Shirley BrownMarch 23, 2021
2 Peter 1:5-7
“For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love.”
I pray that my words and thoughts are received with the spirit they are written and that my joy in my relationship with God shines through this devotional. Quickly, I want to give a summary of my faith journey. I was born in Georgia, loosely raised in the Methodist Church, lost touch with the church in high school and didn’t really consider any sort of relationship with God or the church until 2016 when we found Christ our Shepherd.
When I volunteered (ahem) to explore “self control” as it pertains to my faith journey, I knew it would be tough. So, my first thought was to see what the “Fruit of the Spirit” was all about. Galatians 5:”By contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.” OK- the first eight are easy, – I get it- I’ve gotten much better and much more committed to those ideas since living my life while considering my relationship with Christ. Self Control- huh? Have I treated my body like a temple? (Not so much.) Have I denied myself things I desired? (…) Maybe I should rethink this devotional.
Then I had a light bulb moment. As someone who has spent the last 40 years relying upon myself for those first 8 attributes, blaming myself for not succeeding in being loving, joyful, peaceful etc… perhaps the one thing I’ve been missing is self control: the control to give my life over to Christ, the control to, well, lose control and rely on Christ to guide me. My life has changed in the last four years. I have found a happiness and contentment that can not be explained by anything other than my relationship with Christ with the help of Christ Our Shepherd.
I know I’m early in my journey and I have a lot of work to do. But by losing my “self control” and giving my life to Jesus, I know my journey will be beautiful and fruitful!
Let us pray
Dear Lord, thank you for reminding me to invite you into my life every day. Help me to add to my faith all the fruits of the spirit. As my journey continues, please guide me to put your works first ahead of worldly temptations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
