Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted int

SELF-CONTROL

Our minds are mental greenhouses where unlawful thoughts, once planted, are nurtured and watered before being transplanted into the real world of unlawful actions… These actions are savored in the mind long before they are enjoyed in reality. The thought life, then, is our first line of defense in the battle of self-control.

Jerry Bridges

To gain self-control, give God control.

Author Unknown

Our bodies are inclined to ease, pleasure, gluttony, and sloth. Unless we practice self-control, our bodies will tend to serve evil more than God. We must carefully discipline ourselves in how we “walk” in this world, else we will conform more to its ways rather than to the ways of Christ.

Donald Whitney

Spiritual Disciplines for the Christian Life, 1991, p. 132, Used by permission of NavPress – www.navpress.com, All rights reserved. For more information please see the website www.BibicalSpirituality.org.

Alan Redpath used to talk to young people about the vital importance of what he called “blanket victory.” He was referring, not to some strategy for overall success, but to the necessity of getting out of bed at a reasonable time in the morning to pursue the business of the day. If a young person could not get victory over his blankets, it was unlikely that he would be self-controlled in many other areas.

Alistair Begg

Made For His Pleasure, Moody Press, 1996, p. 129.

No conflict is so severe as his who labors to subdue himself.

Thomas a Kempis

To go beyond the bounds of moderation is to outrage humility.

Thomas a Kempis

A temperate man doesn’t lose his physical, psychological and spiritual orientation. He is stable and steadfast, and his thinking is clear… [He] doesn’t go to extremes… [He] doesn’t go on emotional tangents. He has a sense of inner peace and security, no matter what is happening in life generally. This doesn’t mean he never has periods of anxiety, but overall he has a sense of stability. In the words of James, he is not a “double-minded man” (Jas. 1:8).

Gene Getz