30 Day Sibling Challenge - Day Sixteen

Day Sixteen – Self Control
But the fruit of the spirit is ….self control. Galatians 5:23.

The world knows something of self-control, but almost always for a selfish reason.  It knows the self-disciple and denial someone will go through for themselves, but the self-control of the Spirit will also work on behalf of others (enduringword.com).

Have you ever done something nice for someone because of what it would give you? This is not the same self-control that comes from the Spirit of God. Often we can hold ourselves together long enough to get what we want especially when we do not want to come off looking stupid.

However when we are with our family we often seem to be comfortable and let our guard down too much. We stop using self-control and that is how many fights start. The reason we do this with our family is probably because we realize we are stuck with them forever. However we should look at it as a gift of being connected to someone forever.

Many friends will come and go but your brothers and sisters will forever be connected to you. Even generations down the line when people do ancestry research they will not find your friends connected to you but these relatives. They will wonder if you really were good friends. They will have no clue who your friends were off and on through the years.

Friends are important in our lives but truly our brothers and sisters should take supreme importance. If we cannot treat our own family well then we are being hypocrites with the others we take the effort to treat well.

The key to this self-control is submitting any selfishness that arises in you to the control of the Holy Spirit. He will help you as you honor God with your actions, choosing to follow His way over your own.

Today’s Action
Practice using self-control by submitting your selfish desires that arise to God. Journal what happened differently that you can continue doing.

Parent’s Action
Follow up with your children today to see how they did in this area. After all we are looking for heart change. Pray that God will help them.