Can You Control This? Many Keep Failing

1 Thessalonians 4:3
It is God’s will that you should be sanctified: that you should avoid sexual immorality;

1 Thessalonians 4:4
that each of you should learn to control your own body in a way that is holy and honorable,

1 Thessalonians 4:5
not in passionate lust like the pagans, who do not know God;

The best way to explain this section of the first letter to Thessalonians is that it is instructions for daily living. It is written in simple straightforward practical language. The Apostle tells the church how to conduct themselves. Faith is not just a spiritual matter, it spans all the way to practical living.

1 Thessalonians 4:12
so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

A believer is not just someone who attends worship and understands biblical teachings. A believer is someone whose day-to-day life testifies that they are fully converted by Christ. A believer is an impressive neighbor. A believer is a great spouse who does their best to make life good. A believer is a good trustworthy hardworking employee. A believer is a loveable boss who is not feared but appreciated. A believer is a relative who promotes unity and peace among family members. A believer is a fellow traveler who makes the journey enjoyable. This is because a believer has translated their faith into practical day-to-day life as Apostle Paul taught the Thessalonians.

In our text today Apostle Paul tells the church that it is God’s will that they should be sanctified. Sanctification suggests a progressive consistent change from who we are to the better people we should be in Christ Jesus. To be sanctified is to progressively improve who we are. To be sanctified is what the Holy Spirit enables us to be. Sanctification is a lifetime process as we become less sinful and more like Jesus!

Sanctification means improvement. God’s will is that believers should be making improvements in their life. Improvement that daily makes them better than what they were yesterday. Are you a believer? It is God’s will that you daily improve. How do you improve daily? By daily Bible study and daily prayer. Daily by God’s power dropping bad habits and behavior.

Apostle Paul tells the church to avoid sexual immorality. Sexual immorality is biblically unacceptable sexual conduct and relations. Sexual immorality includes what we process in our minds, who we engage with sexually, and consumption of sexual content for arousal and pleasure. It is God’s will that all believers avoid sexual immorality. All believers should avoid sex outside marriage. All believers should avoid pornographic material. All believers should avoid marriages that are unacceptable in scripture. It is God’s will that we avoid sexual immorality. But how do we do it?

Each one must learn to control their own bodies. Each one not each group or each family. Each one must learn. Learning is a process. Learning means it’s not automatic. Learning means we must intentionally discipline ourselves to adopt a way of life that our bodies may not naturally want. Our bodies may have desires for sexual immorality, but we must teach the body to operate without these desires being met. This is a personal effort a personal struggle. Each one must learn to control their own bodies.

Can you control your body? Can you control your body when you are under pressure to attend to a call of nature? Can you control your body to wake up when you are still sleepy and feeling lazy? Can you control your body to eat food that will cut weight and improve health as opposed to sweet attractive unhealthy foods? Can you control your body to sit through a meeting? In the same way, we control our bodies for these other purposes we should control our bodies to resist sexual desires that are not consistent with the scriptures.

As we mature we learn to control our bodies. We should also control our bodies when sexual desires kick in. Control your body by refusing to engage in sexually arousing chats and talks. Control your body by disposing of and refusing to consume pornographic materials. Control your body by having dates and meetings with members of the opposite gender in public spaces where you cant be tempted to get intimate. Control your body by selecting movies and music that don’t give you suggestions of sexual nature. Control your body with difficulty at the beginning but over time by God’s grace, you will have managed to control your body in sexual matters. This is the control at which many keep failing.

May God help us to control our bodies for His glory, good conduct, and good health, in Jesus’ name, Amen!

1. Rei Kesis YouTube Channel (subscribe, click on the notification, and share) –http://youtube.com/reikesis
2. Rei Kesis books on Amazon (Amazon will sell and deliver anywhere in the world. For those in Kenya you can buy from any ABC close to you. ABC is Adventist Book Center) –https://www.amazon.com/s?k=rei+kesis&ref=nb_sb_noss
3. Rei Kesis daily blog –https://reikesis.com/