The Wisdom of Self-Control

MEMORY VERSE: “He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” —Proverbs 16:32

PROVERBS 20:1; 23:19-21,29-35

CERTAINLY it is wise to exercise self-control. This is true in every avenue of life, and is particularly important in the Christian life. The Apostle Peter touches on this point. He speaks of the promises by which we are made partakers of the divine nature, and then adds, “For this very reason make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love.”—II Pet. 1:5-7, Revised Standard Version

Self-control, then, together with other Christian virtues, is a supplement of faith. The stronger our faith, the more successful we will be in exercising self-controls. Those who have little or no faith in God lack a great source of strength in controlling self. Our lesson passages deal largely with the intemperate use of strong drink, and of intemperate eating, but Christian self-control covers a much larger area than this.

Our memory verse reveals that useless anger displays a lack of self-control. Fits of anger lead to harsh words which often seriously wound others, and leave scars on the character of those who fail in this way to control their emotions. While forgiveness should be sought, the wounds incurred by out-bursts of uncontrolled anger are often slow to heal.

We might try to justify our anger by referring to it as “righteous indignation.” Doubtless there is such a thing as righteous indignation, but out-bursts of abusive language when things go contrary to our wishes should be recognized for what they are; namely, unholy manifestations of failure to control self. True, we all are faced at times with unpleasant circumstances, but if we have supplemented our faith with genuine Christian love we will not be abusive of others. Paul wrote, “Love suffereth long, and is kind.” (I Cor. 13:4) There is never any genuine excuse for a Christian to be anything but “kind.”

We may mistakenly suppose that by a display of bustling anger we can demonstrate how great and important we are. We may feel that to be kind under certain circumstances would be a display of weakness; but not so. Solomon wrote that those who are slow to anger “are better than the mighty.”

Solomon explained further that those who rule their own spirit are mightier “than he that taketh a city.” There were many war lords in the past, even as there are today. Generally speaking, the world esteems those who lead an army to victory in capturing a city, or accomplishing other objectives of war. But this is not God’s appraisal. From his standpoint those of his people who are able to control their own emotions and go through life in a sober, dignified manner, always seeking to bless others rather than to injure them through displays of anger, are really the mighty ones, the real heroes in his army of “Christian soldiers.”

Self-control enters into many aspects of the Christian life other than strong drink, gluttony, and anger. We can be intemperate in our urge and effort to accumulate more of this world’s goods than may be needed. “They that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare,” we are told. (I Tim. 6:9) This is a snare that could be avoided by a proper exercise of Christian self-control.

We could become intoxicated with the spirit of the world, and with the love of ease or pleasure. We know the importance of Bible study, and we could easily spend all our available time in such study, and yet do nothing about making known the truth of the Bible to others. Thus we would be following our own preferences rather than the instructions of the Lord. This, too, could be a lack of self-control.

Solomon asks, “Who hath woe? who hath sorrow? who hath contentions? who hath babblings? who hath wounds without cause? who hath redness of eyes? They that tarry long at the wine.” (Prov. 23:29,30) This very aptly describes a pitiful condition. But intemperance, or a lack of self-control along any line, is regrettable and damaging.

QUESTIONS

What aspects of intemperance are mentioned in our lesson?

Could we fail to control self in other ways?

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