FRUIT OF TEMPERANCE

1 Corinthians 9:25 And every man that strives for the mastery is temperate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a corruptible crown; but we an incorruptible.

We can see from this verse and the previous verse that the Apostle Paul was telling us, by the Holy Ghost, that if we are serious about finishing our course, we have to have temperance in our life. He goes on to liken it to getting a prize or crown for an athletic event. For us, ours is an eternal crown received at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Paul is telling us, very strongly, in the verses that follow that he has to keep his body under. In Romans 12:1-2, Paul tells us to offer our bodies a living sacrifice to the Lord; and in Romans 8:13, he tells us to crucify our flesh to keep it under. He is saying that the fruit of temperance is necessary to keep our flesh under control so that we can finish our assigned course. This fruit seems to be very important the higher you want to go in God and the more useful you would like to become to Him. Titus 2:1-2 says, “But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: that the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity (love), in patience.” Temperance is right up there with faith and love if you are going to be used of God. And last, temperance (self-control) must be a part of your life. Temperance must be developed in our lives if we are going to keep our flesh under and be able to finish our course with joy.

Remember, temperance (self-control) is restraining one’s passions, appetites, and desires. There is never over-indulgence when you walk in temperance. It is good to always keep your flesh in check by never letting it have the preeminence in your life. Excess in your flesh is never good, but being full of God is the best. I love Ephesians 5:18; it tells us to never to be drunk with natural wine, with alcohol, but instead, be filled with the Spirit. Through the new birth and walking in the spirit, we can get rid of excesses in every area of our lives. What we have to decide, if we are going to finish our course, is to embrace the fruit of temperance so we don’t end up on the sidelines with our faith shipwrecked like Paul warned by the Holy Ghost. We must understand and take to heart this warning and be temperate in all things. Temperance is only about moderation when it concerns good things. Most people misuse this word and apply it to all things because temperance was translated as moderation in Philippians 4:5, but this is a bad translation. In that verse, it should have been translated brotherly kindness instead of moderation because moderation never applies to sin. It’s not saying that sin in moderation is okay as long as it doesn’t have a hold on you. In this case, temperance is being in total control over your flesh and keeping it subdued so it will not sin.