Day 36 - Forming in Self-Control

Today concludes our journey with the Fruit of the Spirt, but for the next four days I will post brief devotions for each day of the remaining days of Holy Week. But for today we focus on spiritual formation pertaining to self-control. For self-control the best spiritual practice is obedience.  In Psalm 119 verse 165, David says “Great peace have those who love your law, and nothing can make them stumble.  And in the New Testament Jesus says, “Do not think I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish, but to fulfill” (Matthew 5: 17). The law of the 10 commandments, and the greatest commandment to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind are the beautiful ways that God forms us as His children. Yes, we are saved by grace through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus; at the same time God still desires for us to love His Law because it is good for us and keeps us in right relationship with Him.
 
For today’s spiritual practice of obedience, be mindful of the following scriptures and commit yourself to loving the Law and being obedient. 
 
The 10 Commandments – Exodus 20: 2-17
“I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery. 
You shall have no other gods before me. 
You shall not make for yourself an image in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the parents to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me,but showing love to a thousand generations of those who love me and keep my commandments.
 
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name. 
 
Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy.  Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the Lord your God. On it you shall not do any work, neither you, nor your son or daughter, nor your male or female servant, nor your animals, nor any foreigner residing in your towns.  For in six days the Lord made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore the Lord blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.
 
Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.
 
You shall not murder.
 
You shall not commit adultery.
 
You shall not steal. 
 
You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
 
You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his male or female servant, his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.
 
The Greatest Commandment – Matthew 22: 36-40
“Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the Law?”   Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the first and greatest commandment.  And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.  All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

The Ransom – John 3: 16
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.