How to Have Christian Self-Control

Every Christian has the ability to be self-controlled. One of the fruits of God's Holy Spirit is self-control. The key is to realize and live out what is already inside of you, through God's Spirit.



Steps


First realize that with everything you have a choice. Romans 8 tell us that we can either chose to walk in God's Holy Spirit or in our flesh. Paul says, "If by the spirit you put to death the misdeeds of the body, you will live." So the choice is ours. God will not force us to be good, we have to choose to be good. Before we were saved, we did not have a choice in a sense, because we were slaves to sin. But now that Jesus has set us free "He who the son sets free is free indeed." Amen. Now we are completely free to chose to do good or to do bad. We are not victims to our own sin or our own flesh anymore. We have the power of God's spirit in us to choose the right thing. We have ability to have self-control now. The only question is will we or will we not.

Once you have deliberately chosen that you want to do the right thing, do it. Don't hesitate and think, "Oh tomorrow I will do the right thing." Don't put off changing the things you need to change. Don't believe lies that Satan might try to tell you like "It's too late for you to change." That's not true. It's never to late to start making the right choices.
Instead of always thinking about what you should not be doing, think about what you should be doing. For example, if you just keep thinking "I shouldn't eat ice cream" all you will think about is ice cream. :) Instead, think about all the amazing salads you can make etc. Also, the best way to control your thoughts is to think on good things, rather than trying to not think about bad things. Paul said, "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things." This is him telling us what we should be thinking about. This isn't a punishment; this is a get to. You will have a lot more peace and joy in general if you think on only things that are true, noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent and praiseworthy. Amen? Amen.

Sometimes if we are trying to quit a bad habit, it can be too hard to do an all or nothing thing. If you used to eat three bowls of ice cream every day, for example, try to cut it down to just eating a small cup of ice cream each day. Don't cut out ice cream all together, or you will resent this whole self-control thing you are trying to do. :) Everything in moderation. Paul said we are not to be mastered by anything, so as long as the thing you is not mastering you, you can still enjoy it. :)

Lastly, always be positive. You won't see change in your life, or the ability to have self-control, unless you are positive and believe that you can. Believe that God can help you to have self-control. You have to have hope. Without hope, how can you believe that things can be better? Have faith that you can overcome whatever struggle or addiction you are trying to overcome. There is a great quote that says, "He who believes he can and he who believes he can't are both right." As in, whatever you believe will happen most likely will happen. Our thoughts become our actions, so think about what you are thinking about more often. If you want to become more healthy, believe that you really can become more healthy, with God's help. Jesus talked about moving mountains if we had enough faith. The mountains he was talking about are our problems. Whatever we struggle with, if we really have faith that it can be better, it will. "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed" you can move mountains. Believe it. Amen :)