Rule or be Ruled

He that hath no rule over his own spirit is like a city that is broken down, and without walls.

(Proverbs 25:28)

This verse parallels Proverbs 16:32. To be tossed about by every whim of emotion makes us vulnerable to attack, and we have no defense. If we cannot control our passions, like anger for instance, we cannot focus on resisting the enemy, and we become caught up in a world of self-induced slavery. If you cannot control yourself others will always control you. If everyone can push your buttons, perhaps you have too many. On the contrary, self-control is identified as the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:23).

It grieves me to hear of people who always have to “vent” their anger and frustrations. The truth is that you don’t have to vent if you’re already ventilated. Are you as a cool breeze or a hot house? Allowing your thought life to be controlled by expectations will lead to anger, for that is what unmet expectations engender.

We must keep on maturing in the ways of God; it ought to be the normative pattern. However, this is simply not happening in the Christian world today. It seems that the moment there is conflict and discord people toss off all religious pretence and go after each other with the same fervor and passion as the unregenerate, who don’t even claim Christ.

Satan will always go for the most vulnerable part he knows of. He will try and enflame the flesh, excite the passions, and arouse the emotions. If you have self-control you disarm the enemy. But people want to cry and say “woe is me” before they even let a situation play itself out. They immediately go into attention getting mode. However, the only prize that real life drama kings and queens win is the crown of self-pity.

We need to exercise self-control. Think about that; exercise, work it out, keep it in shape, don’t get used to letting go, but get trained to staying in control of your emotions. This doesn’t mean we need to be a stoic, a monk like robot with a steely stiff upper lip. No, emotions are God given gifts, they just need to be used properly and understood, not given into without any thought. We need to learn to process things before we “go off” about them. Yes things can hurt our feelings, but remember this: in the long run, what counts is not how you feel but how you deal.