Secrets of Self-Control

‘A man’s temptation is due to the pull of his own inward desires.’ James 1:14 PHPS

For the next few days let’s look at how to develop self-control. Here’s the first step: accept responsibility for your lack of self-control. Admit your problem. ‘A man’s temptation is due to the pull of his own inward desires, which can be enormously attractive.’ The main reason you do things—is because you like to! When you know something’s bad for you but you still do it, it’s because you want to. Sometimes we try to ignore the problem of self-control or deny it: ‘What problem? I don’t have a problem,’ or ‘It’s just the way I am,’ or ‘Everybody else is doing it.’ Sometimes we blame others: ‘If I just had different parents,’ or ‘The devil made me do it.’ As long as you waste your energy making excuses, you can’t make progress.

James points out that we like to take the path of least resistance, and giving in to temptation is usually the easiest course. The starting point for developing self-control is to face what God has already said in His Word: ‘Everyone who sins is a slave to sin.’ (John 8:34 NIV) Do you want more self-control? Then admit you have a problem, and be specific about it: ‘I have this problem. This is where I need help.’ You may have a problem with food, drink, drugs, words, your temper, money, exercise, sex, TV, clothes, time—all these areas need self-control. So today get down on your knees and talk to God about the problem, believing that with His help you’ll be able to solve it.

自制的秘诀

但各人被试探，乃是被自己的私欲牵引、诱惑的。雅各书1:14

在接下来的几天，我们将会谈到如何培养自制力。今天是第一步：愿意为自己缺乏自制力承担责任。承认缺乏自制力是你自己的问题！“但各人被试探，乃是被自己的私欲牵引、诱惑的。” 你愿意去做一件事最主要的原因是因为你喜欢它（You LIKE to）！当你清楚地知道某些事情对你并不好，你却依然选择去做，这是因为你想要去做（You WANT to）。很多时候，我们会试图忽视或否认我们的自制力存在问题。“问题？我怎么会有问题？”或“这就是我做事的风格”或“每个人都在这么做。”有时我们也会责备别人：“如果我有更好的父母……”或者“是魔鬼逼我这么做的。” 然而，只要你还在浪费精力为自己找借口，你就不能取得进步。

雅各指出，我们失去自制力最常见的方式是我们总是倾向于选择最舒服的道路，也就很容易向诱惑投降了。培养自制力的出发点是回到神的话语中：“所有犯罪的，就是罪的奴仆。”（约翰福音8：34）你想要更多的自制力吗？那么你就要首先承认你有一些问题，“我确实有一些问题，我需要帮助”，并且具体的找到这些问题，它可能是食物、饮料、毒品、言语、脾气、金钱、运动、性、电视、衣服、时间等方面的问题——所有这些方面都需要自制。所以今晚，你可以跪下来和上帝谈谈这些问题，相信有了他的帮助，你就能解决它了。

（翻译：段麦克 @ 2018年2月28日）