Reign of Restraint
When we read biblical scriptures about restraining ourselves, we are instructed to exercise self-control. Conversely, if we don’t master the art of self-control, we are prone to self-sabotage. “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls” (Pro 25:28 ESV). Therefore, we must learn self-control in all areas of life: food, vacations, sexual desires, and emotions.
Any potential without self-control will not be beneficial in the long term. So, we all need healthy dominion over our lives. And the Reign of Restraint is the key to success over many things in life. So, we must build self-control, discipline, or self-mastery in a powerful and sovereign manner. These are similar traits of a King who knows how to calculate his decisions and control his impulsive thoughts, actions and desires so his reign can last long. It’s a period of long disciplines on emotions, behaviour and decisions. Resulting in great governance with rewards. Conversely, at any point in life, if we lose self-control or the art of discipline we will experience self-sabotage.
Here are Some Biblical Examples: King David losing his control over his sexual desire for Bathsheba is an example of self-sabotage. Leading to severe family conflict and public disgrace. Essau lost his self-control for a bowl of soup and eventually lost his inheritance and blessings. King Solomon's lack of self-control led him to marry many foreign women. This act weakened the whole kingdom of Israel. And Cain’s lack of self-control over his emotions and anger killed his brother Able. It’s a classic example that warns us to work on our uncontrolled emotions.
All these biblical episodes above provide us with the importance of self-control and help us see that if we fail to maintain self-control, we can end up in self-sabotage. This will also affect others. So, the principle of Reing of Restrain is a life-giving principle with an outcome of great success.
Some Good Examples: Joseph is an excellent example of a person who mastered the art of self-control by resisting evil temptations. Ultimately, because of his self-control, he ended up possessing great power. He became the Prince of Egypt. That was his reward. Also, it would be critical to mention here our higher position or authority shouldn’t be abused. If we are positioned to impact and influence we must do it fearfully with justice. All for the Glory of God. Another masterpiece example is of Daniel. He restrained himself from the King’s fancy food table because he didn’t want to defile himself. So, he remained pure even when he was pressured by the culture. This led Daniel to experience great health compared to all the other men who ate from the king’s table. Also, Daniel experienced God’s divine favour and blessings.
Failure is a Lesson: Looking at all these biblical episodes may make us run a movie scene of our success and failure in the context of self-control. If we have been succeeding, then cheers! We need to keep that pace up. On the other hand, if we have failed multiple times, we can learn from our failures and not repeat them. We can give ourselves into the discipline of mastering self-control. However, it may not be easy for some folks to just embrace the discipline. So, we need some escape plan and start casting votes into our future bank of success. Here are some keys to work it out:
Resist Instant Gratification: Instant gratification would feed our flesh. It will give more room to destructive temptations that are self-sabotaging. Instead, we need to learn to patiently wait upon the Lord in all areas of life. It will build our character as we reflect patience by putting our faith in God. We need to be devoted by being faithful to God in our faith journey and resisting instant gratifications of any kind. In James 1:4 we read “And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Spiritual Strength: The principle of walking in the power and fullness of the Holy Spirit is the best way to live with great discipline. We should not forget that the Holy Spirit is our divine helper. The Holy Spirit is always present to give us strength and power over tempting situations. Also, the Holy Spirit is always present for comforting fellowship which will help us in times of restricting ourselves in isolation. The Holy Spirit will also transform our desires and renew our minds. It will help us in our weakness “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words” (Romans 8:26 ). Also, when we live with the principle of the Holy Spirit we won’t gratify the desires of our flesh “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh” (Galatians 5:16 ).
Wait for Rewards: During our time of restraint, we should have this narrative that our holistic boundaries, the principle of patience and cautious living disciplines are not in vain. Becasue we have been promised by God to receive rewards after we faithfully pass the test. Now the rewards can be categorised into two streams: Earthly Rewards and Eternal Rewards.
Earthly Rewards: When we commit ourselves to God we will be blessed with the tangible signs of God’s favour, restored friendship with God, success in our work and unexpected surprising opportunities that will lead us to glorify Him. Also, when we live with the principle of restraining ourselves from instant gratification, we grow in great wisdom, confidence and emotional strength. We can then navigate life's path clearly in a god honouring way that leads to fulfilment. God honours those who seek him “Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed” (Psalms 34:5 ).
Heavenly Rewards: On our faithfulness, we will hear from our great master Lord Jesus Christ “Well done good and faithful servant” (Matthew 25:21). Another reward would be the unceasing joy of eternal fellowship with God and His people “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away" (Revelation 21:4).
Also, there will be a sense of upgraded pleasures in Heaven. This would mean that God will give up greater happiness or pleasures which we can’t compare here with our earthly pleasures. Conversely, an unfaithful life will suffer a broken relationship with God, lack of peace, spiritual emptiness, and eternal torment in hell.
