The ninth and last characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit is Temperance. This is probably the hardest to understand in relationship to God's character. For one thing, temperance has come to be associated with "abstinence from the use of alcoholic beverages" (which is the second definition listed in Webster's) rather than the first more general definition which is "moderation in action, thought, or feeling". For this reason most modern versions of the Bible use the phrase "self-control". We can understand that we as Christians need to exhibit temperance or self-control in our own lives, but that it might be a characteristic of God's own nature is not so easy. I think that is because we tend to think of self-control or temperance in relation to being moderate in things that can get out of hand, like over eating or drunkenness or anger. But when I began to really think about what this word meant I began to see a deeper truth behind why it is the final characteristic listed for the Holy Spirit of God.
We have talked about the Characteristics of the Fruit of the Spirit being a reflection of the Characteristics of God Himself which we are to portray in our lives as Jesus did during His life here on earth. We have talked about the Love of God, the Joy He has, His Peace filled nature. We have found that God is Longsuffering, Gentle, Good, Faithful and Meek. But what we haven't really found out is WHY? Why is God Good? Why is He Faithful? Does anyone make Him be this way? Is this just how He is?
When Adam and Eve were tempted by the serpent in the Garden of Eden the Bible says: "And the Lord God said, Behold, the man is become as one of us, to know good and evil..." (Genesis 3:22). Think about that statement as if you have never read that verse before... God Himself knows what is Good AND what is Evil. He chooses to be Good over Evil. He knows what Sin is, but He chooses not to sin, just as Jesus His Son chose not to sin, but to live a sinless life. Maybe you have already seen this but it is new to me, this thought of God choosing Good. I guess I just thought He was inherently Good, just "made" that way. Now I see that right before my eyes all this time was this truth, in a verse I had read a hundred times but never really thought about until I asked myself if God was temperate or self-controlled. The answer is Yes, He is!
Read the verse I used in the picture today (I couldn't resist using the lion picture, after what I saw so clearly yesterday in my mind). "The Lord of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass; and as I have purposed, so shall it stand" God made up His mind and firmly made sure that it happened. He thought it and knew it would come to pass, He didn't wish it would come to pass or hope it would come to pass. "As I have Purposed" is not a wishy washy way to put something. It is strong and sure! God purposefully chooses to be what He is! We need that same purposeful way of living, not hoping we will not sin, not wishing we could stand up to temptation better, but Knowing that we will. Purposely choosing to use our own self control as God has done and knowing that we can and will be able to do what we know we should do.
God made us in His image it says in the Bible and yet we sin daily. We have to learn our self control from an early age by seeing the consequences of acting out our desires. When we are little our desires are simple...want a cookie, sister has a cookie...take the cookie even though we know it is not ours. Mommy says sternly "No, that's not yours" and she takes it away. So, we learn to exhibit self control over our sinful desire to have something that belongs to someone else. And it goes on from there (hopefully). Why do we have such a propensity to sin? Because, though we know what Right and Wrong are, we are not born with the self control to do what is Right. We are God's Children..He calls us such and so we are. We need to be taught and shown how and why we need to control our sinful desires just like any child. Jesus came to be our example as well as the sacrifice for our sins. He came to show us "The Way" and that it can be done. It is possible, not easy but possible. Satan would like to convince us that we are weak and unable to resist, but we are made in God's own image and we have the ability to do just as Jesus did here on earth.
We need to shift our focus off from ourselves and our own desires as we have talked about before. We need to put our focus on Jesus, on His Holy Spirit, on God our Father and on our own Spiritual nature that He created within us. Just as a child about to reach for another cookie that doesn't belong to him looks at his mother's face and sees the stern look that reminds him that he should not do that. God's own self control, His purposeful nature will help us see what we are created to be. We were not created to stay willful children all our lives. God wants to see us grow into what He created us to be, choosing the Good as He has done and leaving the Evil behind without a thought. When we do this, God is able to show forth to others that self-control that Jesus had, that temperance in nature that is the final characteristic of the Fruit of the Spirit.
You may begin to think that all of these characteristics of God will never show forth in your own life. Just remember that we were made in God's own image and we have His own Holy Spirit living within us after we accept the gift of Salvation. We only need to keep our focus on the spiritual part of our nature that God Himself created in us, keeping our focus off from our physical wants and desires. Always keep in mind that we were created to be more than just a physical being of flesh and bone! If we keep our Focus on God, we can and will be purposely productive branches, growing forth the Fruit of His Spirit and thereby calling others to Him!
" Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
Matthew 19:26 NIV