Enlightenment leads to self-control

egkrateia (eng-krat'-i-ah) is the word in Galatians 5:22 that is translated as "self-control."

In what we call chapter four Paul talks about being children of Sarah not Hagar; so that those of us in the new convenient are free children not slaves. Chapter 5 opens with this statement: For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.

Of course, Paul is speaking of spiritual freedom and spiritual slavery. I have come to understand why the early Christians were willing to die for their faith. Feeling powerless under the rule of the Roman Empire, the Gospel message empowered them with the knowledge of Jesus Christ the Emperor of the Universe. Believing in Jesus, gave their lives a fresh and vibrant meaning. No longer were they feeling like pawns in the world. There was a lot that they could not change but they could chose not to bow their knees to the Emperor and they can chose not to act like everyone else.

When faced with the choice to either confess Jesus or continue to empower Rome with their allegiance they chose to confess Jesus and therefore chose death. Believing that Jesus is the Life they would have not feared death and would not have wanted to release their new found freedom.

The part of Paul's message that really hits me hard today is that today all of us have a level of freedom that our First Century brothers and sisters in Christ could not have even imagined. Today self-control does not mean just not bowing our knees to the Emperor. It means that we do not control or manipulate other people to do what we want. It means that we do not let other people control us. We do not submit to anyone but exercise our freedom in Christ and freedom as US citizens to follow Jesus as we are spiritually called to do.

Also it means that we control ourselves. We do not give into compulsive behaviors of any variety. This applies to all aspects of living. One of the fruit of the enlightenment, the Wisdom of The Holy Spirit is to get in control and remain in control of ourselves. We shouldn't let anyone dominate us and we should not submit our wills to any power in this world. It means that we should dominate over anyone else. We should be the voice of empowerment and freedom.