The number nine Fruit of the Spirit

The Quality of true spiritual humility is particularly our understanding of our relationship with God and our reverent submission to His will; not inferiority, a false sense of modesty before people.  The truly humble before God would then treat others with respect and consideration because we are all made in His image.

• Self-control (Greek: egkrateia, Latin: continentia)

or “continence”; and designs both chastity and sobriety, and particularly moderation in eating and drinking. It may be observed, that these fruits of the Spirit are opposed to the works of the flesh.  So love is opposed to hatred; joy to emulations and envying; peace to variance, strife, and seditions; longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, and meekness, to wrath and murders; faith to idolatry, witchcraft, and heresies; and temperance to adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, drunkenness, and revelling’s.

Today’s topic covers the spiritual fruit—the fruit of self-control. In some versions of the Bible, the word used is temperance, but that word is over 350 years old. In contemporary English today, “temperance” is often associated with abstinence from alcohol. However, the Greek word includes abstinence in every area of our lives. It does not merely prohibit excessive indulgence in alcohol but just as much excessive indulgence in food, that is gluttony or overeating or any addiction.