as we see in Paul’s example of speaking to Felix about “righteousness, self-control and the judgment to come” (Acts 24:25). Self-control is listed as a fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23). Exercising self-control means we will not fulfill our desires in a way that is contrary to the will of God.
What Self-Control Looks Like WITHOUT Faith
From a worldly perspective, self-control is a willingness to sacrifice short-term pleasure for long-term gain. Many people around the world do this in a number of ways, and it can lead to success in life. Exercising self-control in matters pertaining to this life will lead someone to engage in certain behaviors:
- He will be diligent in his work rather than giving in to laziness. Solomon said, “Poor is he who works with a negligent hand, but the hand of the diligent makes rich” (Proverbs 10:4).
- He will be a good steward of his money and possessions in order to avoid hardship. The wise man acknowledged, “The rich man’s wealth is his fortress, the ruin of the poor is their poverty” (Proverbs 10:15).
- He will avoid the pitfalls of addiction and substance abuse. Many non-Christians are starting to see the negative effects of alcohol. The wise man warned long ago that alcohol often leads to hardships, injuries, addiction, poverty, and more (Proverbs 23:20-21, 29-35).*
Paul acknowledged that self-control is necessary for worldly success, just as it is to obtain a spiritual reward: “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable” (1 Corinthians 9:25). The prize-winning athlete may not have faith in God, but his self-control put him in a position to be able to win.
Self-control without faith – at least true faith – can also lead one to keep religious laws that are not part of the law of Christ. Paul warned the brethren in Colossae about this: “If you have died with Christ to the elementary principles of the world, why, as if you were living in the world, do you submit yourself to decrees, such as, ‘Do not handle, do not taste, do not touch!’ (which all refer to things destined to perish with use) in accordance with the commandments and teachings of men? These are matters which have, to be sure, the appearance of wisdom in self-made religion and self-abasement and severe treatment of the body, but are of no value against fleshly indulgence” (Colossians 2:20-23). These people were exercising self-control for a faith, but not for the faith, which made their efforts meaningless.
What Self-Control Looks Like WITH Faith
Since “faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17), self-control must be based upon this standard.
To exercise self-control that is rooted in faith means we will not allow sin to master us. God warned Cain about this after he killed his brother Abel: “If you do well, will not your countenance be lifted up? And if you do not do well, sin is crouching at the door; and its desire is for you, but you must master it” (Genesis 4:7). In order to master sin, we must present ourselves as the servant of a greater and better master – God. Paul wrote, “Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its lusts, and do not go on presenting the members of your body to sin as instruments of unrighteousness; but present yourselves to God as those alive from the dead, and your members as instruments of righteousness to God. For sin shall not be master over you, for you are not under law but under grace” (Romans 6:12-14). Rather than allowing ourselves to become enslaved by sin, we will present ourselves to God, exercising self-control so that we do not do what is contrary to His will.
However, self-control is not just about abstaining from sinful behaviors. There are times when we need to abstain from things that are not sinful in themselves but that hinder our service to God. Paul wrote about this in his first letter to Corinth: “All things are lawful for me, but not all things are profitable. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be mastered by anything” (1 Corinthians 6:12). Something that is lawful becomes a “master” over us, when we allow it to get between us and God or we violate God’s will in order to enjoy it. Food is good (1 Timothy 4:4), but we need to exercise self-control so as not to become guilty of gluttony.** Work is good, but not when we let it interfere with our spiritual well-being (Luke 12:19). These good things are only good when they fit within the framework of God’s will for us.
Self-control that is based upon faith will lead us to deny ourselves in order to follow Christ. Jesus said, “If anyone wishes to come after Me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). Jesus was the Son of God and had authority to call down “more than twelve legions of angels” in order to keep Him from going to the cross (Matthew 26:53).*** Yet He refused to do this so that “the Scriptures [would] be fulfilled” (Matthew 26:54) as He carried out the Father’s will (John 12:27-28) by going to the cross. If we want to follow in His footsteps, we must exercise control over our emotions and desires so that our will does not interfere with God’s will for us.
How to Add Self-Control to Our Faith
The word of God is the source of faith (Romans 10:17), so we must go to the word to see how to add self-control to our faith.
We first need to recognize the difference between right and wrong. Paul’s prayer for the Corinthians was that they would “do no wrong,” but instead would “do what is right” (2 Corinthians 13:7). In order to do this, they had to know the difference between the two. So knowledge (which we discussed in the previous article) is essential. However, this is about making a practical application of the truth of God’s word in our lives (cf. James 1:22). It is possible to know what is right but not do what is right. As James wrote, “Therefore, to one who knows the right thing to do and does not do it, to him it is sin” (James 4:17). We have to learn what is right and understand how it applies in our present situation.
We also need to recognize that whatever pleasure we may receive from sin is temporary and inferior to the reward that God has promised. Otherwise, what incentive is there for exercising self-control to avoid what is wrong and do what is right? Moses set an example for us in this regard: “By faith Moses, when he had grown up, refused to be called the son of Pharaoh’s daughter, choosing rather to endure ill-treatment with the people of God than to enjoy the passing pleasures of sin, considering the reproach of Christ greater riches than the treasures of Egypt; for he was looking to the reward” (Hebrews 11:24-26). Today, we are to “press on toward the goal” of heaven (Philippians 3:14). How do we do this? Like Paul, we “count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:8). Understanding the greatness of God’s promises motivates us to refrain from sin, especially as we recognize that the “benefits” of sin are no more than an illusion.****
It becomes easier to practice self-control when we focus on what we can do more than what we cannot do. For example, God designed marriage as the relationship in which we can fulfill sexual desires, but the fulfillment of these desires outside of marriage is wrong (Hebrews 13:4). Paul explained that the sexual relationship between a husband and wife provides a protection against Satan’s efforts to “tempt [us] because of [our] lack of self-control” (1 Corinthians 7:1-2, 5). Rather than focus on other unlawful relationships, they were to focus on the one to whom God had bound them (Matthew 19:6). This principle can apply to any temptation. Rather than bemoaning all of the things God has prohibited us from doing, we should focus on the many things we are at liberty to do.
Finally, we can grow in our self-control by looking to Jesus and His example. The Hebrew writer encouraged brethren to “lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us” by “fixing [their] eyes on Jesus” (Hebrews 12:1-2). He was “obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (Luke 9:23), and He has called us to “deny [ourselves], and take up [our] cross daily and follow [Him]” (Luke 9:23).
Conclusion
To grow in our faith, we must develop self-control. This means we must take what we learn from the word of God and put it into practice. We must abstain from what is wrong, even when it is pleasurable to indulge in it. We must also do what is right, even when there are other things we would prefer to do.
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* For more on the negative impacts and dangers of alcohol, see the article, The Evils of Alcohol.
** For more on what the Bible teaches about gluttony, see the article, The Sin of Gluttony.
*** For more on Jesus’ statement at His arrest, see the article, Twelve Legions of Angels.
**** For more on the perceived benefits of sin, see the article, The “Benefits” of Sin.
