April 30, 2025
Daily Devotion:
"The Pursuit of Virtue and Knowledge"
2 Peter 1:5-6
New Living Translation
5 In view of all this, make every effort to respond to God’s promises. Supplement your faith with a generous provision of moral excellence, and moral excellence with knowledge, 6and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with patient endurance, and patient endurance with godliness.
Self-discipline, self-control, self-denial and abstinence are terms used interchangeably with temperance. Furtherdefinition demonstrates moderation in action, thought, or feeling. Moderation is the key to all that you do. "Let your moderation be known unto all men. The Lord is at hand.” (Philippians4:5 KJV) Temperance cannot be achievedovernight. It takes discipline, hard work and patience to get to where you should be. The apostle Paul said, “I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should." (1 Corinthians 9:27 NLT).
Olympic gold medalist, fastest man alive Usain BoIt's record-breaking speed and accomplishments were not achieved in a flash. It too focus, dedication, and hard work to reap thoseextraordinary rewards. You may sometimes struggle with over indulgence and poor self-control. It might be a craving for food, shopping or sports. Regardless of what those struggles are, they must be tempered.
Solomon, the wise man said; “Do you like honey? Don't eat too much, or it will make you sick.” (Proverbs 25:16 NLT) God's radical ultimatum is, “...If your hand, even your strongerhand, causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away...” (Matthew 5:30 NLT)What would He require of those who struggle with an impulse to let the tongue slip? Spoken words cannot be retrieved. They can lift you up or tear youdown. “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing”. (Proverbs 12:18 KJV).
The tongue can at times be out of control and must be tamed, yet no man can subdue it. Man has the abilityto tame wild animals but lacks the power to control the tongue. “...the tongue can no man tame; it is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison”. (James 3:7-8 KJV) There is hope.
To gain absolute control and develop temperance in all things you must allow the Spirit of God to guide you.“... let the Holy Spirit guide your lives. Then you won't be doing whatyour sinful nature craves.” (Galatians 5:16 NLT) Being led by the Holy Spirit can help you to become disciplined and controlled and keep you on track to reaching your goal of developing temperance. You might be forced to takeradical measures and get rid of that which causes offense or simply share your goal with an accountability coach who is willing to ensure that you stubbornly stay the course. Do whatever is necessary to help you progress towards yourgoal to develop temperance.
