'My Past Is Not My Own': 2 Corinthians 5: 17 (Self Control)

Read Galatians 5:22-23:

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law."

Are you ready to make an investment in the Fruit of Self Control?

Describe an event from your past when you felt greatly humiliated, hurt and/or embarrassed. Be specific.

Write your answer in the space provided.

How did this event effect the hopes, dreams and expectations you had for your life?

Again, write your response in the space provided.

What specific beliefs, expectations and prejudices did this event form in you? For example, how did it affect your expectations in other people and in yourself?

Read 2 Corinthians 5: 17:

'If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.'

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

Go to the 'DOCUMENTS' button above and read Oswald Chamber's observations on 2 Corinthians 5: 17.

Select 'Successful' when you are finished.

Oswald begins:

'Our Lord never tolerates our prejudices— He is directly opposed to them and puts them to death.'

How important to you is it to put your prejudices, beliefs and expectations formed from your past (your 'old things') to death?

Oswald states:

'...we must learn that God accepts nothing of the old life! Instead of being on the side of our prejudices, He is deliberately removing them from us. It is part of our moral education to see our prejudices put to death by His providence, and to watch how He does it. God pays no respect to anything we bring to Him. There is only one thing God wants of us, and that is our unconditional surrender.'

How much do you agree that God is engineering your current circumstances to bring about your ‘unconditional surrender’ to Him?

Oswald continues:

'When we are born again, the Holy Spirit begins to work His new creation in us, and there will come a time when there is nothing remaining of the old life. Our old gloomy outlook disappears, as does our old attitude toward things, and “all things are of God” (2 Corinthians 5:18).'

Take a moment to get quiet. When you are ready, ask the Holy Spirit to show you how He used the event in Step 2 to draw you closer to Him (to create something 'new' in you).

Write down what you receive in the space provided.

Oswald asks:

'How are we going to get a life that has no lust, no self-interest, and is not sensitive to the ridicule of others? How will we have the type of love that “is kind...is not provoked, [and] thinks no evil”? (1 Corinthians 13:4-5 ).'

How would you answer that question?

Oswald answers:

'The only way is by allowing nothing of the old life to remain, and by having only simple, perfect trust in God—such a trust that we no longer want God’s blessings, but only want God Himself.'

Take a moment to thank the Lord for how He has used the difficult circumstances in your life to draw you into a more real and intimate relationship with Himself.

Oswald concludes:

Have we come to the point where God can withdraw His blessings from us without our trust in Him being affected? Once we truly see God at work, we will never be concerned again about the things that happen, because we are actually trusting in our Father in heaven, whom the world cannot see.'

Ask God to reveal to you a specific step you can do today to increase your trust in Him.

Write down what you receive in the space provided.

Are you willing to follow up with what you heard and to share your completed action with a trusted friend?

How clearly do you see the connection between your ability to put to death your old life and your ability to demonstrate the fruit of self control?

Remember, putting the death your old life and becoming a new creation in Christ is not a one time event, but an ongoing process. For this reason, this Navitent is now in your library to return to anytime you like.

How much has this Trail increased your level of self control?