I Couldn't Stop Myself!

Have you ever heard someone say that? Or maybe,  “I just can’t help it!” These are usually excuses kids make when they do something wrong. A lot of times, after getting caught hitting another child, they’ll say something like, “But they made me so mad!” We all know this: it’s a sign of maturity to accept responsibility for our own actions. Right? There has to be a day in everyone’s life when they realize that they can control themselves!

This is even more true for believers! Galatians 5:22-23 says: “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, meekness, self-control. Against such there is no law.” The more time we spend driving our roots into God’s presence, the more we will be competent enough to control ourselves.

Self-control is vital for a believer. In the New Living Translation, Proverbs 25:28 says; “A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.” Apparently, self-control works like a defense for your life. We all know someone who’s life look like it’s been broken apart. Many times, they’ve fallen apart because they never took control of their life. Granted, not every problem in life is caused by the lack of self-control. But trust me on this, if you don’t learn to control yourself, your life will break down!

Just like the world has a counterfeit of joy (called happiness), a counterfeit kindness (called tolerance), and a counterfeit goodness (bigotry) - it also possesses a counterfeit self-control. When the world speaks of self-control, it is often referring to a gym attendance or to denying your appetite for something sweet. That’s certainly a great place to start, but Christian self-control goes far beyond the physical realm.

When the world speaks of self-control, it’s referring to your soul controlling your body. When the Bible speaks of self-control, it’s referring to your spirit controlling your soul. When this fruit of the Spirit starts to manifest in a believer’s life, he begins to understand that he is in control of his desires, his emotions, and even his thoughts. As the Holy Spirit produces self-control inside our spirit, we’ll be able to stop our soul from running away with our lives.

If there was ever a time to manifest this fruit of the Spirit, it’s now! In today’s society, there are fewer and fewer roadblocks to doing whatever you want. Without self-control, you may find yourself on the other side of some very wrong decisions, wondering what happened. Why? Because it’s easier than ever to let your soulish emotions and carnal desires rule your life. In fact, American culture has degenerated so far that believers who keep their soul in check are often considered strange.
“What? You’re waiting till you get married? No one does that anymore!”
“Are you going to let him walk all over you, just because he’s the boss?”
“Be serious - you’ve never had a drink?”
“It’s not tax evasion, it’s a ‘loophole’ - besides, they never check these things anyway!”

You see, 2 Timothy 3 gives a clear picture of what will happen to the world in the end times. Read this and see if you notice these things in the world right now. “But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal, despisers of good, traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God, having a form of godliness but denying its power.”

Notice, right at the center of this list is “without self-control.” Isn’t that what’s happening now? Hasn’t our society done everything it can to avoid personal responsibility for people’s actions? It isn’t rebellion, it’s Attention Deficit Disorder - they can’t control themselves. It isn’t drunkenness, it’s alcoholism - they’re sick. It’s not immorality (it’s not even a choice) - they were born that way. It isn’t an outburst of wrath - their genetic code gives them a predisposition to violence.

Even in the church - where freedom should reign - we’ve locked people into their “problems”. We’ve kept people in depression, lust, addictions, and anger by telling them that they don’t have a choice, they’re sick. We’ve tried to hold support groups, but they still live in fear of returning to the bottle. We’ve tried medication, only to have it make their depression worse. We’ve been afraid to confront, for fear of driving them away.

When are we going to understand? The world struggles with these things - but Jesus came to set us free! When you gave your life to Jesus, He broke the hold that these things had on you. The old you may have been addicted, but that man died when you got saved. That other kid may have been diagnosed as ADD....but now you’re a new creation in Christ Jesus! Now the fruit of self-control is growing in your life! Now you can stop yourself! Now you have nothing stopping you from living the life that Jesus died to give you!

Yahweh Rapha - Willing To Heal

Exodus 15:26 “He said, ‘If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the lord who heals you (Yahweh Rapha).’”

God is a Healer. Even in the Old Testament, even when His people were bound up in religious rites and ceremonies, He still healed them. Often, their rebellion limited what He could do; but whenever they would turn to Him in faith, He was always there with healing “in His wings.”

Many people in the church have been duped into believing that God doesn’t want us healed. Some ministers preach that sickness is something we just endure. The majority of ministers will simply ignore the topic altogether. I have even heard a minister say that sickness is a blessing! This man asked why God would take our sickness away when it “makes us look forward to Heaven?” It is claimed that the healing scriptures are referring to internal healing, not physical health.

But this teaching is in direct opposition to what God has already revealed about Himself! God was talking about physical diseases in Exodus 15:26. Then why wouldn’t he be talking about physical healing too? When David wrote Psalm 103 - he was also writing about physical healing: “Bless Yahweh, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities, Who heals all your diseases...” Healing from physical diseases is a benefit that Yahweh gives us!

God is able to heal any sickness or disease that could ever attack our bodies. We know that. We don’t have any issues with God’s ability. Our problem isn’t whether He can heal us, it’s whether He wants to heal us. How many preacher have you heard pray, “God, if it’s Your will, please heal this person.” Do we really think God wants us to be riddled with sickness?

There was a man in Matthew chapter 8 who faced the same question. He was a leper, an outcast because of his disease. The highly contagious illness that plagued his body meant that he wasn’t allowed to touch, talk to, or be near anyone. He was completely alone - and he was told that God wanted it that way. All that the religious law could do for him was keep him alone in his suffering so the disease wouldn’t spread to others.

Then he heard about Jesus, a man that was healing all kinds of sicknesses - including other lepers. When this man approached Jesus in 8:2, he said: “Lord, if You are willing, You can heal me and make me clean.” He knew that Jesus could heal his leprosy, but he didn’t know if He wanted to heal him. Jesus’ response was simply to put His hand on the man and say, “I am willing, be healed.” From that day forward, the man was healed. This man was healed because he found out that Jesus’ willingness matched His ability.

You see, this is the reason Jesus spent a lot of His time healing people. He wanted to plainly reveal to us what God’s will had been all along. Matthew 4:23-24 is one of many verses that shows Jesus’ heart to heal: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing all kinds of sickness and all kinds of disease among the people. Then His fame went throughout all Syria; and they brought to Him all sick people who were afflicted with various diseases and torments, and those who were demon-possessed, epileptics, and paralytics; and He healed them.” It didn’t matter who was sick, why they were sick, or what they were sick with - if they came to Jesus, He healed them!

This is still true today! It doesn’t matter who you are. It doesn’t matter why you’re sick or whether you did it to yourself. It doesn’t matter whether you have a head that hurts or a heart that’s about to stop - Jesus wants to heal you!

Think about this; if Jesus didn’t want us healed, why did He endure the Roman whip? 1 Peter 2:24 says, “Who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we, having died to sins, might live for righteousness—by Whose stripes you were healed.” If His goal was only our salvation, He would’ve gone straight to the cross. Jesus died to save us from our sin - but He was whipped to save us from our sickness!

It doesn’t matter that they told you God doesn’t want to heal anymore. It doesn’t matter what your experiences have taught you. It doesn’t matter if you had friends and relatives that never got their healing. I’m telling you now - the Bible declares to us that God is a Healer! He named Himself Yahweh Rapha - don’t you think He knew what He was saying? So forget everything you’ve ever learned or thought about sickness, and listen to Jesus’ own words - “I am willing, be healed!”