“Like a city whose walls are broken through is a person who lacks self-control (Proverbs 25:28).
It started off innocently enough. The new receptionist was kind of cute, so the guy who ran the department offered to buy her a “welcome to the company” lunch — something he had never done for any other new employees. He was married, but he convinced himself this was no big deal — it was just lunch with a new employee.
They both enjoyed the lunch and agreed they should do it again. Well, “again” then turned into a regular thing. At first, every couple of weeks, then more often. Pretty soon, it was weekly — then daily. Daily lunches started to include a dinner here and there — with drinks, of course.
Well…you know where this is going, don’t you? The question, of course, is — how would you feel if you were the man’s wife? Would you think it was “just innocent?” Neither do I. Yet haven’t we all done something similar? Perhaps not like this, but something.
Maybe in a particularly difficult year, we cheat on our taxes, which then becomes an annual thing. Or we add a bit to our expense report because, after all, it was a long trip, and the company could afford it, but you swore it would be the only time. And it was, until the next time.
Chips in the walls of our conscience and self-control, even the walls of our hearts and our faith — seem to lead to the breaking down of the walls entirely.
Defending the City
In the ancient world — the very world in which Solomon, the author of the Book of Proverbs, lived — the primary defense of a city was its walls. Those walls provided shelter and security, and unless the army was extremely large or very well prepared, cities could generally wait out many attacks.
That doesn’t mean the walls made the city invincible by any means. But the wall certainly added to the city’s ability to protect itself. Without walls, a city was a sitting duck — extremely vulnerable to attack and just waiting to be conquered.
We need only to think of the battle of Jericho in Joshua 6:1-27. The walls of Jericho made the city impenetrable to traditional attack.
The Book of Nehemiah offers us an example of the shame and perceived vulnerability in the destruction of a city’s walls. Nehemiah had heard that the walls of Jerusalem were still in a pile of rubble, and it broke his heart.
They said to me, “Those who survived the exile and are back in the province are in great trouble and disgrace. The wall of Jerusalem is broken down, and its gates have been burned with fire.” When I heard these things, I sat down and wept. For some days I mourned and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven (1:3-4)
Nehemiah was disturbed because the city of Jerusalem was defenseless and unable to protect itself from an enemy.
Like the city without walls, so too is the person who lacks self-control — self-discipline. They open themselves up to the enemy. By letting go of self-control, it is as if they knocked down the walls of protection and invited the enemy in. They are vulnerable and invite attacks.
In the Book of Proverbs, Solomon — perhaps the wisest man who ever lived — advises about the need for self-control, sharing this proverb with us (Proverbs 25:8)
The Message version puts it a bit more into today’s terms:
A person without self-control is like a house with its doors and windows knocked out.
Solomon has warned us in other proverbs about the need for self-control:
“He who is slow to anger is better and more honorable than the mighty [soldier], and he who rules and controls his own spirit, than he who captures a city” (Proverbs 16:32, AMP).
Meaning — if you have self-control, you are more honorable than the mighty soldier who captures the city.
The Human Condition
Scripture makes it clear that through Christ, we are set free from sin by his perfect life, which God accepted as a substitute for our sin-stained lives.
We are freed from punishment, from guilt, for all of our sins — past, present, and to come. God has declared us not guilty through his son.
But freedom from sin does not mean freedom from temptation. Jesus himself was tempted.
For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are — yet he did not sin (Hebrews 4:15).
Tempted, but did not sin. Jesus set for us the perfect standard of self-control, responding to temptation when it came. Frankly, while we see only three examples of Satan tempting Jesus, we can be assured there were many others throughout his life and his ministry.
Solomon points out that someone lacking in self-control, in self-discipline is defenseless against the attacks of Satan.
Satan so often attacks us at our weakest points — and the three temptations of Jesus were perhaps what Satan believed to be where Jesus was most vulnerable.
Those weak points can vary among believers, yet our temptations in this life are summarized quite well by John:
For everything in the world — the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life —comes not from the Father but from the world (1 John 2:16).
We are tempted by everything in the world. Pride — a common and dominant temptation. Sexual desires; a love of money and material things, a lust for pleasure or fame. Selfish ambition. And many more.
There are some that are a threat also to our very hearts and our faith: not living out our faith; denying our faith in a crowd who might think less of us; giving in to more “acceptable” forms of belief because of political pressure. All are dangerous to our hearts. All can leave us defenseless — like a city without walls.
In his first letter to the Corinthians, Paul even confessed his need for self-control:
No, I strike a blow to my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize (1 Corinthians 9:27).
Then, too — in what is considered to be his last epistle — Paul wrote to Timothy about the need for self-control.
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline (2 Timothy 1:7).
Guarding Against the Attacks
Self-control is not always something that comes naturally. It is a trait that some people never learn. Yet, we see from Scripture how important self-discipline is to our faith and to our defenses against temptation.
Yet it is also the condition of our human hearts that we must constantly be on our guard against the schemes of the evil one.
For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms (Ephesians 6:12).
Peter warned believers against the schemes of the evil one:
Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour (1 Peter 5:8).
We should not — cannot — forget that those things by which we are tempted are not our real enemies. Our real enemy is the one who prowls around like that roaring lion.
In his letter to the Galatians, Paul told them that self-control was one of the fruits of the Holy Spirit. Meaning one of the by-products of having the Holy Spirit in your life — in your heart. We all may be familiar with his words:
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law (Galatians 5:22-23).
Indeed.
A New Way of Life
One thing we know, giving our lives to Christ Jesus results, or should result, in a new way of life as we accept his Holy Spirit into our hearts.
Any alcoholic knows that the road to recovery means not giving in to the temptation to take another sip. Self-control. In the same way, drug addicts know not again to step into the world from which they have been saved with the idea “just once won’t hurt.” Self-control.
We must take to our hearts Paul’s advice to the Romans in Romans 6:12-14-12-14 (MSG).
Scripture is clear, as disciples of Christ Jesus, we are to be constantly on the alert. We must be aware and have control over our thoughts and actions. We must take every thought captive to our faith and make it obedient to Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).
We must beware and be aware, lest we lose our self-control and allow chips in the walls of our hearts and faith.
For further reading:
What Does the Bible Say about Self-Control?
How Is Self-Control a Fruit of the Spirit?
8 Ways You Can Control Your Anger
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