“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls,” (Proverbs 25:28, ESV). by Sarah Wootten Corinth Missionary Church
Our world today seriously lacks self-control.
Violence seems to be more normal.
Everyone is quick to voice their opinions in public, leading to arguments.
School teachers are dealing with twenty kids in the classroom, none of whom have self-control.
We act according to what we feel, rather than what’s good and true.
But even within the church, many of us act as if we have forgotten that self-control is one of the fruits of the Spirit (see Galatians 5:22-23).
It’s a struggle to exercise self-control when we’ve been wronged or when we think we’re right.
But how grateful we all should be that we serve a God who is slow-tempered.
If He wasn’t a God of order and control, we would have all found ourselves under a quick and righteous anger this week for our sins, myself included.
We desperately need Him to be patient and self-controlled.
Because God is self-controlled, this characteristic should be reflected in the entirety of the Christian life – from our homes and churches to our inner beings.
In 1 Corinthians 14, Paul brings this idea of self-control into the worship service.
He writes, “What then, brothers? When you come together, each one has a hymn, a lesson, a revelation, a tongue, or an interpretation.
Let all things be done for building up… But all things should be done decently and in order” (1 Corinthians 14:26 and 40, ESV).
A few things are striking to note.
Paul is assuming participation from the congregation in a variety of gifts.
He says “each one” comes with something different.
Some come to the worship service ready to share a song that God will use to comfort the heart of one suffering.
Another may come to teach a lesson that God uses to feed the souls of His sheep.
Paul doesn’t say everyone comes with something special every time, but there’s an assumption that many different people will be active participants.
It’s almost like the human body.
Each member is a different part, and when each one exercises His gifts rightly, then the whole body functions well to build one another up in the faith (1 Corinthians 12).
But there’s something else to notice too.
The purpose of each gift – no matter how different they are – is for the edification or the building up of the body of Christ.
When someone edifies someone else within the church, it means that he is helping someone else move along to Christlikeness.
So when the gifts are exercised rightly, the body grows in Christ.
Let’s imagine someone is given permission to share his testimony this Sunday.
He does so with a heart that glorifies God in every sentence and points us all to the amazing power of His grace.
The one who has been burdened with sin is built up by remembering God’s forgiveness.
Someone else is just filled with joy, praise, and thanksgiving for who God is.
And someone else is encouraged to speak more boldly about what God is doing in his life, instead of being afraid to praise God around his coworkers.
That one gift can edify the body in so many different ways.
But we must remember that the gift is not for the praise or edification of the person exercising the gift – it’s for the service of those around him.
I have one more point for today. None of this is random.
Spiritual gifts are from the Lord, and He commands us to exercise them with self-control because that’s a reflection of who He is (12:33).
When self-control is absent, confusion abounds, which tears down the body instead of building her up.
Look at verses 27-32.
Speaking in tongues, the interpretation of tongues, the sharing of prophecy, and the weighing in of prophecy was all to be done decently and in order.
Today, our worship services are also to be done decently and in order.
Because where confusion abounds, there’s no edification.
And where there’s no edification, then what’s the point of the gift?
Instead, we are called to reflect the character of God in all that we do, especially in how we approach Him in worship and serve one another in worship through His marvelous gifts.
