September 3, 2025 • 7 mins
THIS IS THE LIFE PODCAST
Self-Control From the Inside Out
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
There’s a quiet strength that comes from a person who walks in self-control. You’ve seen it before—maybe in someone who responds calmly in a tense moment, or someone who chooses gentleness when they could have exploded in anger. It’s not flashy or loud. It doesn’t demand attention. But it carries the weight of something steady and grounded, something whole. That kind of self-control—the kind that holds its peace in the storm—doesn’t come from sheer willpower. It comes from the inside out. And its source is the Holy Spirit.
Music Composed By: Mike Outland
Self-Control From the Inside Out
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.”
There’s a quiet strength that comes from a person who walks in self-control. You’ve seen it before—maybe in someone who responds calmly in a tense moment, or someone who chooses gentleness when they could have exploded in anger. It’s not flashy or loud. It doesn’t demand attention. But it carries the weight of something steady and grounded, something whole. That kind of self-control—the kind that holds its peace in the storm—doesn’t come from sheer willpower. It comes from the inside out. And its source is the Holy Spirit.
Music Composed By: Mike Outland
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Welcome in this morning again to our devotion time. Thank
you for joining us wherever you find yourself this morning.
I pray that you're getting these devotions first thing in
the morning before your day starts. I envision you getting up,
maybe if you drink coffee, getting that cup of coffee,
and easing into that favorite spot that you have and
just taking a real deep breath, and as you exhale,
(00:36):
you just say, I'm ready to spend time with the
Lord in his presence, to see what he has for
me before I start this day, what he sets out
for it to do. Yesterday we talked about our self
worth and how that self worth has to come from
the inside out. The world tries to get us to
make it from the outside end, but we know that
(00:57):
doesn't work. That only brings a lot of worry and anxiety,
of self doubt and a lot of other things that
go along with that. This morning, the Lord talks to
us about self control and that also comes from the
inside out. And again Timothy of being receiving letters from
the Apostle, Paul receiving encouragement as well as enlightened biblical
(01:21):
truths that he can live with live by. He says
in Teco Timothy one and verse number seven, for God
has not given us the spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind. That's
what I want to focus on this morning, that phrase
sound mind. We know, based on this verse here, that
(01:44):
fear is a spirit and is a spirit that attacks
us almost constantly in our lives and whatever environment we're in,
whatever we're going through. But he says he also gives
us power and love, but a sound mind. And this morning,
as we reflect on that, there's a quiet strength I
believe that comes from a person who walks in self control.
(02:06):
You've seen it before. Maybe you're this type of person yourself,
someone who responds calmly intense moments, or someone who chooses
gentleness when they could just very well explode in anger.
See it's not flashy aloud, it doesn't demand attention. But
what it does it carries the weight of something steady
(02:27):
and grounded, something whole, something pure. What kind that kind
of self control, the kind that holds its peace in
the midst of a storm, doesn't come from sheer willpower
or just because you're born that way. It comes from
the inside out, and its source is the Holy Spirit
(02:47):
of the Living God. So many of us have grown
up hearing phrases like get yourself together, just control your temper,
don't let your emotions get the best of you. Sound familiar.
The world often tells us that self control is something
we should be able to muster up on our own something.
But if we're honest, we all know what it feels
(03:10):
like to try to be in self control and fail,
whether it's biting back a sharp word, resisting your temptation,
or keeping calm and when everything else in you wants
to break out and lash out in anger. I believe
the truth is this morning, and what the Lord really
wants us to see is we were never meant to
master self control by ourselves. God never designed us to
(03:34):
live life in our own strength. He knows us better
than that. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows our emotions can run wild, our flesh can
be weak. He knows our hearts are easily swayed in
one direction or another. But here's the good news that
the Lord brings to us this morning. He gave us
(03:55):
something better than our own self effort. He gave us
his spirit of self control. Seeing two Timothy one seven,
Paul reminds Timothy and us that God hasn't given us
a spirit of fear. Fear, after all, loves to take control.
Fear drives us to react instead of respond. Fear is
(04:18):
what feeds anger, anxiety, impulsiveness, and all these other things
that bring destruction into our lives. But God didn't put
fear in us. Instead, he gave us his spirit, and
that is marked by his power, his love and sound mind.
Now this phrase sound mind here is also translated as
(04:41):
self discipline and self control. See, it's not something we produce,
it's something we receive. Let's take that and digest that
this morning. Self discipline and self control is not something
that we produce on our own. It's something we receive
from the Lord when we are walking with the Holy Spirit,
(05:04):
when we allow him to take root in our hearts
and guide our thoughts and guide our actions. And you know,
I remind everyone that listens to this devotion. I have
to remind myself every day before I even get up
out of bed, that I need to surrender my thoughts
to the Lord's thoughts, my ways to his ways, my
actions to his actions, my plans to his plans. Because
(05:26):
if I don't. I walk in my own self control,
and that can be very dangerous. So when we allow
all of that to take place, then self control becomes
the fruit of His presence in us. So this morning,
what I really want you to grasp is the fact
that self control is not something you can produce on
(05:47):
your own. It has to be something that the Lord
produces in you. So the next time you feel your
emotions rise and you're tempted to react in the moment,
I want you to take a breath, pause for just
a moment, and invite the Holy Spirit to be your
source of your response. That the Holy Spirit be the
(06:13):
source of your response, asking for wisdom, strength and peace,
and trust that He is growing something beautiful in you.
Say Lord, I don't want to speak anything you don't
want me to speak. I don't want to hear anything
you don't want me to hear. Because real self control
(06:33):
doesn't come from just doing what you feel like needs
to be done at the moment. It comes from grace.
It comes from His spirit that grows from the inside out.
So today you be safe, you be strong, and you
be blessed, and you be that person today that walks
(06:54):
in self control, that is birthed from the inside out
to the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor as we
will see you back here again tomorrow. Until then, as always,
I sure hope you have a great and wonderful day.
Welcome in this morning again to our devotion time. Thank
you for joining us wherever you find yourself this morning.
I pray that you're getting these devotions first thing in
the morning before your day starts. I envision you getting up,
maybe if you drink coffee, getting that cup of coffee,
and easing into that favorite spot that you have and
just taking a real deep breath, and as you exhale,
(00:36):
you just say, I'm ready to spend time with the
Lord in his presence, to see what he has for
me before I start this day, what he sets out
for it to do. Yesterday we talked about our self
worth and how that self worth has to come from
the inside out. The world tries to get us to
make it from the outside end, but we know that
(00:57):
doesn't work. That only brings a lot of worry and anxiety,
of self doubt and a lot of other things that
go along with that. This morning, the Lord talks to
us about self control and that also comes from the
inside out. And again Timothy of being receiving letters from
the Apostle, Paul receiving encouragement as well as enlightened biblical
(01:21):
truths that he can live with live by. He says
in Teco Timothy one and verse number seven, for God
has not given us the spirit of fear, but of
power and of love and of a sound mind. That's
what I want to focus on this morning, that phrase
sound mind. We know, based on this verse here, that
(01:44):
fear is a spirit and is a spirit that attacks
us almost constantly in our lives and whatever environment we're in,
whatever we're going through. But he says he also gives
us power and love, but a sound mind. And this morning,
as we reflect on that, there's a quiet strength I
believe that comes from a person who walks in self control.
(02:06):
You've seen it before. Maybe you're this type of person yourself,
someone who responds calmly intense moments, or someone who chooses
gentleness when they could just very well explode in anger.
See it's not flashy aloud, it doesn't demand attention. But
what it does it carries the weight of something steady
(02:27):
and grounded, something whole, something pure. What kind that kind
of self control, the kind that holds its peace in
the midst of a storm, doesn't come from sheer willpower
or just because you're born that way. It comes from
the inside out, and its source is the Holy Spirit
(02:47):
of the Living God. So many of us have grown
up hearing phrases like get yourself together, just control your temper,
don't let your emotions get the best of you. Sound familiar.
The world often tells us that self control is something
we should be able to muster up on our own something.
But if we're honest, we all know what it feels
(03:10):
like to try to be in self control and fail,
whether it's biting back a sharp word, resisting your temptation,
or keeping calm and when everything else in you wants
to break out and lash out in anger. I believe
the truth is this morning, and what the Lord really
wants us to see is we were never meant to
master self control by ourselves. God never designed us to
(03:34):
live life in our own strength. He knows us better
than that. He knows us better than we know ourselves.
He knows our emotions can run wild, our flesh can
be weak. He knows our hearts are easily swayed in
one direction or another. But here's the good news that
the Lord brings to us this morning. He gave us
(03:55):
something better than our own self effort. He gave us
his spirit of self control. Seeing two Timothy one seven,
Paul reminds Timothy and us that God hasn't given us
a spirit of fear. Fear, after all, loves to take control.
Fear drives us to react instead of respond. Fear is
(04:18):
what feeds anger, anxiety, impulsiveness, and all these other things
that bring destruction into our lives. But God didn't put
fear in us. Instead, he gave us his spirit, and
that is marked by his power, his love and sound mind.
Now this phrase sound mind here is also translated as
(04:41):
self discipline and self control. See, it's not something we produce,
it's something we receive. Let's take that and digest that
this morning. Self discipline and self control is not something
that we produce on our own. It's something we receive
from the Lord when we are walking with the Holy Spirit,
(05:04):
when we allow him to take root in our hearts
and guide our thoughts and guide our actions. And you know,
I remind everyone that listens to this devotion. I have
to remind myself every day before I even get up
out of bed, that I need to surrender my thoughts
to the Lord's thoughts, my ways to his ways, my
actions to his actions, my plans to his plans. Because
(05:26):
if I don't. I walk in my own self control,
and that can be very dangerous. So when we allow
all of that to take place, then self control becomes
the fruit of His presence in us. So this morning,
what I really want you to grasp is the fact
that self control is not something you can produce on
(05:47):
your own. It has to be something that the Lord
produces in you. So the next time you feel your
emotions rise and you're tempted to react in the moment,
I want you to take a breath, pause for just
a moment, and invite the Holy Spirit to be your
source of your response. That the Holy Spirit be the
(06:13):
source of your response, asking for wisdom, strength and peace,
and trust that He is growing something beautiful in you.
Say Lord, I don't want to speak anything you don't
want me to speak. I don't want to hear anything
you don't want me to hear. Because real self control
(06:33):
doesn't come from just doing what you feel like needs
to be done at the moment. It comes from grace.
It comes from His spirit that grows from the inside out.
So today you be safe, you be strong, and you
be blessed, and you be that person today that walks
(06:54):
in self control, that is birthed from the inside out
to the power of the Holy Spirit. Nor as we
will see you back here again tomorrow. Until then, as always,
I sure hope you have a great and wonderful day.
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