Self Control week2

  Drink water from your own cistern, running water from your own well.

Should your springs overflow in the streets, your streams of water in the public squares?

Let them be yours alone, never to be shared with strangers.

May your fountain be blessed,

and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. 

A loving doe, a graceful deer —

may her breasts satisfy you always,

may you ever be intoxicated with her love.

Why, my son, be intoxicated with another man’s wife?

Why embrace the bosom of a wayward woman?     Proverbs 5:15-20

This metaphor on fidelity in marriage is one of the most powerful in Scripture. It reminds us that in every marriage sexual fidelity is the hallmark of God's blessing. To drink water from our own cistern means that we have agreed with God that we are willing to practice sexual self-control and that any suggestion of sexual infidelity injures not just our relationship with God but also with our fellow human beings as well. Yet in every age the temptation to be unfaithful endures.

In a recent survey, twelve percent of ministers admitted to having committed sexual indiscretions for which they ‘had never been caught.’ While they had apparently gotten away with their sin, none of them felt that their outward purity had enabled them to serve God effectively and whole-heartedly. While it is important to maintain a positive reputation, looking good on the outside is only part of the purpose of God in our lives. God requires pure hearts, willing to serve him. Only self-control provides hearts that are prepared for God's service.

Indeed, we cannot live out Gods purpose for our lives while we indulge in immorality. God requires a clean vessel into which he can pour his purposes. Self-control allows us to hear God's voice. Without this voice, we are depraved and incapable of holiness.