9 Ways Successful Christians Exercise Self-Control

Successful Christians are self-controlled Christians.  You simply cannot live a victorious Christian life without self-control.  If you want to grow, or be used by God in a significant way, or be an effective parent, or have a great marriage, or be a leader that people will follow, you must have self-control -- the ability to do the right thing even when you don't feel like it.  Here are nine ways that you must exercise self-control to be a successful Christian:

1.  You need self-control to master your mood.  To be controlled by your commitments and values rather than your emotions.  Proverbs 25:28 (TLB) “A man without self-control is as defenseless as a city with broken-down walls.”

2.  Your need self-control to watch your words.  Proverbs 13:3 (NIV) “Those who guard their lips preserve their lives, but those who speak rashly will come to ruin.”

3.  You need self-control to restrain your reactions.  Proverbs 19:11 (GNT) “If you are sensible, you will control your temper. When someone wrongs you, it is a great virtue to ignore it.”  Pastor Rick Warren said, “A lot of potential influence can be cut short by a short temper.”

4.  You need self-control to tame your thoughts.  Romans 13:14 (NIV) “Rather, clothe yourselves with the Lord Jesus Christ, and do not think about how to gratify the desires of the flesh.”  All sin begins in the mind.  If you can’t control your thought-life, then you will not be able to control your actions.

5.  You need to self-control to stick to your schedule.  Pastor Rick Warren said, “If you don’t determine how you will spend your time, you can be sure that others will decide for you.  You’ll have to become a great steward of time to be successful in life.”  Ephesians 5:15 (Phillips) “Make the best use of your time, despite all the difficulties of these days.”

6.  You need self-control to defeat your sinful desires.  1 Thessalonians 4:3-4 (CSB) “3 For this is God’s will, your sanctification: that you keep away from sexual immorality, 4 that each of you knows how to control his own body in holiness and honor, 5 not with lustful passions, like the Gentiles, who don’t know God.”  Ephesians 5:18 “And don’t get drunk with wine, which leads to reckless living, but be filled by the Spirit.”  John Piper said, "Self-control is saying no to sinful desires, even when it hurts."

7.  You need self-control to guard your eyes.  Matthew 5:29 “If your right eye causes you to sin, gouge it out and throw it away. For it is better that you lose one of the parts of your body than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.”  In order to overcome pornography and lust, you have to exercise self-control.

8.  You need self-control to stabilize your spending.  Proverbs 21:20 (TLB) “The wise man saves for the future, but the foolish man spends whatever he gets.”  Pastor Rick Warren said that successful people “learn to live on less than what they make, and they invest the difference into savings and give to causes that matter.  The value of a budget is that it tells your money where you want it go rather than wondering where it went!”  Dave Ramsey often says, “If you live like no one else, one day you will live like no one else.”  If you want to succeed financially and be a good steward of your money, you must have self-control.

9.  You need self-control to maintain your health.  1 Corinthians 6:19-20 (TLB) “19 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. 20 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.”  Your body belongs to God, and that means you must not only keep it pure, but you need to keep it healthy.  The healthier you are, the more you can accomplish for God, and the more you can enjoy those accomplishments.  But good health requires self-control.