“But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness..”
I’ve been at The Masters this week. There are some very controlled golfers and then there are ones when they make one bad shot after another, they let those around them know that they have done so. Self control is one of the areas in life that others can immediately tell if you are good or bad at it personally. It is in some ways a trait that is quite different than others, as it is one that can allow for the others to either be affected by you, or not. Why I think it is important is that it is an area that is really about being human and if we don’t have self-control we can end up messing up lots of good things. A few years ago the New York Times called out the CEO of Yahoo! for her continued use of expletives and then used their failing stock price and underlying business fundamentals as a way of saying, keep the four letter words in your mouth, because even if we did want to tolerate them, you don’t have the business results to get us to turn a deaf ear.
Our language is a central area for our self-control (which is a fruit of the spirit) to either show itself or be hidden. It’s a sure fire way yes, to let everyone know where you stand. One F-bomb in a meeting and if there was any doubt as to what we believe our actions have just settled the score. There are plenty of other ways to outburst that can cause the same reaction, but what comes from our mouth is clear and to the point. Good and bad. If today you are struggling with the language that you use, then fall back onto Galatians and go big with your prayers by asking God to give you the fruit of His spirit and especially self-control. From there, it will be up to you for that fruit to ripen to its fullest or for you to let it go spoiled. A little self control can go a long way.
Reference: Galatians 5:22 (New Living Testament)