Fruit of the Spirit: SELF-CONTROL

We are down to the last one of these spiritual fruits which we have been looking at for the past nine weeks now. I say spiritual fruits as though these are all separate pieces of fruit we have been focusing on week after week. But as we open the last one today and consider what self-control looks like, I should note that Paul’s mention of spiritual fruit in Galatians 5 is singular. These nine things that we are now drawing all together are not nine different examples of different fruit. These nine things all come together to form one fruit. Today, we look at the way in which self-control forms us as those who produce spiritual fruit.

Romans 12:1–8 NIV

1 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. 3 For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. 4 For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, 5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. 6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

I must admit that self-control is difficult to think about as a spiritual fruit that somehow we bear. We might easily identify self-control as an admirable quality or virtue of personal piety. But how does my being a self-controlled person produce any kind of spiritual fruit which is beneficial for others in the Christian community? That is the pattern we have been seeing all along with theses other various spiritual fruits; they are all used by God to produce something beneficial for the wider community.

Maybe we all have different examples in our own lives of what self-control looks like. Let me share just one that is regular for me, and maybe that will trigger some thoughts of how this shows up in your own life. I have a pattern at home that I use around mealtimes. Normal dinner time at my house is 6:00pm. And I try to hold a pattern that I do not take in any more calories after dinner. So, once I finish my supper and maybe have a bite of dessert, I’m done eating for the rest of the day. And the same thing goes for high calorie drinks after dinner. It’s just water or tea from that point. It is an intentional decision of self-control for me to stop taking in calories after dinnertime. Because if I did not make that an intentional priority, I would probably just keep snacking for the rest of the evening.

self-control — habits or patterns we set up to keep boundaries around our impulses, appetites, and desires

This gives us an idea of what self-control looks like as it takes shape in each of our lives. It is a habit or pattern that we tend to set up in order to keep some boundaries around our impulses and appetites and desires. This is, in fact, a pretty solid definition of the Greek word enkrateia which the Bible translates as self-control. It is an intentional restraint of impulses and desires. Self-control is one of those concepts we grow into as we mature. The older we get, the more we realize that there are things which are not healthy for us; even good things are not healthy when we get too much of it without any restraint whatsoever.

intentional restraint — even good things need a level of restraint at some point

And so, in an act of self-control, we often find ourselves trying to place some boundaries and limits within our lives. We limit our screen time spent in front of the television or smartphone. We limit our alcohol consumption. We limit our snacking and junk food. We limit our time laying out in direct sunlight. We limit the number of activities in a single day so that we can get enough rest. Even good things need a level of restraint at some point.

noting the singulars and plurals in Romans 12:1-2

This is all fine for our own personal health and wellbeing. But it still leaves us short of understanding how self-control fits in as a spiritual fruit like all the others on this list we have been studying from Galatians 5. Paul’s words in Romans 12 are helpful for us to find some understanding here. Let’s start by noting the singulars and plurals in this passage. Just about everything in the first two verses of Romans 12 is plural—it is addressed to all the church together. I say just about everything because there is something in the passage that is not plural; it is singular. Let’s lay it out.

Romans 12:1–2 (NIV)

Therefore, I urge you (plural), brothers and sisters, in view of God’s [mercies] (plural), to offer your (plural) bodies as a living sacrifice (singular), holy and pleasing to God—this is your (plural) true and proper worship. [You] (plural) do not conform to the pattern of this world, but [you] (plural) be transformed by the renewing of your mind (singular). Then you (plural) will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

collective instruction for all God’s people together — plural

Notice the way Paul is addressing this instruction collectively to the entire church. I imagine we have the tendency to miss that and read this passage as an individual instruction. Quite the opposite; Paul intends this to be a collective instruction for all God’s people together. The two places in this passage where singular nouns show up make this particularly important. The verse begins with an instruction for all of God’s people in the church to offer themselves together not as a bunch of separate living sacrifices, but rather all together as one living sacrifice.

one living sacrifice — singular

We should not get stuck on overanalyzing what it means for our bodies to be living sacrifices. This is simply a way for Paul to draw a sharp contrast to the Old Testament ritual of offering sacrifices using the bodies of dead animals that had been slain. The point that is so easily missed and becomes overlooked is that the offering of our lives is plural—it is the collective offering of the church—and the sacrifice that is given is singular—we are altogether a part of this one sacrifice.

one transformed and renewing mind — singular

Likewise, the singular designation of one mind in verse 2 is significant. We often note in the New Testament the way in which Paul promotes the same themes over and over again to the church. The theme of unity in the midst of diversity always seems to be there. This is incredibly helpful for us to understand what Paul is hinting at when he gives the collective instruction for everybody in the church to not conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed. The thing that we are to be transformed to is the renewing of one mind altogether. Romans 12:2 is one of those verses in the Bible that is so very often misused because it is not taken inside of its context. I have heard many times people use those words from verse 2 as justification to uphold tradition. Please do not misunderstand; I am not saying that tradition is bad. An identity that is grounded in meaningful habits and routines can be very helpful. But Romans 12:2 is not telling us to reject every new idea or innovation because somehow that means we are committing a sin of conforming to the pattern of this world. It is a misuse of this passage to say that we should never embrace change. Quite the opposite because the very next phrase is an instruction to be transformed—to be people who are changed! Or as we say in circles of Reformed theology—to be reformed means that we are always being reformed; it is an ongoing process.

in Romans 2 the transformation is pointed towards something very specific: the mind

logikas — logical, properly informed, correctly understood, carefully thought out

Yet, here in Romans 2 the transformation is pointed towards something very specific: the mind. But don’t forget, this is singular in the passage. It is the collective transformation of our one mind together as the church. Paul says that this is our true and proper worship. The older NIV Bible states that this is our spiritual act of worship. That’s misleading; there is no mention of the spirit in these verses. The Greek word pneuma never appears in this text. It is the Greek word logikas. We get the English word logic or logical from this word. I think that’s why the newer NIV translates it as true and proper worship. It means living in a way that is properly informed or correctly understood or carefully thought out. In other words, it means we avoid individual impulsive desires, and instead look for a collective wisdom that only comes together. Or—to bring it back to our subject for today—it means we embrace and practice self-control.

not individual, but collective not homogeneous, but diverse

However, this is not an individual self-control. It is collective; we all work to have this one mind together. But hang on. At the same time we recognize that this does not mean we are all exactly alike. Okay, now we have a foundation to understand what Paul says next in verses 3-8. The spiritual fruit of self-control gives us a framework for putting these verses into action. This collective togetherness is what Paul is referring to when he says in verse 5.

Romans 12:5 NIV

5 so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.

Now we are getting there. Now we are closer to understanding what the spiritual fruit of self-control looks like in and among God’s people. It has to do with the way each one of us comes to know and understand and then act upon our place within God’s community. Move on to verse 6 and the rest.

Romans 12:6–8 NIV

6 We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; 7 if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; 8 if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

self-control requires discernment discernment requires God’s covenant community

Our ability for each one of us here to be able to do this takes the spiritual fruit of self-control. Perhaps a little more explanation is helpful. Paul begins this passage by talking about the way we come together in one mind. Let me give this idea of self-control another word. Discernment. The first step of self-control begins in the mind; and the best way to describe how self-control begins in our thoughts and in our understandings is to pay attention to what we would consider to be discernment. The spiritual fruit of self-control always begins with discernment.

we in the church absolutely need one another in order to achieve our best discernment

Take it back to some of those examples I mentioned at the start. It is self-control that we utilize to shape patterns of restraint around things like alcohol consumption, and snack foods, and screen time. It all begins with a need for us to discern how much of each of these things is enough and how much is too much. Without the first step of discernment, there could never be the next step of self-control. Now then, here is where I see Paul taking us in this passage. We in the church absolutely need one another in order to achieve our best discernment. Because we represent a variety of gifts and abilities, we each speak into the collective wisdom of God’s people which leads us together to be of one mind in Christ Jesus.

only by the transforming power of Christ do we come together as one

How is it, then, that we best discern God’s will for our lives? It can never happen flying solo by yourself without the input of others in God’s community. No one will ever discern God’s will as long as they live in the pattern of this world—a pattern in which we are all our own gods and we are each the masters of our own lives. Only by the transforming power of Christ do we come together in one mind.

Self-control, then, is the action which comes from a place of discernment. Our properly discerned and self-controlled action shapes this life that the Bible calls a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. May we be people who value and claim our place among the diverse giftedness of God’s people; may we lean upon one another to best discern the will of God in our world; and may we act upon it with a self-control which keeps us focused on being the people God has created us and called us to be together.