If you think about the most popular “self” words, they’d be self-esteem, self-worth, self-approval, self-confidence, and self-awareness. Everyone loves talking about these.
But Scripture focuses on another set of “self” words: self-denial, self-control, and selfishness, the first two being positive and the last being negative.
Modern parenting classes stress building our children’s self-esteem. In fact, some "authorities" recommend praising our children even when they’re lazy, unkind, and selfish.
And it isn’t just children who are encouraged to be selfish. Adults are encouraged to believe we are the center of the universe, even able to choose a gender different than the one God gave us.
And now we have a whole movement of “Christians” who believe they can decide which parts of Scripture are from God and which are not. That’s high self-esteem on steroids.
It’s not hard to understand why self-control isn’t popular. It means:
1. Thinking of the needs and interests of others, not just our own (Philippians 2:1-4).
2. Controlling our temper and our speech (James 1:19).
3. Controlling our spending, drinking, and eating (Proverbs 23:20-21).
4. Controlling our schedule (Ephesians 5:15-16).
So, the choice is ours. We can indulge ourselves and focus on esteeming ourselves. Or we can control ourselves and focus on esteeming God.
We need it: self-control!
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