Slow to Anger

“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32, KJV. Other citations are from the New American Standard Bible, unless otherwise noted.)

— Ernie Kuenzli

The theme text above highlights the importance of ruling our spirit. To do this, one must exercise self-control. Doing so is one way the Christian guards the heart because it ensures that the inner life is not ruled by selfishness. Proverbs 16:32 compares this self-control to the work of conquering a city and teaches that the greater victory is not over outward enemies but over the impulses of the heart. The first half of the proverb emphasizes the difficulty of controlling anger. Anger rises quickly, presses for expression, and often seeks to justify itself after it has lashed out. If the heart is to be guarded, such impulses must not be allowed to rule unchecked.

We find the same emphasis on self-control in the New Testament as well. In his description of Christian character, the Apostle Peter writes, “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control … For if you do these things … you will receive a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 1:5, 6, 10, 11, NIV). Self-control, then, is an essential component of Christian character and is vital for guarding the heart.

The Apostle Paul also identifies self-control as a vital part of Christian character. “Do you not know that those who run in a race all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win. Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things. They then do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. Therefore I run in such a way, as not without aim; I box in such a way, as not beating the air; but I discipline my body and make it my slave, so that, after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified” (1 Corinthians 9:24-27).

Five Points About Self-Control

In 1 Corinthians 9, the Apostle makes five important points about self-control.

• First, he exhorts us to, “Run in such a way that you may win” (verse 24). The Christian life is not aimless wandering, but a race with a prize set before us.
• Second, Paul reminds us that an athlete, “exercises self-control in all things” (verse 25). The successful athlete controls every aspect of his life to achieve victory. His schedule, diet, training, thoughts, and even attitude, are all tailored so that they ensure he will win. We must do the same.
• Third, Paul stated, “I don’t run without a goal” (verse 26, CEV). He refused to be distracted. He did not allow himself to live a life of fleshly indulgence and hope for a good spiritual outcome. The goal of victory guided his Christian walk.
• Fourth, Paul added, “I am no shadow-boxer, I really fight!” (verse 26, Phillips). Paul recognized that his spiritual well-being was at stake, and he needed to fight for it.
• Fifth, Paul concludes, “I discipline my body and make it my slave” (verse 27). Self-control must extend over the flesh, making it the servant of the New Creature. The result Paul seeks is that, after preaching to others, he himself would not be disqualified. Faithfully exercised, self-control guards the heart as the Christian presses on to victory.

Jesus Exemplified Self-Control

Self-control was a prominent characteristic of our Lord Jesus at his first advent. Jesus always constrained himself to do God’s will, even when he was just 12 years old (Luke 2:41-49). He constrained himself to speak the Father’s words. “I do nothing on My own initiative, but I speak these things as the Father taught Me” (John 8:28).

Jesus constrained himself to have no initiative or will of his own. “I can do nothing on My own initiative. As I hear, I judge; and My judgment is just, because I do not seek my own will, but the will of him who sent me” (John 5:30). His submission to God was beautifully exemplified in the Garden of Gethsemane, when he faithfully prayed to the heavenly Father, “Not as I will, but as You will” (Matthew 26:39). He did not allow any fleshly desire to cause him to abandon the course set for him by his Heavenly Father. In perfect obedience to God, his heart was fully guarded against temptation.

Self-Control Essential for the Church

God expects a similar level of self-control from the church. He will not grant the power of the divine nature to anyone except those who, through self-control, would perfectly direct that nature according to God’s principles of truth and righteousness. The Apostle Paul explains this in Romans 8:13: “If you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live.” Putting to death the deeds of the body by the holy Spirit is an apt description of self-control. In this way, self-control guards the heart by refusing the flesh permission to rule where the Spirit of God must reign.

The Scope of Self-Control

The scope of self-control is broad, encompassing every aspect of our lives. “Everyone who competes in the games exercises self-control in all things” (1 Corinthians 9:25). Anything left outside the scope of self-control becomes a target for the Adversary. This means we must bring our thoughts, words, and actions into the harmony with the will of God if we are to fully guard the heart.

Paul explains it this way: “Our battle is to bring down every deceptive fantasy and every imposing defence that men erect against the true knowledge of God. We even fight to capture every thought until it acknowledges the authority of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:5, Phillips). Self-control is necessary because we are fallen and imperfect beings (Psalm 51:5).

David wrote in Psalm 119:34-37: “Give me understanding, that I may observe Your law And keep it with all my heart. Make me walk in the path of Your commandments, For I delight in it. Incline my heart to Your testimonies And not to dishonest gain. Turn away my eyes from looking at vanity, And revive me in Your ways.” Self-control is essential to living out this passage in our lives-observing God’s law, walk-ing in His commandments, inclining our hearts to His testimonies, and turning our hearts and eyes from dishonest gain and vanity.

The importance of self-control with respect to the other Christian characteristics is shown in 2 Peter 1:5-8. Before self-control, Peter lists three characteristics: faith, moral excellence, and knowledge (2 Peter 1:5-6). After self-control, Peter mentions four additional characteristics: perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love (2 Peter 1:6-7).

Perhaps self-control follows knowledge because it is through the knowledge of God’s word that we learn what should be controlled and how to control it. Perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness, and love are all parts of the Christian character that come from the application of self-control in accordance with truth and righteousness in our lives. Without self-control, we could never develop these characteristics, which are counter to our fallen human nature.

How to Develop Self-Control

How does a Christian develop self-control? First, by changing what we love. As fallen earthly beings, we love earthly things — ourselves, our desires, and those around us. To develop self-control over the flesh, we must come to love spiritual things more than earthly things. Unless we change what we love, we will struggle to gain self-control over our flesh.

To do this, we must follow Jesus’ words in Mark 12:30: “YOU SHALL LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD WITH ALL YOUR HEART, AND WITH ALL YOUR SOUL, AND WITH ALL YOUR MIND, AND WITH ALL YOUR STRENGTH.” Loving God supremely leads us to love God’s law and His commandments supremely. Loving God and His law supremely will help bring our selfishness and the desire to do our own will under the control of our New Creature.

Implementing self-control then follows the example of the Olympic athlete, who controls every aspect of his life to win his event. With self-control, we will control:

• Our thinking — by focusing on spiritual wisdom.
• Or time — by using it in the Lord’s service.
• Our training — by focusing on the principles of righteousness.
• Our spiritual diet — by feasting on the words of Truth.
• Our words and actions — by focusing them on our spiritual goal — Christ’s likeness.
  

Once our hearts are focused on spiritual things, the next step toward self-control takes place in the mind. Who and what we are is controlled by our thinking, as Solomon said: “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7, KJV). Our lives, and particularly our words and actions grow out of our thoughts. The more we can control our thinking, the more we can control our words and actions.

The Apostle Paul tells us how to do this in 2 Corinthians 10:5 (Rotherham): “We bring into captivity every thought unto the obedience of the Christ.” This sounds daunting, but the Lord gives us help as Paul writes in 2 Timo-thy 1:7: “For God has not given us a spirit of timidity, but of power and love and discipline.” Through the holy Spirit, God has given us the spirit of discipline or self-control. We have to let God’s holy Spirit take control of our thinking.

Olympic athletes spend a great deal of time thinking about their event, planning their strategy, and visualizing their competition. This prepares them for what will happen when the competition begins. The same principle applies to the Christian. We must focus our thinking on our event — the Christian walk. The apostle Paul gives us the standard for our thinking in Philippians 4:8: “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.”

Our time should be focused on serving the Lord, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 5:16 (NLT): “Make the most of every opportunity in these evil days.” This is what Olympic athletes do during their preparation, training, and competition. Every moment is dedicated to preparing for their event and we should follow this example. Let us follow Paul’s advice in Colossians 4:5: “Conduct yourselves with wisdom toward outsiders, making the most of the opportunity.”

Olympic athletes continually train to prepare for competition. They practice for hundreds of hours, perform thousands of routines, swim thousands of laps, and run thousands of miles. They practice continually to improve their performance. We need to follow that example in our training in righteousness. David wrote in Psalm 25:5: “Lead me in Your truth and teach me, For You are the God of my salvation.” Like a coach, God will teach us His righteousness and then send us experiences to practice it.

Olympic athletes carefully control their diet because it can greatly affect their performance. They eat healthy foods designed to maximize their strength and endurance. We, too, must control what we eat so that it benefits our spiritual life.

This reminds us of Jeremiah 15:16: “Your words were found and I ate them … Your words became for me a joy and the delight of my heart.” We should take into our hearts and minds the Word of God. These words are the joy and delight of our New Creature mind. Assimilating them will help us grow into the likeness of Jesus. David wrote in Psalm 19:10-11, “They are more desirable than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the drippings of the honeycomb. Moreover, by them Your servant is warned; In keeping them there is great reward” — eternal life.

Smart athletes are careful about what they say. Boastful or inappropriate comments can distract them from focus on preparation and competition. Self-control means controlling what we say so that it might bring praise to God and help our brethren and our fellow man.

The Apostle Paul told Festus in Acts 26:25: “I utter words of sober truth.” Jesus told his disciples, “The words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life” (John 6:63). Jesus and Paul spoke the truth, praised God, and sought to encourage and help all those who were seeking after God. Let us follow their example. “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name” (Hebrews 13:15).

Smart athletes are also careful in what they do. They do not want to jeopardize the time and effort they have invested in training, or risk injury or disqualification by doing something unwise. We should take the same approach. Self-control must bring our actions into harmony with the will of God. “The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you” (Philippians 4:9). We must “walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, to please him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work” (Colossians 1:10).

One conclusion that can be drawn from this is that self-control stems from unselfishness. We can see how selfishness drove Satan, Judas, Ananias, and Sapphira to commit acts of sin. They were selfish and desired something for themselves at the expense of others. This led them to violate God’s principles of truth and righteousness to obtain it.

Self-control comes when we stop grasping for what we want but don’t have and start using what we do have in service of God and for the benefit of others. Jesus explained this in Luke 12:15, 22-23, 31-32 (NLT): “Beware! Guard against every kind of greed. Life is not measured by how much you own. … That is why I tell you not to worry about everyday life whether you have enough food to eat or enough clothes to wear. For life is more than food, and your body more than clothing.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and He will give you everything you need. So don’t be afraid, little flock. For it gives your Father great happiness to give you the Kingdom.”

Self-Control Must Be Positive

Finally, for self-control to succeed, it must be positive. If we think self-control is only saying “no” to the voice of the flesh, then we will be fighting a defensive and losing struggle. Rather, self-control is about turning our love and affections heavenward. Jesus gave us the key to this in Matthew 6:20-21: “Store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys, and where thieves do not break in or steal; for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” “Give your heart to the heavenly things, not to the passing things of earth … as far as this world is concerned, you are already dead, and your true life is a hidden one in Christ” (Colossians 3:2-3, Phillips).

In summary, self-control is a critical element of Christian character. It is essential to developing the New Creature, and for guarding the heart. Through self-control, Christians bring their thoughts, desires, words, and actions under the rule of righteousness, pressing toward greater Christlikeness. It is a virtue we must cultivate if we would “run in such a way” as to win the race and become part of the divine family.