Self-Control

• The opposite of intemperance– Self-mastery

• Athlete’s discipline– 1 Corinthians 9:25

• Christian’s mastery of sex– 1 Corinthians 7:9

Temperance, Self-Controlegkrateia

• “The virtue of one who masters his desires and passions, especially his sensual appetites.”

(J.H. Thayer)

• The opposite of egkrateia is action dominated by desire, and the man who is egkrates is the man who prevents desire from being the dictator of his actions and his life.

• Restrained vs. Unrestrained– egrates – restrained– akrates - unrestrained

Temperance, Self-Controlegkrateia

• The words are connected with the verb kratein, which means to grip, to grasp, to hold, to control.

• The man who is egkrates has a controlling grip and hold of himself, the man who is akrates has no grip or hold of himself.

Temperance

“Egrateia is nothing other than chastity, and chastity was the one completely new virtue which the Christian ethic brought into this world. Egrateia is that great quality which comes to a man when Christ is in his heart, that quality which makes him able to live and to walk in the world, and yet to keep his garments unspotted from the world.”

(William Barclay)

Works of the Flesh• Sexual immorality• Impurity• Sensuality• Idolatry• Sorcery• Enmity• Strife• Jealousy

• Fits of Anger• Rivalries• Dissensions• Divisions• Envy• Drunkenness• Orgies• Such like

Self-Control

• 1 Timothy 2:9-15• 2 Peter 1:5-8• 1 Corinthians 9:24-27

How We Can Develop Self-Control

• Guard our thoughts and desires– Proverbs 4:23– Matthew 15:18-20

• Dwell on pure things– Philippians 4:8– Matthew 12:34– 2 Corinthians 10:5