These rules may seem wise because they require strong devotion, humility and severe bodily discipline. But they have no effect when it comes to conquering a person’s evil thoughts and desires. – Colossians 2:23 NLT
A recent article in Live Science suggests that self control is not a natural human trait. “Apparently it’s human nature to be out of control,” writes Cornell anthropologist, Meredith Small. She explains that our early human ancestors were always on the hunt for food. There was little time to relax after a meal because you never knew when you’d get the next antelope, she said. So you had to be always looking for more just to stay alive. And this is why people today have so much trouble when it comes to diets or eating more healthy foods. It’s in our genes to keep looking for and eating anything that’s in front of us – even if it’s just a box of cookies and it isn’t actually running away.
I’m not sure what the rest of her scientific community thinks of her theory, but those of us in the religious camp have known for a long time that self control and its partner, self discipline, are not natural to the human condition. We’ve been looking at the human race for a long time and there are some things we are pretty sure of. One of them is that we human beings are not, by nature, self controlled animals. We’re good at it sometimes, but never all the time. We may not have a theory why we’re this way but we know it’s not natural.
In other scientific studies, religion as a social resource has been shown to be an important influence in helping people become self-controlled. Religious beliefs and behaviors help people “to exercise self-control and to more effectively regulate their emotions and behaviors so that they can pursue valued goals,” says Michael McCullough from the University of Miami. He adds, “Religious lifestyles may contribute to self-control by providing people with clear standards for their behavior…and by giving people the sense that God is watching their behavior.” And again, we religious folk knew about this, too.
We ought to praise the virtue of self control, of course. We live in a very self-absorbed and self interested time. We don’t see enough of it. Most of us could use more of it. But the Apostle Paul warns us – the same guy who listed self control along with love and faithfulness and kindness as a fruit of the Spirit – that even self control can be taken to an unhealthy extreme. About his friends in Colossae, he wrote that there were some in the fellowship who were trying to prove how spiritual they were by showing off their self discipline. “Look at us!” they seemed to say, “See how well we follow the rules!”
It is nothing but false humility, Paul said. They look very religious but they were merely being proud. They appeared to be wise but were, in fact, spiritual show-offs.
Paul meant that the purpose of self discipline is not merely to be disciplined, but to be Christ-like. We control our tongues so we speak truth and love. We control our appetites so we don’t become gluttons. We discipline our entertainment habits so we are not influenced by the world. We use self control so we can become holy people, so we can become like Christ. Not so we can just appear to be better, stronger or holier than everybody else.
Sometimes even self control needs to be controlled and self discipline needs disciplined. Because virtues can become vices if our pride is not also controlled. If we let our pride control our discipline, it just looks good. Paul said.
— KDS
Thoughts Along the Way 