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Bible studies |
| Dear Lord, Teach us what it means to have temperance. Show us what we need to learn. Help us to walk in your ways. Guide us by your spirit so we can bring forth and produce abundant fruit in our lives and the lives of others. In Jesus’ name, Amen 🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛🍪🥛 Galatians 5:22-23 22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. 🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩☕️🍩 Temperance is defined as showing restraint in eating or drinking and especially avoiding alcohol. It is moderation of passion; patience; calmness; sedateness. Moderation is defined as avoiding excess or extremes. It is the absence of violence; calmness, the state or quality of being moderate; avoidance of extremes. Temperance is moderation. Personally, I had always viewed temperance as self-control. In some sense it is. I have honestly never thought of it as moderation until I began working on this study. I could be stepping on my own toes in this one. Ouch! Moderation in food is one of my personal struggles. Do any of you struggle with moderation and self-indulgence? Our society doesn't exactly encourage moderation. It is filled with consumerism and materialism. There are restaurants everywhere here in America, sometimes more than one on every street corner. We live in a society that is out of control financially, physically, emotionally, and morally. Another definition of moderation is sensible behavior, especially behavior that involves not eating or drinking too much of something. True temperance teaches us to remove everything harmful. It teaches us to use everything healthy wisely. It helps us control our impulses and passions. Moderation is what brings balance to all the other fruits of the spirit. Temperance is moderation in action, thought, or feelings. It is self-control and the ability to restrain yourself. We must establish healthy boundaries, behaviors, actions, and thoughts. Temperance can be both physical and spiritual. We must exercise self-control over our emotions, expressions, impulses, opinions, and ideas. Romans 8:1-6 ▼ Temperance is Controlling our flesh. “In every man’s life there is a throne, and when self is on that throne, Christ is on the cross. But when Christ is on that throne, self is on the cross.” - S. D. Gordon Temperance has to do with learning to master ourselves. Without Christ in our lives, this is impossible. The world would want us to believe we can control ourselves without the help of any deity, little alone the God of the Bible. My Bible tells me I need Jesus. Full temperance comes from the Holy Spirit as we seek first the kingdom of God. We are either controlled by our flesh (=out of control) or we are controlled by the Spirit. The fruit of the Spirit is self-control. Let's think about this. It was lack of self-control that got man into trouble, to begin with. Had the first man and woman used self-control and refused to eat the forbidden fruit, would we have experienced the fall of man? Honestly, I think someone would have committed the first sin at some point. Once that first sin was committed, we hurt our relationship with God. God could no longer trust us. Our sins have consequences. The Bible says those consequences are death. Our soul is doomed without Christ. However, when we accept Jesus as our Savior, we turn from our sinful ways. We don't do it by our own power. After Jesus rose from the dead and ascended back to Heaven, he sent the Holy Spirit to live in us and to help us. We develop the fruits of the Spirit as we spend time investing in our relationship with God. Romans 7:2-6 ▼ Allowing the spirit of God to take the Word of God to make you more like the Son of God is what it means to walk in the Spirit. When we walk in the spirit and not according to the flesh, we produce the fruits of the Spirit in our lives. It is a strength and not a weakness to master one’s own passions and desires. Romans 13:12-14 ▼ In fact, we are instructed to stay away from even the appearance of evil. 1 Thessalonians 5:22 ▼ What is our purpose? https://www.gotquestions.org/purpose-of-man.html God made us to receive glory for himself. Here is a general rule to follow. 1 Corinthians 10:31 ▼ When we sin, we fall short of God's glory. Sin makes us work against our God-designed purpose. Romans 3:23 ▼ How do we bring glory to God? We fear him with a reverential fear and we strive to do his will and keep his commandments. We worship him. We do everything we do with the purpose of pleasing and glorifying God. Ecclesiastes 12:13-14 ▼ https://www.openbible.info/topics/purpose_of_man Our bodies and our spirits are to be ruled by God. They were given to us to serve him with. 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 ▼ Romans 6:12-13 ▼ Keep your eyes on the prize. Temperance is like training for a race and learning self-discipline. We must learn when to say yes and when to say no. We must be temperate in stress, finances, alcohol, drugs, and food. We must practice moderation in everything to have a balanced life. This requires good time and resource management. Each aspect of our lives contributes to another. We must control our thoughts and attitudes to receive an incorruptible crown. 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 ▼ Christians must run to win their race. They must run in such a way that will help them obtain the prize. Christians must discipline their bodies. We must run the race while focused on the heavenly prize that is set before us. Titus 2:11-15 ▼ Virtue is built on faith with diligence. Knowledge is built on virtues. Temperance is built on knowledge. Patience is developed with temperance. All of these things lead to godliness, brotherly kindness, and love. If these things abound in you, you will produce a whole lot of spiritual fruit for the kingdom of God. You also will abound in the knowledge of Christ. 2 Peter 1:4-11 ▼ Practicing Temperance and Moderation It is said that there are 8 natural remedies to our health. Temperance is one of them. The 8 natural remedies are nutrition, exercise, water, sunlight, temperance, air, rest, and trust in God. Intemperance can lead to addiction and cause our lives to become unbalanced. Gluttony, lust, greed, drunkenness, and carnal desire are examples of intemperance. Temperance and moderation help you find the perfect balance. For example, too little courage is considered cowardice. Too much courage can be considered recklessness. Moderation helps you determine how to have exactly the right amount of courage. Moderation is control of self-indulgence. It regulates all of the other virtues. It is an intellectual attitude that shows restraint and allows reflection. This is something that is acquired over time and with experience. If you practice enough, you can direct your mind, body, and emotions in the right direction. With food: We need to learn moderation with food. Too little food won't give us the fuel we need for everyday living. It could cause us to be malnourished. Too much food causes us to be obese and have health issues. We have to find a healthy balance. Gluttony (extreme overeating) is placed in the same category as drunkenness according to Ecclesiastes 10:17. Overeating and alcohol both dull the mind and impares judgment. Ecclesiastes 10:17 ▼ With stress/emotions: Be slow to anger. Man’s anger does not work to bring forth God's righteousness. Don't be quick to run your mouth. Actively and intentionally listen to what others are saying before you interrupt to give an answer. James 1:19-20 ▼ Don't hang onto anger. Release it quickly. Don't give the devil a foothold in your heart. Ephesians 4:26-27 ▼ Don't get angry over nothing. If you get angry, make sure it is for a good reason. Control your reaction and then let it go. Matthew 5:21-22 ▼ The Bible says a fool does not control his anger and to be quick-tempered is foolishness. Proverbs 14:16-17 ▼ Bitter envying and strife are from your enemy the Devil. Righteousness is sown in peace by those that make peace. Pursue peace! James 3:14-18 ▼ Stay humble. Put God first, others second, and yourself last. Let everything be done in love and peace. Philippians 2:3 ▼ Having control of your own temper is better than having taken a city by force. In other words, it is better to control yourself than to try to control everyone else. How can you control anyone else if you can’t even control yourself? This is some good food for thought. Proverbs 16:32 ▼ Don't be anxious. Give all your worries to God. Keep your mind on Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 ▼ 1 Peter 5:6-7 ▼ With alcohol and drugs: St. Augustine wrote in the 5th century, “To many, total abstinence is easier than perfect moderation.” This is still true today. Ephesians 5:18-21 ▼ With finances: Before you spend money, you have to earn it. Luke 14:28 ▼ It is wise not to spend everything you earn the moment you earn it. For some of us, it is wise not to spend it before we earn it. Proverbs 21:20 ▼ Don’t borrow money. You become indebted and a slave to the person you borrow it from. As Christians, I believe we are not to borrow because it only causes indebtedness. However, we are supposed to lend to others and give from what the Lord has blessed us abundantly with. Proverbs 22:7 ▼ Romans 13:8 ▼ Your life is more than your physical possessions. Your worth is not measured by what you possess. Luke 12:15 ▼ When you pursue the things of the flesh, it only brings heartache. When you pursue the things of God, you will be blessed. 1 Timothy 6:10-11 ▼ With giving: It is always good to help others when you can, but not at the expense of your family's wellbeing. If you can help because you have it to give, then give it. If not, then don't give it. Proverbs 3:27-28 ▼ 1 Timothy 5:8 ▼ When the five foolish virgins asked the five wise virgins for oil, it wasn't counted sin for them to not give it to them. Had they given the foolish virgins of their oil, they may not have had enough for themselves to wait for the bridegroom. Matthew 25:1-13 ▼ With communication: We can stir up anger or calm others with our words. Wisdom is knowing what to do with the knowledge you have. We need to always keep in mind that our words have power. Proverbs 15:1-4 ▼ A man that does not control his speech, is deceived. The Bible says his religion is of no value. James 1:26 ▼ We need to be kind to one another. We need to forgive each other quickly. Get rid of anger, bitterness, hard feelings, and speaking evil. Only speak good things that lift up the people hearing you, that brings life (not harm) to their souls. Ephesians 4:29-32 ▼ In Witnessing: When the apostle Paul witnessed to Felix, he spoke of righteousness, temperance, and judgment to come. Temperance is man’s response to the righteousness of God. Judgment is bringing righteousness and temperance into accountability. Every man will be judged rather his deeds were good or evil. Acts 24:24-25 ▼ How do we determine the limits of moderation? Moderation could mean something for one person and something entirely different for another. For example, one person could decide that they will only allow themselves two sweet treats a week while another may allow themselves one per day. Is either of them wrong? For some people, moderation can feel like deprivation. How do you know what is enough? I believe moderation for each individual can be defined differently. I believe it is about setting reasonable boundaries for ourselves. Moderation is avoiding excess or extremes. It is finding and keeping the right balance. It is important to know your goal and purpose in life to help you stay focused on what matters the most to you. “It is best to rise from life as from a banquet, neither thirsty nor drunken.” -Aristotle Conclusion Temperance/moderation leads to peace and unity. It does not allow emotion to overwhelm facts and allows us to view things objectively. It allows us to think deeper and more efficiently, taking time to digest information as it comes to us and not jumping to conclusions. It helps you develop wisdom and understanding in life. Without temperance or moderation, our impulses, desires, immediate wants and needs have little to no filter. Lack of moderation reflects extremes. It leads to impulsiveness, addiction, division, and obsession. Without moderation, you will never be satisfied. Moderation allows you to stay in control and in the moment while having a better awareness. It allows you to prioritize which situations need your attention more immediately. Having temperance in your daily life allows you to look into every aspect of life objectively and keep a well-balanced attitude toward everything. Philippians 4:5-7 5 Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand. 6 Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. 7 And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Resources ▼ Jesus is my permanent anchor!   |
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