"Freedom from Ourselves" (Galatians 5:16-26)

Welcome to the Reformed University Fellowship at UNCW Podcast! Each week, we will post the messages from our RUF Large Group meetings at UNCW. This semester, we are looking at how the Spirit of God transforms our relationships. Tonight we look at the final aspect of fruit, Self-Control, and we discuss how people in Christ are called to relate to their desires. Nothing builds vibrant relationships full of trust and mutual service more than the ability to control and deny our selfish desires. But, the Christian way of self-control looks totally different from all other methods of combatting selfishness, because it starts from a place of satisfaction and abundance. It begins with sinners being forgiven and reconciled to God through Christ, and made alive by the Holy Sprit. In the end, we see that true fulfillment in our deepest relationships comes not by following our desires, or emptying ourselves of desire, but by being filled with the supernatural love of the Holy Spirit. “‘Just be true to yourself” sounds very intuitive. It sounds very right in our individualized culture. It’s a message we hear from all kinds of directions, but it’s actually a very catastrophic philosophy. … Jesus’ teaching about the self is that the most important thing we do with the self is not express it, but deny it. And the amazing thing is, as we deny self, we actually do become the real person God always intended us to be.’ —Sam Allberry How much larger your life would be if your self could become smaller in it; if you could really look at other men with common curiosity and pleasure … You would break out of this tiny and tawdry theatre in which your own little plot is always played, and you would find yourself under a freer sky, in a street full of splendid strangers.” —G.K. Chesterton “When Jesus calls for self-denial and cross-bearing, he’s claiming authority. Following Christ means disowning the self and giving allegiance to him instead. And it means giving him allegiance down to the very depths of our being.”— Christy Gambrell