I read an article in CNN Health recently that struck a chord with me.  It was titled, “Where is self-control in the brain?” (Elizabeth Landau, September 14, 2013).  Having encountered many defeats and experiencing battle fatigue over confrontations with my enemy, food, I really wanted to figure out where self-control is in my brain (if indeed it is there) and tap into it.

Research shows that there are specific areas of our brains involved in decision-making and will power; and activity in those areas are affected by the choices we make.  Designing boundaries that restrict access to temptation proves to be more effective than just plain ole’ self-determination.  I can’t say I needed any research to verify that; however, researchers now want to come up with a drug to help with the lack of self-control.  Figures.

I’ve wrestled with the issue of self-control for a long time, and not just in regards to food, but also time and money management (when one doesn’t have time or money to manage, the issues become moderately less difficult to deal with).  The thing is, I know I have self-control because when I received Jesus as my Savior, He gave me His Spirit—and “the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control” (Galatians 5:22, 23)—yet I do not always see the fruit manifest through my life in the ways I hope they will.

The conundrum I experience is that I know people who are not Christians yet they are extremely self-controlled in regards to diet and radically disciplined at exercise.  There are many who do not believe in Jesus, are not filled with the Holy Spirit, yet there is evidence of love, patience, and gentleness, along with other characteristics of the Spirit in their lives.  So what differentiates between human kindness and that which is born of the Spirit?  …or self-control birthed in personal discipline or will power and divinely ignited self-control?  The answer is obvious:  the power behind it, either human strength borne in fallible humanity or the power of the eternal, almighty, sovereign God.

…which leads me to the next question:  If I am empowered with the Holy Spirit, why do I not act like it sometimes?  With my whole being I identify with the apostle Paul’s anguished cry, “O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?”  But he doesn’t leave it there, he goes on to respond, “I thank God—through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24, 25)

I find hints of victory dancing through scripture; for instance, James writes about the development of one fruit in cooperation with another—“My brethren, count it all joy when you fall into various trials, knowing that the testing of your faith produces patience (1:3).”   It appears that the fruit of the Spirit, like peaches or apples, develop and ripen through the climate (joy) and environment (trials) surrounding them.

Paul also writes in Romans, “We rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us” (5:4, 5).

The book of Galatians teaches with intent the difference between attempting to build relationship with God through adherence to rules or attempts at righteousness through self-effort in contrast to immediate position in God’s family through adoption.  Paul’s frustrated cry, “my little children, for whom I am again in the anguish of childbirth until Christ is formed in you!” (Galatians 4:19) speaks of the journey of faith we began the moment we received Jesus as our Savior and continues until the day we see Him.

It is through His work in our hearts that Christ is formed in us—“And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:6).

Another verse, frequently used as a goad to direct the unsuspecting into pet doctrines, urges, “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, so now, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure” (Philippians 2:12, 13).

The “fear and trembling” acknowledged here is easy to account for when you recognize “Therefore…” follows the passage where Paul exhorts the Philippian church to, “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus, who…made Himself of no reputation, taking the form of a bondservant” (Philippians 2:5-7).  Recognizing God at work in our lives leads to humility instead of self-righteousness.  The Spirit who gifts us with power, love, and self-control also invites us to “come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).

I cannot begin to tell you how many years I spent attempting to work out my own salvation without paying any attention to what God was working in me—my attempts were based on the desires and expectations that either others had for me or my own beliefs about life.  However, the emphasis must not be on our efforts; instead, God’s intention is His work in our hearts.  His pleasure is our cooperation.

He has called us to live fruitful lives, and this is how it is possible:  “Abide in me, and I in you.  As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.  I am the vine; you are the branches.  Whoever abides in me and I in him he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing…By this my Father is glorified, that you bear much fruit and so prove to be my disciples” (John 15:4-5, 8).