The Fruit of Self-Control | Landon Schott | Mercy Culture Church

how many ready for the word in luke chapter 22 verse 47 it says why he was still speaking this is jesus a crowd arrived and led by a man called judas one of the 12 he approached jesus to kiss him but jesus asked judas are you betraying the son of man with the kiss those around jesus saw what was about to happen lord should we strike with our swords verse 50 and one of them struck the servant of the high priest cutting off his right ear but jesus answered no more of this he touched the man's ear and healed him and jesus said to the chief priest of the temple's officers and the elders who were who came for him have you come out with swords and clubs would you have come against me as an outlaw every day i was with you in the temple courts and you did not lay a hand but the hour belongs to you and the power of darkness i came to tell you today that the lord is requiring self-control the title of this message this morning is the fruit of the spirit self-control let's pray so lord we declare right now that your word is true let every man be a liar i declare your word as a lamp into our feet and a light into our path so lord we hide your word in our hearts so we won't sin against you holy spirit i ask you to breathe upon your word i pray your written word would become logos i pray that logos would become rain a personal revelation to us today lord i declare right now ears to hear hearts to receive minds to understand what your spirit is saying so today we pray no spirit but the holy spirit is welcome in this room we say spirit of fear and every other foul spirit you must go holy spirit come and reign holy spirit we declare we don't make room for you but we give you the entire room father i thank you nobody came to hear me we all came to hear you so together we pray speak lord your servants are listening and all god's people said amen and amen we are stewarding a prophetic word this year on radical love this is a matthew 22 year this is a year where we will love god with all of our heart soul mind strength and when you love god radically it's when you love him for no reason because when you love him for no reason no love no reason can take your love from him we're in a series on the fruit of the spirit the fruit of spirit simplified is the evidence of relationship with the holy spirit we find this in galatians 5 22 where it says the fruit of the spirit is love joy peace kindness goodness faithfulness gentleness and the last one is self-control someone say self-control now i decided to preach on self-control because the politicians are here today i'm joking we set this many months before they came it just happened to line up but not only do politicians need self-control everybody needs self-control in fact i don't know anybody that doesn't need self-control so turn your neighbor and say you need to grow in

self-control now turn the person that said that so rudely to you and say you too now i'm joking today but seriously you can sit in services and you can waste the entire service thinking about everybody in your life that needs self-control or you can spiritually grow today by taking this word taking the sword bring it to your own heart and flesh and ask the lord where in my life do i need to develop self-control so if you want to spiritually grow today i would encourage you not to listen to this message and think about one person besides yourself but i know it'll take a lot of self-control to do that now here's the truth everyone needs to grow in self-control and watch this and no one has self-control in every area and if you do think you have self-control in every area you're either deceived or a deceiver because everybody needs to grow in self-control turn your neighbor and say it's time to grow now if i'm honest with you i think self-control is the most challenging fruit to develop and i know it has been the most challenging fruit to produce in my life i know that i have done 40 day fast that i have named the self-control fast and even after the 40 days of fasting i still need to grow in self-control so i know if this has been the hardest area for me to grow in this might be a challenging area for you to grow in as well so what is self control self-control is the spirit empowered ability to rule over your desires your thoughts your emotions your actions in alignment with god's word especially in times of Temptation, pressure, and injustice. Biblically, it refers to submitting one's will and desires to the guidance and the governance of the Holy Spirit, enabling believers to resist temptation, to choose righteousness, and to lead spiritual lives of freedom. This is important. Self-control is a divine gift in a personal discipline, essential for godly living. It bridges Hebrew and Greek understanding, emphasizing mastery over someone's thoughts through the Spirit's work, with practical implications of resisting temptation or fostering Christian character.

Listen to this. It is not just willpower, but it is dunamis power produced in us by the Holy Spirit. Now, if you are like me and you need a simplified version, let me give you the simplified version. Simplified self-control is the Spirit's empowerment and ability, watch this, to say no to sin and yes to righteousness. All of that I could sum up by saying the Holy Spirit helps you say no. Someone say no. No to what is ungodly and yes to righteousness. So let me give you the etymology of the word. Now, this is one of the most difficult and beautiful things about when you're teaching the Bible is the Bible wasn't written in English. The Bible was written in Hebrew, Greek, and Americ. So that means this, is that the Hebrew and Greek language is so much richer than our English language. One rabbi said reading the Bible in English is like kissing a woman through a veil or looking at a picture in black and white. You're missing the depth of the word. So it's important to look at what the Hebrew and the Greek says about different words. Now, when I say Hebrew, if it was in the Old Testament, I'm talking about original Hebrew. But in the Greek, we have what's called the Septuagint, which is the Greek translation of the Hebrew. So what I'm trying to explain to you

is when you look at the Bible in the original language, it gives you great depth to what it is saying. So let's look at the Hebrew together. The first word we get in the Hebrew is the word gets there, which means to inclination or an impulse or a desire that could be good or evil or what self-control governs. So the first word in the Hebrew is this governance, this ability to lord over or control areas in your life. This etymology of this word, gets there, meant to shape like a potter is shaping clay where the potter has to use restraint to get the image or the product that he's looking for. We also get this word matsir, which comes from the term meaning restraint. So there's a governance and there's a restraint in Hebrew. One of my favorite Hebrew words is the word ruach, which means the spirit's breath or the source of self-control is led by the spirit. This is really important because when we think of self-control in the natural language, you think of willpower. You think of discipline, self-discipline, or when you think of self-control in our English words, we think about your ability to accomplish it. But when we look at it in the Hebrew, it literally means it is the spirit's governance on you that causes you to restrain. So the Greek has another definition of this. And in the Greek, it links to this other word

where it's the word akatea. And akatea means this, it means self-control or mastery over one's desires, passions, especially sensual or sexual desires. We see this in the root word coming out when Paul was talking about or using 1 Corinthians 9 when he speaks to an athlete that disciplines his body. This word has athletic roots where an athlete has to have discipline in order to accomplish this task at hand. 1 Corinthians 9, 27 says this, or verse 25, every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we are imperishable. So I do not run aimlessly as I do boxing, beating in the air, but I discipline my body and I bring it under control. Someone say self-control. Look at this. Least after preaching to others, I myself may be disqualified. That word self-control when Paul uses it is the word sofroimos. It means to admonishing or calling a soundness of mind to moderate. Great and self-control Now when the bible speaks of self-control It means to say yes to god. Yes to righteousness and no to sin And it's interesting because when we say righteousness righteousness is the number one topic the bible mentions outside of god and man

There is no other topic in the bible that is mentioned more Than righteousness outside of god and man. So watch self-control Self-control Is the spirit's empowerment to help you live a righteous life. What does it mean to be righteous? It means to do what's right in god's eyes not your own eyes But in god's eyes now touch your neighbor and say listen to this part. This is important You have to get this you can't walk away. Don't leave today and not understand this. I want you to understand this Here it is ready for this self-control is spiritual Like pastor, that's really simple. I know but simple things are profound And this is why we struggle with self-control is because we lack spirituality Isn't it amazing that some of the most athletic Discipline eaters, you know, that's the kind of people that bring their own meat to a restaurant They're like sir, what would you like? Don't worry. I brought my own And my own protein powder. I'm good to go. I'm eating 42 calories a day I've been to restaurants with pastor steve and that has happened We're at a pizza place he's like i'm only eating protein just give me just give me a plate of pepperonis I'm, like that's gross. It's weird, man Some people listen, listen, they could be so disciplined in so many areas of their life They could have discipline to seek they could be disciplined in their finances They could be disciplined in their daily routine But watch they have no self-control And those same people that are the the bodybuilders are the same one that have zero self-control when it comes to sexuality They could have zero self-control in what comes out of their mouth You have to change your understanding that this is not a self-discipline issue. This is a spiritual issue Someone say prove it Glad you asked me to first timothy. Excuse me. Second timothy one seven, you know this scripture It says god has not given us a spirit of fear So this is a spiritual statement, you know this statement, okay

But of power love and most people say sound mind right here And it's true a translation is sound mind because I already explained greek and hebrew has a robust understanding But it's actually not sound mind. The root word is self-control Self-control is spiritual And if you don't address it spiritually, you will never grow In self-control, are you here with me today? Okay, so if it is spiritual It means this that you cannot develop it without the help of the holy spirit So If you try to develop the fruit of the spirit on your own you will just create a counterfeit representation of something spiritual that you birthed in the flesh and ask Abraham how well it went for him when he birthed something in the flesh So let's learn more about self-control. There's about 25 verses in the bible on self-control depending on what? Translations you read there's about 15 in the old testament about 10 in the new testament And some of those greek and hebrew words come out in english as disciplined temperance or a sober-mindedness But because it's spiritual self-control is a form of spiritual warfare. Let me show you second corinthians 10 5 It says we destroy every argument and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of god Look at this and we take every thought captive To make it obey christ Self-control Is how you either engage in spiritual warfare or give in to spiritual warfare? The bible teaches men and women both to have self-control Titus 2 20 or titus 2 2 and 6 says older men are to be sober-minded. There's that sober-minded again dignified Self-control sound in faith in love and in steadfastness Likewise urge younger men to be self-controlled First timothy 2 9 likewise also women should adore themselves with respectable apparel modesty and Self-control not with braided hair or gold or pearls or costly attire paul speaking to a cultural thing where there was

Prostitutes coming into church services dressed like prostitutes in church services And so he's bringing an awareness of hey your last lifestyle needs to reflect your New life with God this doesn't mean that you can't do your hair braid your hair or wear earrings at church today But the the root of the teaching is we all need self-control and modesty in everything we do wear and say amen We need self-control in leadership first timothy 3 says this The saying is trustworthy if anyone aspires to be in an office of an overseer. This is a modern day pastor He desires a noble task therefore an overseer must be above reproach the husband of one wife sober-minded Look at this self-controlled Respectable hospitable and able to teach it goes on and on and the rest of it is in your notes Now I just wanted to give a pastor moment real quick because there's been numerous Podcasts and numerous attacks on our church and my character and this scripture has been brought up as an accusation Against me in the past few weeks and those that don't understand the bible will misunderstand the difference between personal instructions of character and public spiritual leadership confronting principalities and spiritual forces So when we expose witchcraft when we expose what the enemy's doing when we say hey, there's witches over here doing this Hey, there's a spirit that's coming after our children in transgenderism When we come against these things what i'm doing is I am bringing a spiritual awareness of what's happening spiritually This isn't an attack on anyone's personal character or defaming anyone one-on-one This is me as a spiritual leader teaching you how to understand spiritual things Are you with me? So it's really easy to say. Hey, you're mean from the pulpit and I said no i'm biblical from the pulpit And so people that don't understand Sound doctrine will take one scripture out of context to try to get a pastor to be more quiet in the pulpit So that a past someone watch without accountability of their own can try to accuse of no accountability when they have none of their own Can I teach you today? So it did seem that nice when john the baptist was calling out harrods It didn't seem that nice when elijah was calling out the prophets of baal saying maybe your god is using the restroom

Mocking their false worship. It didn't seem too nice when jesus said to peter get behind me satan You're an offense unto me watch he was teaching about spiritual things But because the church is so biblically ignorant and soft Whenever the shepherd brings out the rod they call it church abuse And I would say no there's too many sheep that didn't learn how to heed to a shepherd And sheep are wandering off and the rod comes to correct them to bring them back in line and they say it's trauma And I say See most people don't want to be pastored most people don't want to be led And here's the thing is you gotta let sheep go You can bring them back but watch at some point you can't control them Because we have to teach the difference church between what is self-control and what is control Let me teach you self-control. Excuse me control is exerting your own willpower over external circumstances or People which means this it's a dominance over others Where self-control is about governing yourself under god's authority? So control is when you're trying to force people To submit to the lord or to submit to you when self-control is we all have to learn On our owns to yield and to submit to the holy spirit So let me ask this question. Why is the fruit of self-control? So challenging to produce And the answer is because most christians are flesh led not spirit led Most christians Are led by their own flesh. They are not led by the holy spirit today I'm going to give you four areas that every christian needs to grow in self-control Turn your neighbor and say he's talking to you Now correct them and say no he said not to do that this service Okay, just seeing if you're awake number one. You need to develop self-control in your thoughts Romans 8 5 for those who live according to the flesh set their minds on fleshly things But those who live according to the spirits that their minds on the things of the spirit See self-control starts in the mind

Long before it is shown in your behavior Romans 12 1 says do not be conformed to this world But be transformed with the renewing of your mind that by the testing of this you may discern What is the will of god and what is good acceptable and perfect? Do you know we've developed in our discipleship that we call connect with god an entire way That you can grow in self-control in your thoughts. You know what the bible calls it meditation An entire way where you learn how to meditate. Listen meditation is not a weird yoga new age thing Meditation is a biblical thing and what it means is this it means that you put your thoughts on god intentionally and strategically Moses god told moses and joshua meditate on god's word day and night in the morning and the evening let yourself constantly be thinking about it so maybe If your thoughts aren't on god enough, maybe the enemy will use your thoughts to put it on things. It shouldn't be on A lot of people struggle with this Their minds wander they're inundated with their thoughts and they have not begun the process of renewing their mind I would encourage you to start tracking and thinking about what do I think about the most? Do I think about making money the most do I think about impulses the most do I think about me the most? What am I thinking about? I do a little daily, uh discipline in my life where I I try not to talk to a human being I try not to look at anything on my phone until I talk to god first And I found myself looking What's crypto doing? What are stocks doing? What's going on in the world? What are people saying and i'm constantly looking for someone else It's this impulse to grab and what else is going on versus being disciplined In your thoughts towards god There's many different ways you can do it. There's many different things you can do but Today, I want you to ask yourself are my thoughts on god more or my thoughts on things of the flesh more Is the holy spirit leading my thoughts? Or am I leading my thoughts?

Number two every christian needs to grow in self-control in fleshly desires and in temptations First john 2 6 says this for all of the world The desires of the flesh the desires of the eyes and the pride of life is not from the father But is the world when I say fleshly desires it could be summed up in first john 2 It is the lust of the flesh the lust of the eyes and the pride of life It could be summed up into these three lusts and these three temptations Let's look at what first corinthians 6 says Beginning in verse 12. It's in your notes. It says all things are lawful for me But are not all things are helpful All things are lawful for me But I will not be dominated by anything verse 13 food is meant for the stomach And stomach for the food and god will destroy both of those But the body is not meant for sexual immorality For the lord and the lord for the body look at this verse 18, I want everyone to look look at god's word flee from sexual immorality Every other sin a person commits outside their body But a sexually immoral person's sins are against his own body It means this is sexually perverted sins immorality Will affect you physically emotionally and spiritually I'll give you a quick example Uh, I was in my traveling days of ministry and this this girl came up to the altar for prayer And she said I i'm being harassed by demons. I'm hearing things things are moving in my room I I I I need deliverance and as soon as she came up to me instantly, I knew that she was Sexually involved with somebody who wasn't their spouse just instantly just felt it felt the discernment come on me And I I I said hey, I want to I want to just be be kind in how I say this I said, but are you are you sexually active with someone that's not your spouse instantly? She starts crying She said it's my boyfriend. He's involved in drugs He's involved in all sorts of witchcraft things and I was like darling

Of course, you're going to be harassed because you're in a covenant with witchcraft See when you are sexually Involved with your spouse It is under the divine blessing of god. It is a covenant between one man one woman and their god Anytime you are involved in any sexual activity outside Those parameters of one man one woman And they're God you're engaging in demonic activity and You wonder why after you slept with that person all of a sudden you got this anxiety You're wondering why these things start attacking you you wondering why these things started messing with you It could be linked back because watch this because your sexual relationship is spiritual God ordained it God created it God blessed it But when you're involved in sexual out activity outside God's blessing then you are opening yourself up to demonic Activity that you will not know the consequences until it happens One of the greatest mistakes of my adult life was leaving the tub on accidentally too long and I come back in and I just forgot in Water is everywhere, and I'm like hey, no big deal I'm gonna use 20,000 pick this up before Heather gets home, and it's everything's gonna be okay And I start cleaning this thing up, and then I realized that water goes wherever it wants to And it wanted to go underneath the cabinets And then it wanted to go into the next hall And then I started noticing that all of the rooms that were connected to that bathroom all had water in it all of a sudden And I realized hey, this is the greatest mistake of my adult life potentially that I'm gonna need I'm gonna need help on this One's outside my control watch. I can't pick up this mess See that's what happens when you get involved sexually outside the covenant of marriage is you do not know where those demons spread You do not know what areas they go into and you will have more Destruction than you realize so what it says it affects your body physically emotionally and spiritually

Simplified it means this it will affect your relationship with God hear me church This is not a sex drugs and rock and roll sermon. This is I want you in right standing with God's sermon I want you pure in the sight of God. I want you living an upright life I want God speaking to you and you speaking to him I want you right with God, so if you want to be right with God It means this is you have to get self-control from the Holy Spirit Says goes on in verse 19 says do you not know look at this your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit From whom you have from God watch this we're about to destroy the the pro-abortion movement right now you ready for this You are not your own There's no such thing as my body my choice when you're a Christian So if you're a Christian walking around quoting the false prophets of the media The God the prophets of Molech that are saying my body my choice. Let me let me help you Let me spiritually guide you you are not a follower of Jesus. You are an ambassador of a demon called Molech Because our scripture doesn't say my body my choice God's Word says you are not your own For you were bought with a price look at this so glorify God or honor God in your body See self-control is the power to say no to sin watch this because you've already said yes to the Holy Spirit I don't go away I don't go around to attractive women and just say no no no no Because 20 years ago on July 16th, I said yes I said yes, so watch my yes to her Automatically put a no on all the others. Are you here with me? Automatically says no to these things. Let's look at more scripture. Just so you're aware of this, okay I want you to be aware of this That just because you're tempted with something Does not mean you are in sin Because there's people in this room that are tempted all the time They're tempted by the fact that they're tempted by the fact that they're tempted by the fact that they're tempted by the fact that People in this room that are tempted all the time with heterosexual sins with homosexual sins and every other sins in between And from a biblical perspective and i've had people argue with me about this and get so mad when I say this stuff But from a biblical perspective you could be tempted and not be in sin

What causes you to be in sin is your actions that you put to your temptation? Let me show you why I say this because second corinthians 5 21 says this For he jesus made him to be sin who knew no sin. This is god speaking about Jesus So that we might become the righteousness of Christ. So 2nd Corinthians 5 21 look at it in your word Look at this. It says he knew no sin Jesus was without sin if that's not enough for you Let's read Hebrews 4 15 for we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weakness Look at this, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are look at this yet without sin So Jesus was tempted go read it Matthew 4 a Satan himself did it so Jesus was tempted yet He was without sin But let me tell you how nasty the devil is the devil tempts you you feel bad about the temptation Then he accuses you because you're tempted then it causes you to get into the temptation That wasn't sin in the first place. I I Can't tell you how many people have bought into the lie of the enemy that as soon as you're 10, I'm bad Soon as you're tempted with same-sex attraction see I'm still bound. I'm no no What makes you bound is your participation? What makes you bound is your involvement? Listen when the enemy tells you that you're in sin because his tip because you're tempted you're being tempted Remind him he's going to hell and will burn for all eternity Quit Letting the enemy bully you Beat you up and be a spiritual punching bag to the accuser of the brethren Temptation is not sin. Let me pass to you even further and you are not your temptation Another strategy the enemies to get you identify. I can't tell you how many people I have met They're like I'm a gay Christian. I'm like there's no such thing You don't get to be when I don't get to be a heterosexual Sitting Christian, you don't get to be a homosexual. What I mean is I'm still attracted. No. No, you have bad doctrine You have bad theology. We are sons. We are daughters bought with the price holy and pleasing unto the Lord

You don't get to be a gay Christian. You don't get to be a divorce Christian. You don't get to be a lying Christian You don't get to be a perverted Christian. You don't get any other title. The only thing we are is Christ follower Now if you mean hey, I'm still tempted with this great we all got our temptations Everyone in this room has their temptation and everyone is tempted differently But it's amazing. Some people are tempted with food and some people are tempted with sexual perversion And in the church setting we look down on somebody that has a different temptation like oh, they're less than us And guess who did that the Pharisees did that? See we need to understand that we need to grow in our self-control With all forms of temptation someone say I am NOT my temptation Someone say temptation is not sin Someone say the Lord rebuke you devil. Come on. Get this you can say I'm not going for it anymore. Come on I'm not I'm not gonna fall into the trap anymore of the enemy and stay in the same place Today is a day you spiritually grow because you're not going for it anymore You spiritually grow because you're not believed in the devil's lies anymore. I Got to keep going third self-control in your emotions James 1 19 know this my brother let every person be quick to hear slow to speak slow to anger For the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God Self-control is not emotionlessness It's you ruling over your emotions instead of being ruled by your emotions One thing that I do in my house is I teach my sons how to be men before they're men Because the world is teaching them that they can choose if they're a man or not In our house, there's no choice The Bible says to raise your children up in the way that they should go So I will teach my boys how to be a man act like a man be a man and I've had my sons push Back like I'm not a man. I'm like I know but I know 40 year olds that aren't either So I'm teaching 10 and 6 year olds how to be a man because there's not a day that you just become a man It's my job to teach you how to be a man So my kindergarten will go and kill a spider with his hands and go. I'm a man

So one thing that I don't let my kids do is I don't let them cry out of control You know what I'm talking about Like when it looks like there's literally legions of demons coming out of a child all at once And it's this flailing just like just screaming blood-curdling out of control Like, you know when they're really hurt because there's not much noise. It's more about And you know, they're really hurt But sometimes they'll get hurt and it's this out of control And I'll be honest at times Heather hasn't liked it, but they'll start crying out of control. I'll go hey I think you can try you can cry but you got to cry in control. I Coach in the sports league. I don't let my kids cry when they lose, you know, why cuz adult losers cry when they lose Head up man up. I told the little girls man up Wait, no, not you. You know what? I mean? We don't cry when we lose we shake the person that beat us in the we shake their hand look him in the eyeball Tell him a good job and we go back and we battle another day watch get your emote But watch this we're talking. I'm kind of talking about kids, but I'm talking kind of talking about you, too Because some of you do things like that when I preach things you don't like And Then you go home and you talk about it in front of your children and you teach your children to be out of control in their emotions Rather than just saying hey, what is God's Word say? And it doesn't matter if you are 6 or 60 we all need self-control in our emotions Can every husband say amen? Just kidding. No, we all need self-control Just kidding that wasn't anybody Your emotions are indicators not dictators our culture celebrates the venting and rage of emotions So let me get this the tree hugging liberals that like electric cars are now destroying all of the Tesla's

Does that make sense to you no, do you know why because it's spiritual Because someone got a participation trophy when they were 10 and now they're keying cars when they're 30 Let me help you Ephesians 426 says this be angry in sin not Watch this the same way you could be tempted and not in sin. You could be angry and Not in sin, you know God gets angry Jesus was angry You could be angry But the same with your temptation what causes you to fall into the lack of self-control is when you respond To your anger watch in the flesh I was speaking to a husband that's very irritated with his wife. I Gave him the very deep spiritual advice of join the club There's not a human being on the planet that I am more passionately in love with Heather I chase her around like we're teenagers But there's not a human being on the planet That irritates me more You know, we call that marriage I'm talking to this husband, and he's irritated. He's frustrated and I said to him. What's the Lord saying about your wife? See what we do with our anger what we do with our frustration have you prayed about your wife Have you asked the Lord Lord? What's your heart? How about your enemies? How about the people they're talking? I remember when I was a kid Lord what's your heart? How about your enemies? How about the people they're talking? I remember when Nate was running for office and that liar was just lying non-stop the Christian liar You know I'm talking about. Yeah the Christian Republican liar Just just lying like a dog these politicians don't know anything about that. You don't know what that's like to go through No, this is nasty This is nasty stuff And I remember over and over and over he would call me all fired up. They're saying this and they're saying that there's a line I'm like all right. Let's pray. Let's ask the Lord what he wants us to do and how he wants us to respond What if you had the Holy Spirit's help that you wouldn't react anymore

That you would respond and respond godly. Are you here with me today number four self-control in your words? What you say is often the first place that self-control breaks down The tongue is the thermometer of the soul Your mouth can get you in the greatest trouble in your life Now can I get a husband say amen? One word that tears down can destroy months or years of building up You know you can destroy in your children in one moment Oh man, I made the biggest mistake of my parenting life last year. And my 13 year old is the sweetest girl in the world. She just loves God so much. And she irritated me. And her pattern of behavior irritated me. And in one moment, I didn't swear at her, I didn't cuss at her, I didn't call her a name. But in one moment, I brought up something that was personal and I compared her actions to something that she went through. And in one moment, I crushed her. And it was one of the most, I would put it in top three most regrettable things I ever went through in my entire life, when I hurt my precious baby girl. And it was one stupid moment of a lack of self-control. She was upset for days. I mean, this is one that dates and flowers and all of that stuff couldn't fix. This was one that I had to look her in the eyeballs and say, hey, your dad is an idiot. I'm sorry, it's not true.

This is on me, this isn't on you. And in one moment of 13 years of building up, I can hurt so deeply in one moment of lack of self-control. And I'm guessing I'm not the only one in the room. I'm guessing I'm not the only one that has damaged relationships and really important things with one moment of lack of self-control. Proverbs 13, three says, whoever guards his mouth preserves life. Proverbs 17, 28 says, even a fool who keeps silent is thought wise. James three probably is the best verse. It says, the tongue is so small, yet it boasts of greater things. It could set a forest ablaze. The tongue is fine, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, restrains the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of our life and set on fire by hell. This is an area that all of us have lacked self-control. And here's what I wanna let you know is that if you let it, the lack of self-control will destroy your life. There's more stuff in my notes I don't have time to get into today. But as I opened up, I have struggled in self-control my whole life. I have been very strategic. I've been very intentional,

but it's something that I've still had to develop. Heather and I will be celebrating 20 years in July. And for the first five years, I would put myself up against anyone as the worst husband of the year. We would fight and in order to control her, I would say stuff to Heather, like, well, let's just get divorced. I would say that, you realize how foolish that is? No one should ever say that. That word should be off the table. And if you don't have the self-control to communicate in the moment, then go find some space, go connect with God and then go re-engage. But I wasn't a good leader and it took me years that I had to reap the percussions of the damage that I did to my wife. I lacked self-control with my eyes. I was addicted to pornography for years and engaged and gave into it. I remember one time as I'm allowing these demonic things into my life, Heather and I are on a road trip and I'm driving home and I hear this audible voice out loud. She's asleep next to me, we're driving at night. And I hear this voice saying, leave her before you have kids. This is the stage we were at because of the lack of self-control in so many areas,

I had opened up my family and our life to the demonic and the demonic was wreaking havoc in our lives because I wasn't leading with the spirit, I was leading in the flesh. And if it wasn't for the grace of God and the amazing character of my wife, you wouldn't even have a church called Mercy Culture because we would have been disqualified, we would have given up and we would have been broken and had our entire life destroyed. This thing almost didn't happen, watch, because of the lack. of self-control. If I'm really honest with you, this week I had a hard time writing this message because everything I preach, I'm passionate about because I live it. And I said to the Lord in a daily encounter, Lord, I'm having a hard time preaching about self-control when I've struggled with it for so long. And I heard the Lord say, then just testify. I'm not up here telling you I got it all together. I'm not up here saying I don't have bad days. I'm up here saying that I understand the battle of the flesh and the spirit, and the battle is won by the one you feed the most. And if you feed your spirit, I promise you with the Holy Spirit's help, you can get on the other side of this demon called the lack of self-control.

So let's close with the story that we opened up with. This is a story about the disciple that lacked self-control. It's a story of Peter, Jesus, and this moment of no self-control. We're reading from Luke 18. The author is the apostle Luke, who is also a physician and a historian. This was written around 60 to 62 AD, and the location was the Garden of Gethsemane, which is right outside the Eastern Gate, which is still there today. This story is also mentioned in Matthew 26, Mark 14, and John chapter 18, but Luke 22 is the only version that mentions the healing, maybe because Luke was a physician. This is known as the passion chapter. It's covering the betrayal, the last supper, the suffering in the garden, and in the arrest. Now in John chapter 18 is where we find out Peter is the disciple. Every other gospel only mentions him as a disciple. It also mentions the man's name was Malchus. See, Israel was under Roman occupation. It was Passover, and tensions were high, and uprisings were common, and a lack of self-control was very common for the disciple Peter. He had numerous disastrous moments of denying, cutting off ears, all sorts of things that he became very well known for.

So here we learn this lesson that even one of the greatest disciples who was with Jesus every day, who saw Jesus, who walked with Jesus still lacked self-control. You go ahead and start playing. Do you know that you can daily encounter every day and still lack self-control? Peter struggled with self-control, and I want you to know that no one in this room is perfect, and no one gets it right every time. No person has total self-control, but you can walk in self-control. Peter grabs his sword, and according to Scripture, he cuts off the ear of a soldier. Now, we know the sword in the Bible represents what? The word. So what was his mistake? He is using the word against someone else's flesh rather than using the word to cut off his flesh. Do you know that anytime you use the Bible to hurt people, that's witchcraft? He cuts off, watch this, the man's ear, and he attacks the flesh. Jesus then teaches Peter how to have self-control, watch this, he calmly confronts Judas, corrects Peter, and watch, he takes the ear, and he puts it back on the man's ear, watch this, because even the areas

that we lack self-control and damage others, Jesus still has the ability to heal. And some of you think your lack of self-control has done irreparable damages to your family. But I came to you with the Word of God today to let you know that Jesus still heals what your lack of self-control hurts. And the same way that He healed the man's ear, He can heal your marriage, He can heal your child, He can heal your friendship, He can heal you from anything that you have done. I told you this message wasn't about your neighbor, that this message was about you. And I came to tell you today that Jesus still heals, He still delivers, He sets free, and He has the power. Do you know why? He's the only person who has ever lived who was fully under self-control. Watch this, really soft. No one has lived a life of total self-control but Jesus. Oh, look at His life. Look at Jesus' ultimate model of self-control. He restrained Peter, He healed the wound, He submitted to an unjust arrest, He spoke calmly and truthfully under all pressure and all accusations, He fulfilled the prophets. Watch this, His obedience fulfilled, and He chose the cup of suffering. Watch this, Jesus actually saved us from our sin.

Watch, because of His self-control. If Jesus didn't have self-control, He would have gave up in the garden. But His self-control led Him to the cross. Watch this, because He radically loved us. He had total self-control. When you radically love God, it will produce self-control in you. You know the story of Peter. You know how he betrayed. He went from cutting off years to denying. He was a hot mess. Jesus met with him on the boat. I preach about this in the first radical love of the year. Jesus met with him by the fire. What did He say to him over and over? He said, do you love me? Do you love me? Do you agape love? Do you radically love me? Watch, in that moment that Peter decided to radically love, something happened in him. I love God's word, and I wanna show you this. This is wild, 2 Peter 1.3. Put it on the screen. It'll be the last scripture I wanna show you today. First, 2 Peter 1.3. Everybody look at this at every campus. Watch this. His divine power has granted us

to all things that pertain to life and godliness through the knowledge of Him who called us into His own glory and excellence by which He has granted us His precious and very great promises that so through them you may be partakers of divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is the world because of its sinful desires. Watch this. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue and with virtue knowledge and with knowledge self-control and with self-control steadfastness and with steadfastness godliness and with godliness brotherly affection and with brotherly affection. Watch this, love. Verse eight. For these are the qualities of yours in increasing, watch, they keep you from being inactive, watch, through the spirit chapter, and unfruitful. Look at verse 10. Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election for if you practice these qualities, look at this, you will never fail. Go back to the beginning of that verse. Play that a little softer. Go back to the beginning of the verse. I want you to watch this again.

What is that verse heading? That's 2 Peter. Do you know who wrote the book of 2 Peter? Take a wild guess. The disciple who struggled with self-control is teaching the New Testament church how to live a fruitful life, watch, of self-control. The denying, ear-cutting, reckless, lack of self-control disciple is now teaching New Testament disciples, New Testament believers, and today, modern-day disciples, followers of Jesus, how to live fruitful lives of self-control. How did he go from the ear-cutter to the fruit inspector? Well, Acts 1 and 2 happened. Jesus prophesied, gave his spirit. Acts 2, they were baptized in the Holy Spirit, and watch, he starts producing. fruit Would you bow your heads and close your eyes with me all over this place? I? Came to tell you That the Holy Spirit will help you produce self-control And we're entering a season the Lord is requiring self-control So with every head bowed and every I close at every campus. I'm asking the same question. Where do you lack self-control? Is it in your thoughts is it in your temptations is it in your emotions is it in your word? And all over this place in every single campus right now wherever you lack Self-control just begin to ask the Holy Spirit right now to help you

Campus pastors are coming to every stage at every campus But right now wherever you are right now just begin to ask the Holy Spirit for his help This is what he does you cannot bear fruit on your own. It is spiritual You need the Holy Spirit's help wherever you are right now. Don't let me do it for you right where you're at. Just ask him You Now if you're passionate about this and you really want to spiritually grow and you really want freedom Stand your feet all over this place lift your hands as high as they can Just say Holy Spirit help me Just say Holy Spirit help me Spirit of Jesus help me. I need your help Here's what you're praying. Help me learn how to submit to you. That's your prayer Help me learn how to submit pray teach me how to submit to you Even lifting your hands is a sign of surrender. That's literally what you're physically doing That is your prayer right now. Teach me how to surrender all over this place. Just begin to tell God. Yes right now Just begin to tell God. Yes, give them your yes right now. Come on self-control starts with saying yes to God And no to temptation. Yes to God. No to the enemy. Yes to God. No to principalities Yes to God Lord today. We give you our yes Lord. We say we want what you want So show us what you want. Now. I pray right now over my friends I pray over my friends that are struggling in their faith that they're struggling and their self-control and I pray right now They every demonic attack over their life over their mind over their bodies over their families Holy Spirit. I ask right now for you to come. Would you come like a wind? Would you come like a flood? Would you come Lord and would you renew minds? Would you would you touch hearts? I pray that you would set people free Lord. I pray today that you would do what only you can do. Holy Spirit We're not looking to a man. We're looking to you. We ask you today for your help All over this place Would you help us We pray this in Jesus mighty name and all of God's people said amen and amen