SELFWILLED

SELFWILLED
“For a bishop must be blameless, as the steward of God; not selfwilled….”- Titus 1:7
Here is what God demands form pastors. It is also what He desires for all His people, that they be “not selfwilled“. A life well lived isn’t always easy and of all the difficulties we face nothing gets in the way more than self will. We are our own worst enemy. Discipleship demand the we deny ourselves, but the flesh insists on pleasing self, so a struggle ensues. Since we are stubborn creatures the struggle is intense, but one side or the other prevails.
Perhaps you remember the song that says, You’ve got to serve somebody”. That’s true. We will either be controlled by our Creator or by sinful self. And self is a cruel taskmaster. It is also a troublemaker. It makes trouble because of its traits, the chief of which is pride. Self-willed people think they are deserving of what they desire and wise enough to make their own decisions. Such people offend others, cause conflicts, and ruin relationships. They resent rules and rebel against responsibility. All that is bad enough, but it becomes worse when the self-willed person’s attitude and actions affect others. In an effort to get what he wants he disregards the rights of others, disrespects them, and deprives them of their needs.
Such people, pursuing pleasure, are miserable because they are never really content. More for them is never enough. Even if they finally recognize that they have a problem their pride won’t allow them to admit it. So they keep tormenting themselves trying to satisfy self. That puts us in danger because we aren’t wise enough to know how to chart the course we ought to take. Our stubborn self-will causes us to ignore God’s counsel and commands and that eventually causes us to get hurt. When we live as though we have the right to do as we please we make decisions that are destructive.
The propensity to please self starts at an early age, and without the restraint of having a relationship with Christ it just gets worse. That is our only safeguard. He is able to satisfy the longing of our soul, give us peace that passeth all understanding, and joy unspeakable and full of glory. We learn to be content because we know that Christ satisfies. We become willing to deny ourselves when our love for Christ motivates us to please Him rather than self. When our greatest pleasure is pleasing God we seek to do His will rather than our own. Problem solved! –HDS
David Stone
Lakeway Baptist Church
5801 FM 1960 E
Humble, TX. 77346