Pr. 25:28 | considering the word

Pr. 25:28: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

We’ve been learning this great verse about self-control in Sunday school this month. Yesterday I heard the perfect example of what it means.

My friend’s 4-year-old son told her that the devil was trying to get him to break his bed. He said, “I’m going to tell him to leave, and I’m going to read my Word of God!”

We all have different struggles and temptations. For a teenager, it might be stealing. For a married adult, it could be adultery. For another, it could be hate and unforgiveness. For a 4-year-old boy, it might be the temptation to break his bed.

We can learn a lot from this 4-year-old. He had enough rule over his own spirit that he didn’t simply give in to his temptation. As adults, our justifications and excuses sure make it seem complicated to resist our temptations; however, it couldn’t be more simple.

Note what he did: He identified the desire as coming from the devil. He told the devil to leave. He read his Word of God! Isn’t this what the Bible tells us to do?

Thank you for the lesson, Isaiah,

jamie

Pr. 25:28: “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.”

This verse causes me to think about Jericho. The reason destruction of Jericho was amazing was that it’s walls made it basically impenetrable. The walls were made of thick stone. They were high. They were well-guarded, and Joshua 6:1 says the gate was securely shut because of the children of Israel.

When a city is securely protected in this manner, it takes either an act of God or a well-planned attack by a heavily-armed battalion to get over or through those walls.

This verse tells us that when we have no rule over our own spirit that we are like a city broken down, without walls.

What happens when a city has no walls, or walls that have been broken down? Invaders can enter and take over. The defenses of the city are weakened. Those inside the city are vulnerable to any type of attack. Anyone or anything can come in to the city and do what they please. Unwanted guests can make themselves at home or even take charge.

How is this like us? When we have no rule over our spirit, we are vulnerable to attack. When we are allowing ourselves to be ruled by our desires, passions, emotions, or those of others around us, we make openings for the enemy to attack. He can make himself at home or even take charge of our lives and our decision-making process.

Boundaries in our lives are walls of protection. Examples of boundaries: refusing to watch movies with nudity; not ‘playing around’ with black magic; guarding ourselves against worldly teachings that exclude Jesus or His grace; deciding never to be alone in a bedroom with a member of the opposite sex (who is not our spouse); making a pact with ourselves to tell the truth no matter what; making time each day to read God’s word; only listening to songs that remind us of Christ if we have found that songs about worldly passions cause us to veer away from God. The list could continue, but you get the point.

If we don’t have walls/boundaries in place ahead of time, we leave ourselves vulnerable to any type of attack that may come our way. We do not have to give in to attacks, invasions, or temptations. We can guard ourselves, and secure our gates so that we are not allowing just anyone or anything to take over.

When we rule our own spirits, we take charge. We decide what we believe, do, say. We do not allow whims to blow us about like the wind. We stand firm on the foundation, which is Christ Jesus, and we stay put.

I feel the need to remind us that prayer, praise, and time in the Word are the things that fortify and strengthen our walls the most. Without these our walls will crumble.

Fortifying my walls,

jamie