The fruit of the Spirit . . . Temperance

This final installment is temperance or self-control. The Greek word is egkrateia (egg-kra-teh-ee-ah), which oddly enough means self-control. It is not an accident that we would end up here. There is so much involved in being a good friend, a good sibling and ultimately a good Christian. Not all of us bear the burden, but some of us do, of saying what is needed over what is wanted. It seems that many are all too happy to surround themselves by those who tell them what they want to hear, and the fastest way out of that circle of friends is to say something they don't want to hear. Scripture is replete with examples of those who delivered a message that was necessary, but unwanted. We not only say what those we love need to hear, we endure and forebear when those whom we love say things that cut us to the quick: knowing their faith and the God who is working in them, we anxiously await the person they are becoming.

Let us come to a right understanding, this Christian life will not bear fruit based on a model of happy accidents. It is God Who is at work in us, and he gave us eyes and ears, hands and feet and mouths and hearts, so that we may be engaged in the lives of others, while we are surrendered to His will, in order that we may bear fruit, not only in our life, but in the lives of others. We are not Taoists, we do not subscribe the nonsense of action through inaction. We love and we get hurt and we continue to try because it is the love of Christ that constrains us to be involved in the lives of others. We do not just say "whatever" to the hurts and trials of the ones that we love.

The key here is that we are engaged in work. A co-laborer with Christ, and it takes self-control. How do we get up day after day and feed our spirits, when frankly, we'd rather watch cartoons? Answer: self-control. How do we get involved and help someone who is hurting, when it is easier and less messy to simply turn our feet in a different direction? Answer: self-control. How do you keep from drawing your sword and handing someone their head after they have wounded you? Answer: self-control. You see self-control is the very element that turns a would-be rebellious life into a living sacrifice, and when we become a living sacrifice, then others will see Christ living in us.