Lesson

So You Want to be More Like Christ?
Eight Essentials to Get You There
By: Charles R. Swindoll

1. Intimacy: Deepening Our Lives
2. Simplicity: Uncluttering Our Minds
3. Silence and Solitude: Slowing Our Pace
4. Surrender: Releasing Our Grip
5. Prayer: Calling Out
6. Humility: Bowing Low
7. Self Control: Holding Back
Who ate the last gallon of ice cream?

· “I’ve eaten too much, interfered where I had no business meddling, and spoken when I should have remained silent. Those are pretty common problems, aren’t they? Universal in fact. We have all exceeded the bounds of wisdom by failing to restrain ourselves. We all suffer from the same ailment: lack of self control.”

Read Romans 7:14-25

Take a few minutes and make a list of common issues where we experience a lack of self-control and restraint.

Consider this paraphrase of Romans 7: 20-23 from Eugene Peterson.“Something has gone wrong deep within me and gets the better of me every time. It happens regularly that it’s predictable. The moment I decide to do good, sin is there to trip me up. I truly delight in God’s commands, but it’s pretty obvious that not all of me join sin that delight. Parts of me covertly rebel, and just when I least expect it, they take charge.

Fritz Ridneour from How to be a Christian without being Religious: “Sometimes you’d almost swear you were a split personality, a regular walking civil war”.
· What is the role of Satan in our “civil war”?
Consider Proverbs 25:28 – “Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit.”Respond to the following: Failure to exercise self-control is an open invitation for Satan to rob us of all good things we receive from God.

· Remember Romans Chapters 7-8 and consider Galatians 5: 17-21.Consider this definition of “the flesh”.Discuss this concept in regards to our transformation as we except Christ’s saving grace and the significance of the Spirit of God living within us.Consider the harvest of the flesh which is sin versus the fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5:22-23.
· Self-control leads to greater freedom. How is that possible? Consider and discuss this statement by Maxie Dunham: “The purpose of self-control is that we may be fit for God, fit for ourselves, and fit to be the servants of others….it is not a rigid, religious practice-discipline of discipline’s sake. It is not dull drudgery aimed at exterminating laughter and joy. It is the doorway to true joy, true liberation from stifling slavery of self-interest and fear.”
· Winning the “war” and “running the race” So how will we proceed? 1 Corinthians 9: 24-27What are the main points for us to absorb?Consider the prize, perishable or imperishable?Consider the freedom of self-control.Consider the focus of our race.Consider our very real adversary.Consider discipline and your body.Consider what we “preach” to others and our own disqualification.
· There is no greater example of self-control than Jesus. Consider the case set forth by Richard J. Foster:Have ever noticed the number of times Jesus refused to use power? He refused to dazzle people by jumping off the pinnacle of the temple (Matthew 4:5). He rejected the temptation to make more “wonder bread” to validate His ministry (John 6:26). He refused to do many wonderful works in His own hometown because of the belief of the people (Luke 4: 16-27). He said no to the Pharisees when they demanded he give them a sign to prove He was the Messiah (Matthew 12:38). At His arrest, Jesus said He could have summoned a whole army of angles but He did not (Matthew 26: 53).You want to be like Christ? Refuse to surrender to the flesh, surrender instead to the Spirit, and let Him live His life through you.


Jo Anne Robinson