Why can we know the right thing to do and still struggle to do it?

In the ninth and final message of Life on the Vine, Dr. Gregg Marutzky explores self-control, the final fruit of the Spirit in Galatians 5.

Through Scripture, personal stories, humor, and research, Gregg examines why self-control matters, what gets in the way of it, and why simply trying harder isn't always enough. He looks at temptation, peer pressure, pleasure, denial, wise and foolish choices, and the relationship between God's grace and personal discipline.

Rather than treating self-control as sheer human willpower, this message points toward a life shaped by God's Spirit through surrender, worship, community, prayer, fasting, and learning to deny ourselves.

In this episode:

• Why self-control matters
• Why willpower has limits
• Temptation and peer pressure
• Research on self-control
• Wise vs. foolish choices
• Obstacles to self-control
• Grace and discipline
• Practical ways to cultivate self-control

Timestamps:

00:00 The Final Fruit of the Spirit

01:03 Why Self-Control Matters

01:09 Self-Control Can Be Funny

06:09 What the Bible Says About Self-Control

10:21 Why Willpower Isn't Enough

13:22 Temptation & Peer Pressure

16:54 What Research Says About Self-Control

22:00 We All Need Help

23:45 Wise Choices vs. Foolish Choices

25:31 What Gets in the Way of Self-Control?

30:06 Grace & Discipline

31:39 How to Grow in Self-Control

33:03 Final Prayer

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OC Church of Christ

Dr. Gregg Marutzky:

2

Today is, gonna be a great

lesson on self-control.

3

It's going to be the last in our series

of Life on the Vine, and, uh, I hope

4

that it's, uh, helped us to focus.

5

It's helped me to focus

to be more spiritual.

6

I, I beg God.

7

My prayers have changed.

8

I beg God to fill him, fill me with His

Spirit so I can be more spiritual, so I

9

can display these fruits of the Spirit.

10

They're so very important,

and we need them desperately.

11

We need love.

12

Our world is full of hate and division

and prejudice, and we need love.

13

We need joy.

14

There's so many depressed, discouraged,

depressed, an- anxious people.

15

We need joy.

16

We need peace.

17

There's war.

18

There's so much strife and hatred.

19

We need patience.

20

Oh, we're all in such a hurry.

21

We need kindness.

22

So much rudeness.

23

We need goodness, don't we?

24

We need faithfulness.

25

We need gentleness, and now,

wrapping it up, we need self-control.

26

Boy, I had a couple experiences

of the need for self-control

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just these last couple of days.

28

I took, uh, my granddaughter

to, uh, the movie yesterday.

29

We saw Paw Patrol.

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Oh, it was tremendous.

31

Wow.

32

It was so good.

33

I mean, she was standing

on her chair cheering.

34

It was so awesome.

35

But she got so excited, she

didn't realize that she was

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in need to go to the restroom.

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Oh.

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So about three-quarters of the

way through it, she goes, "Papa,

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Papa, I gotta go to the bathroom.

40

Let's go, let's go, let's go."

41

And so, you know, we ran out

and I'm just praying, "May she

42

control it till we get in there."

43

And, and nobody, no, no, no, nobody

else was in the men's bathroom.

44

She went in.

45

She had to choose which stall.

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That's, that was making me worried

that she wasn't gonna get there.

47

She finally chose the one she wanted,

and everything worked out great.

48

Oh, praise God for some

self-control for a five-year-old.

49

And this morning, oh, I

needed a little self-control.

50

I stopped at a stoplight, and I got

a notification on my phone, and I

51

got a picture from, uh, uh, Yev.

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She sent me a picture of Audrey.

53

If you didn't notice, she was

playing the keyboard this morning,

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one of our preteens, amen.

55

And, uh, so during practice she sent me

a picture of, uh, Audrey, and so I was

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looking at it, but I had the self-control.

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When the light changed, I

quit looking at my phone.

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Both hands on the wheel.

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You know, whatever, nine

and, nine and ten, or nine…

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Whatever it was.

61

You know?

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And I started forward.

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The car in front of me decided to

change lanes in the middle of the

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intersection, which is not allowable

by statute, and started coming over,

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and I had to swerve to miss him.

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Otherwise, I'd have been late for church.

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And they w- they woke up, or they q- got

off of their phone or whatever was causing

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them to be distracted, and I'm here safe.

69

Oh, praise God for self-control,

staying off of that phone

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We're gonna start light this morning.

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Amen.

72

Have you noticed?

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I've got a couple good ones.

74

Why are artists so good at self-control?

75

Because they always know

where to draw the line

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Needed people with a lot of self-control

to work at the bubble factory.

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Bubble wrap factory, excuse me.

78

Gotta get the punchline right.

79

Come on, Greg.

80

And this one I tested it

out with the worship team.

81

This is a good one.

82

Don't ever say that,

then people are let down.

83

But Henry and, uh, Helen went to

the Grand Canyon, and they wanted…

84

And, and Henry wanted to take

the helicopter ride down into

85

the canyon, and it was $200.

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And Helen said, "No, no, no.

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That's too much.

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200 bucks is 200 bucks."

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And, uh, so they didn't do it.

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And the next time they went back to

the Grand Ca- Canyon, uh, Harry said,

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"I wanna go on the helicopter ride."

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And, uh, and it was still only

200 bucks, and Helen says,

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"No, 200 bucks is 200 bucks."

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And so the third time, oh, Harry,

he negotiated with the pilot

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that, uh, could he go on the, on

it for a discount or something.

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The guy said, "Well, if you can g-

you and your wife can go if you don't

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say anything, if you make no noise.

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But if you make some noise,

if you scream or you holler,

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then you have to pay the $200."

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And they said, "Okay."

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And Helen got on with, with,

uh, uh, Harry, and they

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went on the helicopter ride.

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And the guy did all kinds of

rolls and flips and everything.

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He was always trying

to get them to scream.

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And they parked, and the pilot

turned around to Harry and

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said, "I can't believe it.

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You had such self-control."

108

And Harry said, "Yeah, 200 bucks

is 200 bucks, but I almost said

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something when, uh, Helen fell out."

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Now the worship team all laughed.

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You guys, some of you didn't like that

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We're talking about fruits of the spirit.

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Maybe I needed a little more

self-control to not share that.

114

Life on the Vine.

115

If you haven't been reading

this book, please get it.

116

Put it on your list.

117

It's such an encouraging, helpful

book, especially in this study series.

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And, uh, may God fill us all up

with the fruit of the Spirit.

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Yes.

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We need it in our world, and we

need to be a spiritual church.

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Amen?

122

Amen.

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And as I've shared with you, the

difference between self-control

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is basically hubris or evil.

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That's it.

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If you're not self-controlled, if

you're out of control, you're going to

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commit sin, and it's going to be evil.

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Proverbs 25 in verse

28, it's a great verse.

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It says, "Like a city whose walls

are broken down," in Orange County,

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if we don't have self-discipline,

self-control, it's like there is

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no protection for us or our city,

"is a man who lacks self-control."

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And then the next verse, 1 Peter fi-

1:5-7, "For this reason, make every

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effort to add to your faith," every

effort, "goodness," that's one of

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the fruits of the spirit, "and to

goodness, knowledge," and that's why

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we only are a Bible scriptural church.

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We s- come right out of scripture,

so we add every week, every time

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we gather, to knowledge of God and

knowledge of scripture, "and to

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knowledge, self-control, and to s-

and to self-control, perseverance,

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and to perseverance, godliness, and to

godliness, brotherly kindness, and to

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brotherly kindness, the greatest love."

141

Yeah.

142

You know, I don't know about you,

but I thought, there's times I've

143

said to God, "God, take control.

144

Jesus, take the wheel."

145

And when you pray that, when

you make that decision, he will.

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But he doesn't control you.

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Like, it almost seems like a s- a,

a, a misnomer to say self-control.

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I want God control.

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I want spirit control.

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I don't want Greg control.

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I don't want self-control.

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But that would mean God would

have to take free will from me.

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That's it.

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And he's not gonna do that.

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There's times I think,

"God, just take over.

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Make me good, please."

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Amen.

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"I need to be good.

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I need to be better.

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I need to be an example.

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I need to like myself."

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See how your voice gets high

when you get all excited?

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I don't know if you've had that

prayer, but I've had that prayer

164

at different times in my life.

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"God, take control."

166

And he says, "No, Greg,

you be self-controlled.

167

You make the decision yourself to be good.

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You make the decision

yourself to be your best self.

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You make the decision and

you choose to be spiritual.

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You choose to do right.

171

You choose to obey.

172

You choose to say no."

173

And there's so many things in life,

and I better get an amen on this,

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there's so many things in life we need

to say no to, don't we, young people?

175

Yes.

176

Yeah, if we don't say no, we're

gonna be in trouble, aren't we?

177

I can look back at my life and say

the times I sh- see the times I should

178

have said no, and I regret them.

179

And then I think of the times I did

say no, I think, "Oh, praise God.

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If I would have said yes to

that, I might be in prison."

181

Oh, don't exaggerate, preacher.

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No, you don't know me.

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You don't know what I,

how I grew up, all right?

184

I'm not exaggerating there.

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My wife, she's told me, "If you

hadn't become a Christian, you'd have

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been dead by the time you were 30."

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I said, "Kathy, don't

say that kind of stuff."

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"Don't exaggerate.

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Don't be dramatic."

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She goes, "No, you'd have been dead."

191

It's rough when people really know you

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We've gotta choose to be self-controlled.

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And guys, make the decision,

and don't blame God when

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you don't make the decision.

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It's self-control.

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The world thinks they can do it.

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Here's one of their favorite books,

The Willpower Instri- Instinct: How

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to be Self-Control, How Self-Control

Works, Why It Matters, and What

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You Can Do to Get More of It by Dr.

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Kelly Mc- uh, McGonigal.

201

McGonigal.

202

She's a Stanford professor.

203

She's done a lot of, uh, research on this,

and these things are helpful if you have

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some basic character traits and character

virtues, and you have some strengths.

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But not everybody can follow through and

do all the things that she says to do.

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You know, one of the things she

says to do is pause and plan.

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Well, most people go by their emotions.

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They don't take a breath.

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They just go with whatever their

body is telling them to do.

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We have this fight or

flight instinct within us.

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It's automatic, and it kicks in,

and she says, "No, pause and plan."

212

Well, if you have a lot of self-control,

you can do that, but I thought you said

213

you're telling me how to get self-control.

214

Well, you gotta have self-control

to even be self-controlled.

215

That's right.

216

See, that's why it needs

to be a gift from God.

217

The world understands how it works, but

doesn't always give us the power to do it.

218

Yes.

219

She says that, her research says when

you're tired, when you get fatigued,

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you're not gonna be as self-controlled.

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Duh

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I didn't need research to tell me that.

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That's why I go to bed at night, because

I get crankier and crankier after 9:00.

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I don't know about you.

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Oh.

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Oh, you're one of those.

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Don't get judgmental now.

228

All right?

229

We all have our struggles.

230

But the fatigue causes you

to lose willpower, of course.

231

But there is also a contagion effect.

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What does the Bible say?

233

Good company encourages good morals.

234

Bad company corrupts good morals.

235

So there is a contagion effect,

but all this does is reinforce

236

to me what Scripture says.

237

The book goes on to say you gotta

just claim your personal power.

238

All right?

239

I will.

240

You will yourself into…

241

And you can do a lot with willpower.

242

You can do a lot with the, the Armstrong,

the bootstrap method of approach.

243

You remember what you really

want and you keep going for it.

244

That works unless you

fail and fail and fail.

245

But if you wanna get inspired, go to the

Paw Patrol because Marshall didn't quit.

246

Anyway.

247

Don't wanna ruin it for you.

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I won't.

249

That's saying no.

250

But I don't know how many testimonies

I've heard, thousands upon thousands

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over my years of ministry, beautiful

young people c- getting up here, men

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and women saying, "I decided when

I was younger I wouldn't cross this

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line, and then I crossed this line.

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And I decided I'm not gonna cross this

next line," and they cross this next line.

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We can say we won't, but unless God

and the Spirit is filling us up,

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unless we're around good Christians

and good people that wanna be

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their best self, this won't work.

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We won't always be able to resist

temptation, 'cause there's gonna be those

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people around us that say, "Come on.

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Come on, chicken.

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I dare you."

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You know?

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I remember when I became a Christian,

I came home from college, and

264

my friends called me up, "Greg,

let's go to Suds and Sounds."

265

That was the disco in town.

266

That dates me, right?

267

And I said, "Nah, I

don't do that anymore."

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"What?

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We're coming to get you."

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So they came to my front door.

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They, they just walked in the house.

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We didn't lock our doors.

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They came in the house, three of my

buddies grab me, drag me outside, and

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I fought them off in the front yard.

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I got, got away.

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And they go, "What's your problem?"

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"I s- told you guys I'm

not doing that anymore."

278

Because I didn't have enough willpower

when I started drinking to stop, and I

279

didn't have enough willpower after I drank

too much not to give in to all this anger

280

and rage that I had pent up within me.

281

And so when I said, "No, I'm not

doing that anymore," I meant it.

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I didn't wanna be that person.

283

Yeah.

284

I didn't wanna be that person.

285

But when you have friends that

are just gonna keep urging you

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on, this doesn't always work

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I wanted to be different.

288

I saw my life wasn't gonna

be good without the spirit.

289

And this whole thing of self-awareness,

this next part of the book,

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self-awareness, self-care, self-motivated.

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I was very self-motivated.

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Pretty good at self-care, but

the self-awareness, that's came

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about 50 years old, not at 20.

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And I know a lot of 20-year-olds

that have very little self-control.

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I know a lot of 30-year-olds with a

lotta, with not very much self-control.

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I know a lot of 40-year-olds with not

very much self-control or self-awareness.

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And I know a lot of 50-year-olds

that lack self-awareness because

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nobody told them the truth.

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All right?

300

And so the book's good if you already

have a measure of self-control, but

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here is where self-control comes from.

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For God did not give us a spirit of

timidity, but a spirit of power, of love,

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and self-discipline or self-control.

304

Where does this self-control

that I'm talking about come from?

305

It comes from God.

306

Amen?

307

Amen.

308

It comes from God.

309

You know, there's this famous

psychological test called the

310

marshmallow test in 1972 by a man

named Walter Mischel, and he got

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some elementary kids together, young

children, you know, ages four to six,

312

and he offered them marshmallows.

313

He put these two marshmallows in

front of these little kids and

314

said, "If you don't eat them, if

you wait, I'll give you two more."

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The majority of the kids

went ahead and ate them.

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The kids that didn't and waited, they

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did a long, long longitudinal study, and

they found that the kids that waited,

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that had self-control, did better

at SAT, did, did better at school.

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They got higher IQ tests.

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They were more socially competent.

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When they got out of school, in their

40s they've tested them, and the

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kids that held off had higher income,

stronger marriages, and happier careers.

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Self-control is worth it if

you let God give it to you.

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How many of you are football fans?

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Whoo.

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Yeah.

327

Football season's coming up.

328

I'm getting excited about it.

329

Yeah.

330

Yeah.

331

Rams are supposed to be great.

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They're great.

333

A bunch of you guys

are San Francisco fans.

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I don't know about that.

335

Uh.

336

All right.

337

I'm a Denver fan, but I'm

rooting for the home team.

338

All right?

339

Here's a study.

340

Here's why you need self-control.

341

If your team wins, you'll

be more self-controlled.

342

But if your team loses, like if

you're a Raiders fan or 49ers fan

343

The study says you lack self-cont-

you'll lack self-control when they lose.

344

If you have more self … I- if

y- if your team wins, you'll eat

345

healthier food, but if your team

loses, you won't eat as healthy food

346

Unless you're a Christian.

347

All right.

348

And then you can choose because

you'll have self-control.

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You know what's also been studied?

350

If you're Christian, if you're spiritual,

if you go to church, studies have

351

shown you have more self-control.

352

They did a 80-year study on

this at the University of Miami.

353

I, I c- that's a long time.

354

They've been studying

this for a long time.

355

Listen, Dr.

356

David Mc- uh, McCullough, who led the

study, says, "We simply ask if there

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is good evidence that people who are

more religious have more self-control."

358

He says, "Researchers have been quietly

looking into the question for many years.

359

They have found it isn't a latent fear

of God's wrath that helps religious

360

people become self-controlled.

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The evidence suggests that the ideas

of the belief system become entrenched

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into a person's systems of values,

and that creates what could be called

363

a set of sacred personal goals."

364

Uh, the doctor says, "When you add

it all up, it turns out that there

365

are remarkably consistent findings

that religiosity, spirituality

366

correlates with higher self-control."

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Hey, I'm glad I'm at church today.

368

'Cause I need self-control,

but I'm also glad that God gave

369

me a spirit of self-control.

370

How about you?

371

Amen.

372

Amen?

373

Amen.

374

Praise God.

375

He knows what we need.

376

Plato said

377

Isn't the phrase self-mas- mastery,

it's the Greek word ekrateia, absurd?

378

I mean, anyone who is his own

master is also his own slave,

379

of course, and vice versa.

380

Since it's the same person who is

subject to all these expressions.

381

Plato says that doesn't really work.

382

Well, it does if you add God to the mix.

383

Self-control is not self-mastery, as Plato

thought, since self cannot control self.

384

Spiritual disciplines need to be practiced

so Satan has no footholds in our lives.

385

God provides the self-control to

resist sin and temptation, and

386

we can overcome with the fruit of

self-control or spirit control.

387

See, I figured out at 19 years

old, I need some help in life

388

Yeah, you religious

people, you need a crutch.

389

Yeah, and so do you non-religious people.

390

Everybody needs a crutch

391

Everybody.

392

I've been a therapist

for over t- 15 years.

393

I know what's inside people.

394

I've heard the c- the confessions

of Christians and non-Christians.

395

I've been in that safe room

where you can't repeat what's

396

said, and we all need help.

397

That's right.

398

Why can't we admit that?

399

Yeah.

400

Why can't we just say, "God,

yeah, fill me with your spirit.

401

I need help."

402

That's right.

403

In fact, I'll just admit

I need a lot of help.

404

I'll take as much help

as God will give me.

405

You know, I need, I needed

help driving here, didn't I?

406

Yeah.

407

I don't know about you, but I wouldn't get

on the interstate if I didn't have help.

408

Okay?

409

I like even the new tools in cars that

tell you when you're getting out of your

410

lane and hits the brakes when you, you're

spacing out and they need to be hit.

411

Praise God, I'll take

all the help I can get.

412

People in the backseat will say,

"Greg, sorry to be a backseat

413

driver, but it didn't seem like

you were paying attention."

414

I just say, "Hey, I'll take

all the help I can get.

415

I'm blind in the left eye."

416

Once I told Marty Fuqua and Reese

Neilan that, they quit letting me drive

417

Let's just admit we need help.

418

Amen?

419

Amen.

420

Matthew 25:1-13, the

parable of the virgins.

421

"And at that time, the Kingdom of Heaven

will be like 10 virgins who took their

422

lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom.

423

Five of them were foolish,

and five were wise.

424

The five ones, the five foolish

ones took their lamps but did

425

not take any oil with them.

426

The wise, however, took oil in

jars along with their lamps.

427

The virgins who were ready

went in with him to the wedding

428

banquet, and the door was shut.

429

Later, the others also came.

430

'Sir, sir,' they said,

'open the door for us.'

431

But he replied, 'I tell you

the truth, I don't know you.'

432

Therefore, keep watch because you

do not know the day or the hour."

433

See, God never takes self out.

434

You've gotta be wise.

435

You've gotta make the decision.

436

You gotta exercise your free

will to do what is good.

437

There were five wise and five foolish.

438

We all have the capacity to be good- Yes

… and we all have the capacity to be bad.

439

Yeah.

440

We all have the capacity to be wise, and

we all have the capacity to be foolish.

441

Yeah.

442

Let's choose self-control.

443

Amen?

444

Amen.

445

Yeah.

446

Amen to that.

447

And that, then it won't matter

whether your team we- wins or loses.

448

I know I'm gonna hear it afterwards.

449

I'm not gonna dig myself out of it.

450

All right?

451

I'm still gonna be a Rams fan.

452

Oh, come on.

453

Some of you are too

serious about your teams.

454

I can tell.

455

You are, you're gonna be mad at me

till, till you say something to me.

456

Obstacles for self-control.

457

I know how football fans are.

458

They're touchy

459

Pursuit of pleasure.

460

Why is it hard to be self-controlled?

461

Because deep down, we have to

admit a lot of us, we've just given

462

ourself to be addicted to happiness.

463

If we're not happy, then we're

looking for happiness, and

464

we'll do anything to be happy.

465

You know, life isn't that easy.

466

Don't get addicted to happiness, 'cause

you're not always gonna be happy in life.

467

Especially the older you grow up, the

more responsibility you take, sometimes

468

you have to choose not to be happy.

469

Sometimes you have to choose to do

the dirty work, do the tough things-

470

Yeah … do the really hard things.

471

Get out of bed when you don't

really feel like it, go to work

472

when you're still a little sick,

because you don't have a choice.

473

You gotta pay the bills.

474

Yeah.

475

Don't be addicted to happiness.

476

Also, one of the obstacles to

self-control is the lack of limits.

477

We want freedom.

478

Hey, nobody knows more about

freedom than those of us that

479

grew up in the hippie era.

480

Talk about freedom.

481

I mean, some of those folks, they

set themselves completely free.

482

LSD, you know what I'm talking about.

483

All right?

484

Let's not go back there.

485

Addicted to freedom isn't al- is sometimes

just gonna enslave you even more.

486

Yeah.

487

Exalting of effort.

488

That's where a lot of us, especially

in Orange County, I think can

489

get, get too addicted to success.

490

You know?

491

We're around a lot of successful people.

492

Yeah.

493

And it becomes a dog-eat-dog kind

of mentality, and keep up with

494

the Joneses, or whoever they are.

495

Right?

496

They're behind gated commun-

We don't know who they are.

497

All right?

498

But addicted to success,

don't get addicted to success.

499

My testimony is that I've

had a lot of success.

500

It doesn't bring you happiness.

501

It doesn't bring you happiness.

502

All right?

503

And it doesn't bring you self-control.

504

Right.

505

Refusal of reality.

506

Addicted to denial.

507

You know, there's some things

I don't wanna think about

508

There's some things I really

wanna compartmentalize.

509

I don't wanna go there.

510

I don't wanna go there come tax season

511

Sometimes you don't have a choice.

512

Yesterday I got two envelopes

in the mail from Orange County.

513

Supplemental property tax.

514

Anybody know about that?

515

Don't be clapping

516

You know?

517

One bill for 700 bucks or so.

518

I said, "Oh, okay, that's not bad.

519

Two, two installments of $350.

520

I c- I think I can afford that."

521

Then I opened the other one.

522

I said, "Why do I have two envelopes?"

523

Opened the next one, it was like $6,000

524

That because housing prices have gone

up and because I just got, bought a

525

house, I have this supplemental tax

526

I don't wanna think about it.

527

Why am I even bringing it up right now?

528

Here I am.

529

What a lack of self-control.

530

Help me, Lord.

531

Help me.

532

Proverbs 1:7.

533

'Cause I want you to share my pain.

534

Amen.

535

The fear of the Lord's the

beginning of knowledge, but fools

536

despise wisdom and discipline.

537

Compartmentalizing it, denying

it isn't gonna make it go away.

538

You have to just do what you have to do.

539

It goes on, Proverbs 6 and verse

23 says, "For these commands are a

540

lamp, this teaching is a light, and

the corrections of discipline or

541

self-control are the way of life."

542

Self-discipline leads to self-control.

543

Amen.

544

In Titus 2, I love this verse

because it tells me where I

545

can get this self-control.

546

"For the grace of God," the gifts from

God, the gift of God, "that brings

547

salvation has appeared to all men.

548

It teaches us to say 'no'" Yeah.

549

"No to ungodliness

550

and worldly passions, and to live

self-controlled, upright, and

551

godly lives in this present age."

552

I mean, weren't you just

so proud of Sarah up here?

553

Young college grad getting ready

to take on the world, you know?

554

But spiritual, but so good-hearted.

555

Look at this front row.

556

These guys are smiling at

me, trying to distract me.

557

He's try- look at him wave.

558

Look at him wave.

559

You know?

560

But aren't they beautiful?

561

Aren't they awesome?

562

Don't you, don't you love people that,

that are gonna take over someday that are,

563

that are good, that are, that are, that

are upright, godly, and self-controlled?

564

Yeah.

565

Not whatever.

566

Let's not go there.

567

Self-control is motivated

by grace and God's love.

568

Yes.

569

All right?

570

Self-control is spiritual power from God.

571

Self-control is not mere human

effort or self mas- mastery.

572

Self-control is spirit controlled

because self cannot control self.

573

Amen.

574

So how do you cultivate this

self-control in your life?

575

Surrender to God, acknowledge our need.

576

We already talked about that.

577

Worship God.

578

Surround yourself with other great people.

579

Praise God, I love the San Diego church.

580

I have such memories.

581

I saw so many miracles.

582

Thank you for coming

up and encouraging us.

583

This side isn't always as

full as it is today, amen.

584

Come every week if you want.

585

Amen.

586

Practice prayer and fasting,

seeking God for transformation.

587

God help us.

588

God change us.

589

And denial of self, not

self-righteous and not self-centered,

590

but spiritually controlled.

591

Spiritually self-controlled.

592

Spirit-filled, not addicted to fame,

not addicted to fun, not addicted

593

to fortune, not addicted to food,

but spirit driven all the way.

594

Amen?

595

Amen.

596

Not hard-hearted, hollow-hearted,

half-hearted, hidden-hearted, but

597

hungry-hearted, honest-hearted,

humble-hearted, and happy-hearted

598

because you're full of God's spirit.

599

Be self-controlled so

you'll be Christ-like.

600

Amen?

601

Amen.

602

Let's be spiritual.

603

May this series be a blessing to you.

604

I'm gonna end with a prayer that

God would just fill us up with His

605

Spirit, and the lesson is yours.

606

Pray with me now.

607

Open up your heart to God.

608

God and Father, we come before you now as

a congregation that wants to be spiritual-

609

Amen … and wants to be filled with you.

610

We wanna be like Jesus in every way.

611

We wanna say no to ourselves.

612

We want the grace of God to be

our motivation, and Father, we

613

wanna be our best self, and yet

we know we need you to do that.

614

And we need each other.

615

God, thank you for your Word.

616

It always guides us in truth.

617

We pray these things in

Christ holy, holy, holy name.

618

Amen.