It always seems like a good idea at the time… To finally let someone know what you really think about them; or to experience the self-satisfying momentary pleasure of the sin you have been trying to resist for a time. There are many alluring, self- justifying reasons not to exercise self-control. When we adopt the attitude that we will do what we want to do, and say what we want to say, there is an illusion of strength, power, and independence. However, according to God, those who do not exercise self-control are like a defenseless city. To exercise self-control, is to resist that which you so desperately want in the moment. It’s not smarting off, when the opportunity presents itself. It’s resisting illegitimate pleasures, when they are easily accessible. When you boil it all down; it’s loving God more than you love yourself. Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit that is exercised under the Lordship of Jesus Christ. A life that is lacking self-control is a life that will soon be overtaken by and enslaved to foolishness.