by Nan Keltie

Created on: February 09, 2010   Last Updated: February 17, 2010

Self control is one of the biggest challenges we face as Christians.  It is one of those to-the-death battles between our spiritual and carnal natures and speaks to those things we crave - private, gnawing sensations for more.  

The desire for self-control -

As a Christian, we know we’re supposed to discipline our appetites, our actions and our attitudes.  But those appetites include much more than the things we feed our stomachs  - they also include what we feed our hearts and minds.  

Ask any one trying to lose weight, and they know sticking with a diet plan isn’t easy.  Chocolate bars beckon us at 2:00 a.m., so we sneak one when everyone else is a sleep.  We try one diet and fail, so we try another … and another.  Weeks and months later, we’re no more disciplined in our eating habits than before we started the diet.  Why is this?    

Falling off the wagon is much easier than trying to hang on when the going gets tough.  It is only as we submit to the Lord our intense desire for certain foods that we can win the battle.  

In his book “Fasting,” Jentezen Franklin shares that fasting is one way Christians learn the self- discipline of depending on God rather than food.  His book isn’t about dieting, however.  It’s about seeking a closer relationship with the Lord so our prayers are not hindered.

Other appetites, when not fulfilled according to God’s plan, soon become overwhelming lusts that ensnare us.  Physical intimacy, or sex, is a beautiful gift from God for married couples only.  Any other attempt to fulfill our sexual desires becomes a snare that strangles us.  Think adultery, pornography and homosexuality.  God condemns any of our attempts to bypass His will and go to Plan B.  

There are other appetites that can overwhelm the believer.  The world system has a profound lust for money, power and prestige.  According to this thinking, the more you have of those three, the happier you’ll be.   

We know better.  Wealth makes a miserable companion and invites "friends" who become scavengers.  Having power means it can be lonely at the top and you must always watch your back for those who want  your place.  Prestige is an ongoing cycle of impressing everyone in order to keep your position.  

Even Christians become ensnared with the lust for money, power

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