SELF CONTROL
SELF CONTROL – HOW DO WE OBTAIN IT AND MAINTAIN IT?
by John Robinson
Those of you who are familiar with prison ministries will be aware that there are many gifted bible students in prison. Many of these people have had a faith walk, so to speak, with their Messiah for a long time. But many times the reason they are incarcerated is because they lack self – control. How can this be? If we have been baptized into the Messiah we should be in control of ourselves shouldn’t we?
Actually there are many things that we need to add to our faith after we have been converted. 2 Peter 1:4-8 Now if we lack these things like temperance, we may or may not end up in prison, but we will be somewhat barren and unfruitful in our spiritual walk. You don’t have to be in jail to be bound by sin.
I believe all human beings want foremost to love and to be loved. But people without self control are usually not very loveable, because they are so obsessed or preoccupied with their fetish or habit which might be as innocuous as laying on the couch. These kinds of people usually don’t have a lot of love to share, because “he who has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down without walls.” (Pr. 25) When your walls are broken down then the enemy will invariably come in and take over. John Bunyan wrote a book entitled HOLY WAR in which he describes that very thing by analogy.1
Some of you already know this I imagine, but the early Methodists were so named because they were very methodical in their way of life. They had a particular time for prayer and for bible reading. They had a particular day of the week that they fasted. They had a particular time for public worship and corporate prayer. That sounds rather monotonous for most of us because we like spontaneity. We don’t want to get stuck in a routine. And it is true that we must avoid “vain repetition” but what we need instead is an “anointed repetition”. You may not look at your Methodist neighbors today as being especially anointed but they were a big part of the Cane Bridge Revival, which took place in Kentucky in 1801. There were at least 15,000 people in attendance at a time when the entire population of the state was only about 5,000. There were powerful demonstrations of the conviction of the Holy Spirit and many people were brought to repentance. There are some people today who call themselves Reformed Methodists who are Torah observant because they say that the original founder of the Methodist church, John Wesley was actually a Sabbath keeper at one time, and that he taught the validity of the dietary laws, etc.2
But history shows us that if things are left completely to spontaneity they are usually left undone. If you men only went to work when you felt “inspired to”, then you probably wouldn’t get much work done. If the women just cooked when they felt “led to” then there wouldn’t be a lot of food prepared.
What do you think about the Jewish torah reading schedule? Sometimes I have felt that is somewhat mechanical, but how many faithful Sabbath keeping, Sacred Name Believers, go for years without reading this big fat book they are carrying around? If you don’t have some type of yearly schedule for bible reading it probably won’t happen, and you will err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of Elohim.
If you will notice most people who lack self control are insecure. It’s because their very soul is being threatened by these invading spirits. There are some heathens who seem to be calm and laid back. They seem to be at peace without Yahshua. But to be blissfully ignorant is not the same as having the peace that passes understanding. Just because you are unaware of reality doesn’t change the facts.
Mick Jagger wrote a song entitled I CAN’T GET NO SATISFACTION and sold it to millions of dissatisfied people. Discontented people almost always lack self control. How can we gain contentment? Only by getting our needs met.
Pro. 4:23 says to “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.”
Here are 4 basic issues of life that can be problematic, but basically this mostly comprises what our lives are made of and these require boundaries.
Chart 1
Mind Control
Food & Drink Sexuality Expenditure of Resources Communication
| Anorexia Asceticism | Gluttony | Unnatural Celibacy | Adultery | Slothfulness | Workaholic | Passive Words | Angry Words |
| Malnourishment | Drug Use | Pornography | Stingy | Excess Spending | Self Depricating | Boastful | |
| Alcohol Dependency | Homosexuality | Spiritually Apathetic | Religious Extremity | Silent Treatment | Vain Words | ||
| Immodesty | Ascetic Piety | ||||||
| Fornication |
Many discontented people end up overeating, or using drugs/ alcohol to satisfy the flesh. But like Mick Jagger has proven, the flesh is never satisfied when the person is void of the Holy Spirit. Yahshua said not to be overcharged with “surfeiting” which is excessive living. If a man is given to appetite he is told to put a knife to his throat. Older women are supposed to train the younger women avoid being “given to much wine.” How much is too much wine? The bible is clear when it says not to “add drunkenness to thirst.” Some people seem to approve drunkenness in moderation, but I believe when the patriarchs were making wine they weren’t cooking up whisky like moonshiners. I believe when Melchisedic met Abraham with bread and wine that their fellowship was not affected by an inebriated state of mind. One of Daniel’s acts of faith was to refuse the king’s wine and the king’s meat. He didn’t become a vegetarian for life nor did he necessarily give up drinking the fruit of the vine forever, but while he was in Babylon he had to take some extreme measures because he had purposed in his heart not to defile his temple. If you want to keep your temple clean you may have to take some extreme measures today, especially if you understand that we are living in enemy occupied territory.
Let me give you an example of how things have changed. A tea cup used to be 6 oz. Now it’s a 44 oz big gulp that you get at Sonic and drink on the way home from work. Now it’s not wrong to drink a cup of tea, but if you are drinking gallons of caffeinated beverages a week and you never drink water unless it has caffeine in it then you may have a chemical dependency. If Yahshua has quickened your mortal body then why do you need a cup of coffee? If a chemical is keeping you from benefitting from fasting then it’s a problem.
PIETY
Some discontented people seek answers in religion. They go to church, prayer meetings, bible studies, etc but still don’t find contentment. Some people will spend years in religious pursuits then just give it all up and go back to worldly pursuits, but don’t find contentment there either.
The same thing can apply physically. Some people go on extreme diets for years and then finally just give up and go off the wagon so to speak but giving into the flesh doesn’t satisfy either.
Most people in America are over fed and undernourished at the same time. The reason is that the excess amount of food that they are eating contains very little nutritional value. If all you eat is junk food then eating more food does not help you. It’s the same way spiritually. If have a form of godliness that is denying the power of Yahshua then it will not satisfy you no matter how hard you work at it.
So first and foremost if we want to have self- control we must get our legitimate needs met.
Today in America the vast majority of children have been raised in an environment that either tolerates or encourages the lust of the flesh. It’s no wonder that children are restless and insecure. Concerning food, McDonald has become famous for it’s happy meals, setting the pace for alienating the consumption of food from the purpose of sustaining life and health to just becoming a sensual experience. “Good food” is defined as being quick, inexpensive and tasty, with little thought on the nutritional value. Many of us were raised eating Mc Donald hamburgers never considering that they consisted of 20% animal fat.3
How can we do that in light of the command to avoid animal fat? (Lev. 3:17) Many food processors add MSG to their food, which actually stimulates your appetite instead of quenching it. Once again the love of money is working against us.
Most of us were raised in an environment where sexuality was isolated from procreation. Since the sexual revolution and feminist movement of the 1960’s sexuality is seen as an area of sensuality to be explored and enjoyed with little thought for offspring. If children are desired that is a separate cognitive category. This has been made possible by the availability of dependable birth control, without which the sexual revolution would not have been possible.4
Keep in mind the following definitions:
Genocide = murder of masses of people
Homocide = murder of another human
Suicide = taking your own life
Infanticide = taking the life of an infant
Spermicide = taking the life of your sperm
Also keep in mind that most of the early pioneers of the birth control movement were not very nice people to put it mildly. They believed in “eugenics”, which is the attempt to improve society through the use of selected breeding.5
Our basic mindset of sexuality and child rearing should be in keeping with the scriptures. Ps. 127 and Ps. 128 and 1 Tim. 2:15 and 1 Cor. 7:1-5 To avoid fornication let every man have his own wife, and every wife have her own husband.
Lets keep in mind the four basic commands of Acts 15. These don’t get a lot of reading in most churches. Even a lot of Sacred Name or Messianic groups. But there may be a connection in this odd group of commands. No fornication, no blood and no strangled animals. These three of the four commands may not seem related, but some people have concluded that ingesting blood of any kind can affect a person’s sex drive making it difficult to control that impulse as well as causing other problems.6
That may seem a little far fetched but it is accepted by many people that some girls have gone into early puberty because of hormones derived from beef. Since the blood is what carries the hormones throughout the body that is one thing we should definitely avoid.
None of the excesses listed on this page makes any sense. In reality there is not much difference between being in sin and being insane. Yahvah has not given us a spirit of fear but a spirit of love, and power and a sound mind. Satan on the other hand gives people fear, weakness and a weak mind. It’s only a matter of degree between the person who bites their finger nails and the person in the insane asylum.
Some insecure people who are not in control of themselves, attempt to remedy their problems by controlling those around them. This can happen with insecure leaders like parents, pastors, and business administrators. These people are often referred to as control freaks. Problem is that a person without self control is not very well respected. He may control people for a few years or even decades but he will not have lasting influence. On the other hand people with self control are usually respected and have great influence on those around them without trying to control them. Control lasts a few years but influence will last for generations. Yahshua did not seek to control His disciples as much as He influenced them.
So what can we do to obtain and maintain self control? Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
What does it mean to “keep your heart”. The heart is actually just an organ that pumps blood throughout your body. In ancient times the heart and the reins/kidneys were thought to be the seat of man’s soul. Actually we know today that our decision making processes take place in our brains, specifically in the pineal gland.
So we could translate Pro. 4:23 as “keep your pineal gland with all diligence”…….. We are told to purge our hearts. How can we purify our heart or pineal gland if you will? One way to start is to purge your body, because your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit. One efficient way to purge your body is to fast. Fasting eliminates the toxins from your body / brain /pineal gland. If you are overcharged with surfeiting then your mind will be fuzzy and foggy. I can say from experience that if you eat like a pig you will think like a pig. If your brain is befuddled with drugs, chemicals, or toxins from excessive living, then you won’t have the will power to do what is right, even though you may know exactly what you need to do. Many people have testified that when they first started obeying the Sabbath it was as if they crossed over a threshold of obedience that dramatically changed their lives. By the same token many people have expressed similar results when they began to benefit from fasting on a regular basis. It can open up a whole new level of spiritual insight and power against the enemy.
The apostle Paul said not to even “touch the unclean thing”. King David said “I will put no evil thing before my eyes.”
IMAGES AND IDOLATRY
No discussion on self control would be complete without covering the topic of electronic media such as TV, video games and computers. Cal Thomas said “TV is like the piano player in the whorehouse.” Most children today are being raised with an excessive amount of visual stimulation. That’s why when it’s time for Sabbath class or any other class, they are bored and restless with a short attention span. They are used to being entertained by a three ring circus so teachers find themselves trying to compete with entertainers. I have a very thick file full of articles on the detrimental effects of television but for the sake of being objective I have recently started trying to collect articles about the benefits of television. Here is a quote I read recently about the “positive” influence of TV for children. “While watching a movie, a Kotex commercial came on and spawned a lengthy discussion on menstruation, and how all the different methods of protection work, or don’t work, the reasons why women pick one method over another, and what did women do before Kotex companies existed. Then the discussion moved to different methods of birth control….. all from one little Kotex commercial.7
Back in 1931 when there were only about 500 TV’s in America a man wrote a novel called BRAVE NEW WORLD in which he very precisely predicted what has happened in our world. He describes a mild dictatorship which is implemented through the excitement of the senses, through the narcosis of the conscience, through the effects of seduction……
TV is not imposed by force on people; it is desired by the population for it’s fascination, of seduction, for the cathartic experience much of a shamanic type…..
In BRAVE NEW WORLD, recreational sex is also an integral part of society, ….. sex is a social activity, not a means of reproduction and sexual activity including homosexuality is encouraged from early childhood.8
Today, a woman’s value is often determined by the shape and size of her body parts, and some children are discussing sexual perversities at the breakfast table, referring to things their grandparents could never have imagined.
Idolatry and sexual misconduct usually go hand in hand.
Hulu is an internet subscription service that allows people to watch old tv programs on their computers. In their tongue in cheek advertisement they portray their services as “an evil plot to destroy the world, because TV rots your brain.” This is not only blasphemous but not too far from the truth whether they realize it or not.
Facts are, people will watch terrible TV before they will turn the thing off because of the hypnotic allure. Keep in mind that many of our modern “eugenicists” are involved in the motion picture industry. Ted Turner, etc.
I’ve read that your brain is more active when you are sleeping then when you are watching TV.9
That’s why so many people fall asleep watching TV however I am not one of those people because I usually get angry when I watch TV. The reason I get angry is because I have been called a watchman to the house of Israel.
In Exodus, Leviticus and Deuteronomy idolatry and the worship of images pretty well tops the list of things to avoid. Today our worship of images is polished to such a high sheen that we don’t associate what we are doing with idolatry. Idolatry and temperance never mesh. I believe that image worship and sexual misconduct is more prevalent today than it has ever been. Here is a quote from Jack Zipes “The purpose of the early animated films was to make audiences awestruck and to celebrate the magical talents of the animator as demigod.” Walt Disney’s films have shaped a generation of children who have seen countless happy endings without even the mention of Yahshua’s name. Someone else always gets the credit.
How did we get performers like Madonna and Lady Gaga? By starting out gingerly with Gunsmoke’s Miss Kitty. She brought a level of respectability to prostitution and we called it good family entertainment. Then we had the softly pornographic Tinkerbell. (10) Every Disney cartoon starts out with a little fairy dressed like a slut in a provocative pose. Now we have mothers who are dressing little daughters like Tinkerbell because they think it’s normal. In discussions like these I have often heard people say, well I grew up watching Disney films and they never affected me ! When I hear that I know it will take a miracle to deprogram their minds.
Okay, after you turn off the TV, then what do you do? Stare at the wall? You have to do something. If you are going to love your neighbor then you could start by praying for him, and if your prayer is effectual, and fervent then it will probably cause you to get up off the couch and do something for this person you say you love. As you begin to love your neighbor, you will actually find a security and contentment that you never had before. You may not even have the time or money to run to excess like you used to.
If you have problems with one of these four issue of life then your mind is not completely in control.
I have never met a perfect person in this life, but I do see some people who are growing in grace and knowledge and it is because you are not conforming to this world and you are allowing your mind to be changed and then controlled by the power of the Living Word.
SOURCES:
- Holy War by John Bunyan (Also published in modern vernacular as Chronicles of Mansoul)
- Messianic Methodists (Gates of Eden, P.O. Box 2257, East Peoria, IL 61611)
- http://www.nytimes.com/1990/04/11/garden/eating-well-fast-food-chains-try-to-slim-down.html?pageword=all&src=pm
- The Birth Control Movement in America – From Private Vice to Public Virtue by James Reed; and New Perspectives on Contraception by Donald DeMarco
- http://www.henrymaow.com/200202.html; and http://voices.yahoo.com/your-brain-waves-change-watch-tv-low-alpha-349221.html?cat=25 ((site not found by Min. Dr. Donald H. Garrett)); and http://truthaddictsanon.blogspot.com/2006/12/what-television-is-doing-to-you.html
- Are You Going to Hell? (Ron Buhler contact@truthdepot.net )
- http://vilter.us/Television/Index.html ((Site not found by Min. Dr. Donald H. Garrett))
- http://www.henrymakow.com/brave_new_world.html
- http://www.eruptingmind.com/effects-of-tv-on-brain/
- http://www.parentdish.com/2011/03/09/tinkerbell-too-sexy/ ((Site not found by Min. Dr. Donald H. Garrett))
NOTE by Min. Dr. Donald H. Garrett: The above referenced material are not all available. 3 sites were not found by me when I tried to access them. Site listed in # 8 is also subject. Be careful in accessing all third party sites. Shalom! May YaH always bless you.
Comments are Disabled