1 - Introduction - Living like a real Christian SELF CONTROL | Page 8

3. The Pride of Life – Again, in reference to the incident in the Garden of Eden, the
pride of life was the root cause of their lust. The serpent said to Eve that, if she were to
eat of the fruit, she would become like God and would be able to discern between good
and evil. The heart of man is clearly deceitful (Jeremiah 17 v 8) and is so easily led to
believe that it is better than it is and pride, in any shape or form, will certainly lead you
in a way that you, at the end of the day, do not want to go.
In Matthew 4 we have the account of Jesus facing the same three temptations that Adam
and Eve faced in the Garden of Eden. This time we have an example of someone who
won over the “trinity of evil”. Won’t you read this account and pick up the emphasis that
Jesus puts in the fact that he abided by that“whichis written” and what is written was the
base line for His victory over the “trinity of evil”. Self-control has to find its root in that
“which is written”. God has given us the Bible to help us know what to be self-controlled
over. If it was good enough for Jesus, it must surely be good enough for us!
Prayer Thought: I am sure that we are all aware of the power of temptation in our lives, it
comes to us in so many various shapes and forms, but won’t you today find strength in the
fact of the indwelling presence of God, and also of the relevance of God’s word in teaching
us how to live our lives, in such a way, that we gain victory over temptation. Talk to God
about these things, talk to Him about the challenges and the temptations that you face
and, I know, that victory for all of us is probably just a prayer away.

FRIDAY
Proverbs 25 v 28 – “Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks
self-control.”
Proverbs 16 v 32 – Better a patient man than a warrior, a man who controls his
temper than one who takes a city.”
Today I would like to give you what I hope will be a practical plan on how to become
more self-controlled. I am convinced that Scripture shows us that self-control indeed
has a plan. The first verse, of our readings above, implies that self-control has a
DEFENSIVE stance, and there is a defensive plan that we can implement to protect
ourselves from a lack of self-control. On Sunday I used the analogy, in this context, to
that of the self-defence in art of Judo. Judo simply means the “gentle way”. In Judo there
are no blows given, but you simply use the strength and the aggression of the opposition
to immobilize it. This is a great thing to do in our daily lives. On Sunday we gave you an
example of this when people attack you verbally. Over the course of this week I have
heard many people speak of using this plan and it has been encouraging for me to know
that people have been successfully implementing it. The plan is based around an