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Self-Control
“The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering,
kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law” (Galatians 5:22-23)
At this
time, many are asking: “Why are
gasoline prices so high?” The answer is found
in one of the oldest and most reliable theories of economics,
called “Supply and Demand.”
If you make more of a product and if demand for it remains
about the same, the price of it will go down. If you
produce less, even though people don’t want any more than
they did before, the price will go up.
An example
of supply and demand in action was seen in a recent issue
of the “Stafford (Virginia)
Star Weekly” in an article
about ice cream, which now is costly because vanilla syrup
is more expensive. A series of cyclones has hit Madagascar,
increasing the cost of vanilla syrup from $75.00 to almost
$500.00 per gallon. The article also explored the
rising price of cocoa - political unrest in the Ivory Coast
caused workers to walk away from the crops. Vanilla
bean crops were destroyed in one place and cocoa wasn’t
harvested in another - The reduced supply of those items
has caused ice cream to go up in price.
That’s
what is happening with gasoline. The oil-producing
cartel called “OPEC” recently decided to produce less oil.
People are driving as much as before and demand is high.
High demand plus a limited supply results in more cost per
gallon. A lot more cost.
Essentially,
the oil-producing nations have decided they want to do less
and receive more. That’s the dream of most people
everywhere, and the leaders of the OPEC nations, who are
already millionaires many times over, are now living that
dream – At the expense of consumers everywhere!
Here are
some questions: How can we respond? What can we DO
that will lower the price of gasoline? The practical
answer is really very simple – Consistently drive less miles
tomorrow than you did today! You are faced with the
decision: Do I make that unnecessary trip – Or not?
Do I drive or WALK instead?
If as
nations and people we drive less miles per day, demand for
gasoline will drop, resulting in a lower price. And
there’s a bonus: If we WALK to the store instead of driving
(unheard of, right?), we will lose the extra pounds our
doctors have warned us about! Less weight equals a
reduced chance of diseases like diabetes. So let’s
get this straight: We can have more money because of driving
less (it will cost less at the pump) and be more healthy!
So, why aren’t we doing it?
The answer
is in our Scripture for today – Self-control! As a
people we don’t have any! There was a time when the
U.S. and other nations could sacrifice for a good purpose.
A century and a half ago, Great Britain was essentially
“Christian;” sending missionaries
around the world. It can be viewed that the successor
to the British system has been America, a country in which
many have responded to the Lord’s call to provide for those
in need (Luke 11:38) and take Jesus Christ to the world
(Luke 24:47).
People
aren’t doing it anymore. Not like before. At
this time, much U.S. effort is spent in ELIMINATING God
from government, from schools, and even from U.S. coins
and dollar bills, where, amazingly enough, it still says,
“In God we trust.”
In Galatians
5:22-23, we read, “the fruit of
the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness,
goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
Against such there is no law.” There is a lot
of talk about “love” in
the world, but mostly those who chatter about it are really
discussing self-gratification. If your “lover” is also gratified by the experience, it
is called “love.”
“Joy” is often merely
raucous laughter stimulated by the use of a drug like alcohol.
We have little peace, or longsuffering, kindness; goodness,
faithfulness and gentleness anymore, and we lack “self-control.” And that’s the real problem
with our inability to eat less and drive fewer miles: Those
who lack His Spirit lose self-control.
All of
the virtues in Galatians 5:22-23 are “fruits” of the Holy Spirit of God. As you
read the whole context of Galatians Chapter 5, it is clear
that receiving the Lord into our lives is the key to receiving
such “fruits” (qualities)
as “self-control.”
Scripture observes, “Those who
are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with its passions
and desires. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk
in the Spirit” (Galatians 5:24-25).
As a people,
we have rejected Christ, for it may clearly be seen in our
culture that we do not have the “fruits” of His Spirit. Comparing ourselves
to “fruit” on a tree as
Paul did in Galatians 5, enables us to look at what we as
a people are producing.
Here are
“works of the flesh,” produced
by NOT having the Holy Spirit of God in our lives: “Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, licentiousness, idolatry,
sorcery, hatred, contentions, jealousies, outbursts of wrath,
selfish ambitions, dissensions, heresies, envy, murders,
drunkenness, revelries and the like… those who practice
such things will not inherit the kingdom of God”
(Galatians 5:19-21). Are you angry inside? Do
you lack self-control?
The “works of the flesh” are headlines in our newspapers
and news broadcasts. Magazines, books and movies are
full of such stories. We are not a Christian people
and that is why so many in the world reject the Christian
faith. They see our hypocrisy and want nothing to
do with us – Or our beliefs.
We’re fat and we pay too much for gasoline.
Our situation is a reflection of the way we are inside.
We as a people pay an eternal price for rejecting our Lord.
We need life; real LIFE! A bumper sticker in Virginia
said, “Despite the cost of living,
it’s still quite popular!” But it’s not.
We’ve sought emptiness and death when we should choose LIFE
in Christ, who enables us “walk
in the Spirit” of God.
Lord, more and more, we have walked
in Your Spirit less and less. Such attitudes not only
ruin us and our children, but they also affect how whole
nations respond as well. Forgive us, Lord, for our
sin. I TRUST in You now, Lord. Please fill me
with Your Holy Spirit. Give me self-control and let
me walk in Your ways. In Jesus Name. Amen.
Ron Beckham, Pastor
Friday Study Ministries
www.FridayStudy.org
www.FirstChurchontheNet.org
www.BlessedHands.org
E-mail:
Ron@FridayStudy.org
Tel:
(562) 688-5559
PO Box 92131
Long Beach, CA 90809-2131
"While we were yet sinners,
Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
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