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| Volume 21 Number 11 November 2019 | Page 9 |
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| Volume 21 Number 11 November 2019 | Page 9 |
Self-Control
Thomas Baxley
Christians are people of self-control (Galatians 5:23). Christianity is about disciplining oneself, and being in control of one’s thoughts, words and actions. This means that we have to fight against our own minds by taking every thought into captivity (2 Corinthians 10:5), bridling our tongues (James 3:1-12) and knowing that we are not free to do what we want and when we want (Galatians 5:19-21). Being a Christian means not only denying self (Luke 9:23) but dying to self (Galatians 2:20). Being serious about one’s relationship with Jesus and bearing good fruit means we strive to live our lives by the higher standards to which He has called us, the life of true and real discipleship where we strive to be like Him.
Things We Must DoMark T. Tonkery
The word “must” means, “Something that needs to be done, necessity or certainty.” Notice some of the things that we need to do, that are a necessity or are certainties from the Bible.
Matthew 6:5 (ESV) “And when you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites. For they love to stand and pray in the synagogues and at the street corners, that they may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.”
Matthew 20:26 “But whoever would be great among you must be your servant.”
Matthew 24:44 “Therefore you also must be ready, for the Son of Man is coming at an hour you do not expect.”
John 3:7 “Do not marvel that I said to you, ‘You must be born again.’”
John 4:24 “God is spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth.”
Act 5:29 “But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than men.’”
Act 20:35 “In all things I have shown you that by working hard in this way we must help the weak and remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he himself said, ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”
Romans 6:11 “So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.”
1 Corinthians 10:8 “We must not indulge in sexual immorality as some of them did…”
2 Corinthians 1:11 “You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.”
2 Corinthians 5:10 “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, so that each one may receive what is due for what he has done in the body, whether good or evil.”
2 Corinthians 9:7 “Each one must give as he has made up his mind, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.”
Galatians 6:6 “One who is taught the word must share all good things with the one who teaches.”
Ephesians 5:3 “But sexual immorality and all impurity or covetousness must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints.”
Colossians 3:8 “But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth.”
Colossians 3:13 “…bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.”
2 Timothy 2:24 “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil,”
Hebrews 2:1 “Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.”
Hebrews 11:6 “And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him.”
1 John 4:21 “And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”
These are some things we must do!