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The Christian Graces - Temperance


            Benjamin Franklin, the famous American statesman, said, “Educate your children to self-control, to the habit of holding passion and prejudice and evil tendencies subject to an upright and reasoning will, and you have done much to abolish misery from their future and crimes from society.” As we look around our world today, self-control is sorely lacking in our society. People choose to live anyway they desire, without a bit of concern for how their actions may affect themselves or others.
Temperance, or self-control, is what Peter writes we are to add to our knowledge. We cannot just have the knowledge of what is right and wrong, we must also have control over our bodies and minds so that we will act upon what we know. McIlveen wrote:
You must not only know what to do, but also have firmness and determination to do it (emphasis mine JS). Solomon had wisdom, but he lacked temperance. He who would gain the mastery must be temperate in all things. He must endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. Difficulties will stand in the Christian’s way, and no matter how great, his knowledge may be, the Hill Difficulty must be climbed on his knees. He may often have to prostrate himself before the throne of the heavenly grace, crying for help. There may even have to be “strong crying and tears.” (McIlveen 93)
We must be temperate, or have self-control, in all areas of our lives. To have self-control in some areas of my life while lacking in other areas, is to not have control of myself as this passage teaches. We will briefly consider three areas over which the Bible specifically mentions we are to have self-control: The body, the mind, and the tongue.
The Body (1 Corinthians 6:18-20): The Christians in Corinth struggled with many issues that Paul, and ultimately God, deemed significant enough to write a letter to them. One area in which they had problems was in keeping their bodies pure. They had a plethora of temptations around them daily. The city of Corinth was known as a city of pleasure and gaiety. The temple of Aphrodite, the goddess of love, sat on a hill overlooking the city. This temple had around 1,500 priestesses, who were prostitutes. The city of Corinth was a modern-day Las Vegas.
            Contemplate what Paul wrote to these Christians who were living amid such unbridled immorality:
Flee fornication. Every sin that a man doeth is without the body; but he that committeth fornication sinneth against his own body. What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's (1 Corinthians 6:18-20).
Paul told them to flee, or run away from, fornication. Why? Because the body of a Christian is a temple that has been purchased by the precious blood of Jesus (1 Peter 1:18-19), and dedicated to the purpose of glorifying God. We must maintain self-control over our body because it is a temple for the glory and honor of God, not for the fulfillment of sinful, fleshly desires.
The Mind (Matthew 5:27-28; 1 Peter 1:13-16): Self-control does not merely refer to having control over our bodies, but our minds as well. Jesus brought this to the attention of His audience in the Sermon on the Mount:
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28).
This statement of our Lord addresses more than just controlling the body; He wants us to control the mind as well. While I may appear to be living faithfully to God by controlling my body, if I refuse to control my mind, my true allegiance will be exposed (Matthew 6:21).
A person who does not engage himself in the physical act of adultery is right to avoid that sin. However, what kind of movies do I watch? What sort of internet sites do I visit when no one is watching? What kind of music do I listen to daily? Jesus wants us to realize that it matters to Him what goes on in our minds. We must bring our minds under control and be holy because God is holy, and we want to be like Him (1 Peter 1:13-16).
The Tongue (James 3:1-12): Our tongue may be the hardest thing of all to learn to control. James provided the illustration of being able to control horses and ships with something very small in comparison. Guy N. Woods wrote:
The meaning of both illustrations is: We are able to control large animals and huge ships with very small objects; how much more ought we to be able to govern ourselves! For, if we are able to exercise similar rule over our tongues, we govern our whole being. (Woods 162)
Often times, the misuse of our tongue betrays a bad attitude we have been trying to conceal. When we lose our temper, and say things we ought not to have said, it demonstrates our lack of self-control. Let us all commit to use our tongues to the glory of God! I pray that we all strive to bring our bodies, minds, and tongues under control, and use them to the glory and honor of God.

Works Cited

McIlveen, J. Christ and the Christian Life. n.d.
The Holy Bible: King James Version. Electronic database, e-Sword, version 11.0.6. n.d.
Woods, Guy N. A Commentary on the Epistle of James . Gospel Advocate Company , 1991.




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