TEMPERANCE

power of the will under the guidance of the Spirit. Temperance is to have control

over. The word comes from kratos--force, strength, or power. Temperance is

power. The wise man said,

...he that ruleth his spirit (is better) than he that

taketh a city" (Proverbs 16:32).

It is easier to control a city than it is to control yourself. Temperance is the ability

to exercise self-control.

Paul uses imagery from the world of athletics to illustrate the necessity of

temperance in the Christian life. He says,

Know ye not that they which run in a race run all, but

one receiveth the prize? So run, that ye may obtain.

And every man that striveth for the mastery is tem-

perate in all things. Now they do it to obtain a cor-

ruptible crown; but we an incorruptible. I therefore

so run, not as uncertainly; so fight I, not as one that

beateth the air: But I keep under my body, and bring

it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I

have preached to others, I myself should be a cast-

away (I Cor. 9:24-27).

The keeping of the training rules to the Greek athlete was just as important

as winning the prize. In an early recorded prayer, an athlete asked his god to let

him win the prize, if he had kept the rules and had trained properly. Paul affirms

this idea, "lest...when I have preached [taught the rules] to others, I myself should

be a castaway [disqualified--not allowed to compete or, having won, be declared

ineligible]."

In the above passage, Paul emphasizes the fact that everything that he did

was to qualify for the prize: he did not run uncertainly--just to be running; he did

not "beat the air," or "shadow box," but he made every blow count; and he "kept

under his body," literally "beat his body black and blue" to keep it under subjection

lest he yield to its desires and be disqualified. He exercised self-control.

These, then, are the nine facets of the fruit of the Spirit. The fruit of the

Spirit is the character or the nature of Jesus Christ being reproduced in me and

finding expression through me by the Holy Spirit.