Self-control—or the ability to manage one's impulses, emotions, and behaviors to achieve long-term goals—is what separates humans from the rest of the animal kingdom. Moreover, every man taking part in a contest exercises self-control in all things.” (1 Corinthians 9:24, 25) Helping us to exercise self-control in all things is Paul’s warning at 1 Corinthians 10:12: “Let him that thinks he is standing beware that he … A man who exercises sexual self-control is a continent man. After all, everyone knows that self-control is hard and, more often than not, we need herculean willpower to overcome temptation. With respect to this fact, here are three important forms of sports or exercises that will teach you self-control. Run in such a way that you may attain it. Applying the muscle analogy, one possibility might be to strengthen your ‘self-control muscle’. Self-control helps us manage motivational conflicts (Baumeister & Vohs, 2007). Paul teaches us to exercise self-control in all things (1 Cor. An addict acknowledges that they have a problem and takes steps to control exercise activity. Self-control is the capacity to override an impulse in order to respond appropriately. In most cases, self-control is necessary to treat exercise addiction. A lack of self-control, then, leads to the free reign of fleshly, worldly patterns that end up exercising control over us. There is an old saying that ‘ a little bit of what you fancy does you good ’, and provided that it is not illegal or actually damaging, that is almost certainly true. Praise God for that! As you read older Christian authors, you will often encounter the notion of continence applied to sexuality. The strength model of self-control assumes that all acts of self-control (e.g., emotion regulation, persistence) are empowered by a single global metaphorical strength that has limited capacity. What is one area of your life that is succeeding in the exercise of self-control? 9:25). Self Control Sports / Exercises: One of the best ways to learn self-control would be to engage yourself in activities that require a lot of patience and tenacity. Receiving the grace of self-control means taking it all the way in and then out into the actual exercise of the grace. In this article, we examine the necessity of self-control, while exploring some things we can do to control ourselves, as we live in a sinful world. But the word has a wider meaning than that. This strength can become temporarily depleted after a primary self-control act, which, in turn, can impair performance in subsequent acts of self-control. Conversely, a man who lacks sexual self-control is an incontinent man, no better than the one who cannot or will not control his bowels. If the strength model is correct, what does this mean for improving your self-control? 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