Are you "IN" or "OUT"?

I'm talking about "control". This past Sunday I preached on the need to exercise self-control in all areas of life. This is such an important topic, I thought I would share some of my sermon notes from that message. 

According to USA Today, The soaring national debt is now as big as the entire U.S. economy topping $15.23 trillion. The American Heart Association says that among children ages 2–19, about 1 in 6 are obese. And among Americans age 20 and older, 149.3 million are overweight or obese. The total cost related to this is estimated to be $254 billion and could reach $957 billion by 2030, if the trend continues.The CDC found that more than 38 million Americans binge drink four times a month—consuming an average of eight drinks each time. And it’s not just young adults. Those 65 and older reportedly binge drink five to six times a month. Over-consumption of alcohol is the third leading preventable cause of death, with more than 80,000 fatalities in the United States each year. SafeFamiles.org reports that sex is the number 1 topic searched on the Internet.  There are more than 1.3 million pornographic websites which is a $13 billion a year industry. Approximately 40 million people in the United States are sexually involved with the Internet while 72 million Internet users visit pornography web sites per year. 

These things could all be avoided or eliminated if we would learn to do one thing really well - exercise self-control. The Bible warns us about this: 2 Timothy 3:1-3 says, "But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control..."

Throughout the book of Proverbs, Solomon addressed the same issues we still face today: spending too much money, over-working, over-eating, excessive drinking, giving in to lust (just to name a few).

Is it possible to display self-control in our self-centered and self-seeking culture? Aristotle once said, “I count him braver who overcomes his desires than him who conquers his enemies; for the hardest victory is the victory over self.”  

2 Peter 1:6 says, "Knowing God leads to self-control. Self-control leads to patient endurance, and patient endurance leads to godliness". 2 Timothy 1:7 says, "For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity, but of power, love, and self-discipline (self-control)". Galatians 5:22-23 shows us that believers are to produce the fruit of self control. "But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control." 

God equips us with the power to be able to control ourselves, but it actually requires that we give up control and allow the Holy Spirit to "control" us.   
 

How are you doing in this area of your life? Do you feel in control or out of control? We can’t solve all of society’s problems, we can’t change the chaos around us, we can’t control it – but we can learn to control ourselves - Or allow God's Spirit to lead us; and when we do - our whole world will change.