As we continue thinking about the divine nature, this month we contemplate self-control.  Once again, we begin with our passage from I Peter:

³ His divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us to his own glory and excellence, ⁴ by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire. ⁵ For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, ⁶ and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, ⁷ and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. ⁸ For if these qualities are yours and are increasing, they keep you from being ineffective or unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. ⁹ For whoever lacks these qualities is so nearsighted that he is blind, having forgotten that he was cleansed from his former sins. ¹⁰ Therefore, brothers, be all the more diligent to confirm your calling and election, for if you practice these qualities you will never fall. ¹¹ For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. (II Peter 1:3-11)

I must confess that self-control is not a strength of mine.  I would imagine that many of you would confess to experiencing the same struggle. A few months ago, I went to the doctor, and my cholesterol score had improved.  I would like to tell you that this improvement was a direct result of increased self-control, a newfound ability to stay away from delicious fried food, but I would be lying. My health is better not because I have developed the ability to say no, but because of a little pill called Zetia. If only there were a little pill that would equip us with self-control!

I do have stories of people showing immense self-control, they just don’t have myself in the starring role.  Or at least I was not the one demonstrating self-control.  One time when I was little, probably around 3 years old, I decided that I wanted some sweet tea. Rather than asking my mom for it- I mean, what if she said no- I decided I was a big enough boy to get it for myself. Little did I know that pitchers full of tea could be so heavy. As you probably anticipated, the story ends with a pitcher full of tea all over the kitchen floor, the adjacent dining room carpet, under the refrigerator, and in that tricky to reach spot between the refrigerator and the cabinet. In that moment, my mom would have found great satisfaction in ringing my little neck.  However, being the loving mother, and desiring my own well-being above all things, she simply picked me up, walked me to the couch, and sat me down with very firm instructions, “do not move.”

I think a lot of self-control is about ordering desires. While in that moment my mom wanted to kill me, figuratively…I think, what she wanted even more than that was for me to live. It is easy to think about how much we love our children when they are sweet little angels asleep in their beds. But when we need to ponder our love for them the most is when they try our patience, make us angry, or disappoint us. It is a matter of keeping things in perspective, as Paul points out in his letter to the Corinthians.

 ²⁴ Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. ²⁵ Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. ²⁶ So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. ²⁷ But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified. (I Corinthians 9:24-27)

I believe there are a ton of spiritual lessons to be learned from pretty much all sports.  Lessons about teamwork, perseverance, dedication…and yes, self-control. Paul agreed as he uses the ancient equivalent of the Olympics to make his point about self-control. If our bodies easily and naturally did the things that are required for us to be exceptional athletes, a lot more people would play sports. Even the things that our bodies are designed to do, like run, require practice and training. Practice and training, learning to control the self physically, takes a lot of effort and can be extremely challenging. Many athletes accept these difficulties and challenges as the tradeoff for progress.  They work hard because their desire for success is greater than their desire for a life of eating what they want and being lazy.   

As a track coach, I have watched many of my athletes exercise self-control and be rewarded for it. I had two athletes barely miss the podium- finishing in the top 3- at the state meet in 2025. It was rewarding to see both make the podium this year in 2026, due to improved performances. Another athlete improved from 3^rd to 2^nd and in the process set a new school record. In each case, a lot of sweat was required to throw seven more feet, jump a few inches higher, or run a few seconds faster. It required practice to keep the arm at the right angle, repetition to improve the arch of the back, and determination to force the body to keep going when all it wants to do is shut down. It would have been easy to give up.  Yet, they didn’t, and as a result they were able to stand on that podium in front of thousands of people and hear their name called and have that medal placed around their neck.

As great as that moment was for them, and as rewarding as it was for me as their coach, there are greater things we strive for. I too had a moment like theirs when I was 16 years old. I stood on a podium with my six teammates as they placed gold state championship medals around our necks. It was a moment of great joy! Almost three decades later, I am not sure where that medal is. It’s probably in a box somewhere. Back in the 90’s they were getting ready to demolish my dad’s old high school.  They were calling around trying to find people to give the trophies from the trophy case to. The wrestling trophies that my dad and his teammates worked so hard to put in that trophy case at Baker High School now reside in an attic at my mom’s house. Throwing a javelin far is great. Running fast is great. Out wrestling other guys and pinning them to the mat is great. But no one gets into heaven because of how far they can throw a javelin, or how fast they can run, or because they won a wrestling match.

We strive for something greater than worldly accolades, and because of that we subordinate our immediate desires to obtain the goal. After running the 1600m at the state track meet in 2001, I sat down next to my teammates in a booth at Shoney’s and immediately began downing soft drink after soft drink. We weren’t allowed to drink carbonated beverages during the season, but my season was over, and my self-control was exhausted. There are things we do not do, things we do not eat, to perform optimally as athletes. Sometimes the thing we want to do is quit! When I would run the 3200m in high school, every single one of the eight laps I would want to quit. But I did not want to be a quitter. I did not want to let my teammates down. Even more than I wanted to quit, I wanted to be the best version of myself for them. The urge to take that drink might be strong, but what if your desire to be a good husband or father is stronger? The urge to look at smut on the internet might be strong, but what if your desire to be pure in heart and faithful to your spouse is stronger? The urge to avoid death on a cross was strong in Jesus, but his love for his sinful creation was stronger.

Jesus is the ultimate example of self-control, and it is to Jesus that we are encouraged to look by Scripture.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

As we have contemplated what it means to be partakers of the divine image, we began with faith, and moved to virtue, and then knowledge, and only now to self-control. We have faith in; we trust in God. We recognize Christ as the embodiment of virtue. Seeing the beauty of Christ, we seek to know him. It is only then that we can hope to imitate him. Why doesn’t Peter lead with self-control? Because self-control isn’t found within us.  Christ is the embodiment of self-control.     

We act with purpose. You don’t just throw a javelin. You learn the grip; you practice and train.   You don’t just sprint 400m. Your body must learn to hold speed for a quarter mile.  You don’t just jump 5’10” in the air. There is a specific degree of strength required, and your body must be trained to contort itself over the bar a certain way. Why do we think that being like Jesus is going to be any different? Why do we think we can exercise self-control like Jesus, if we never study Jesus’ life? In my coaching, I frequently show my athletes videos of the best throwers, runners, and jumpers in the world. I want them to see what it is supposed to look like.  They will never see it perfectly demonstrated by me, but I can point them to those who are the best at what they do. If you want to know what a life of self-control looks like, pick up the gospels. Study Jesus.

Self-control is a process that we must be devoted to, trusting that it will come to fruition.  I had an athlete take up pole vaulting this season. Pole vaulting is one of the most challenging, unnatural events in track and field. You fail a lot at first. But each time you fail you learn something, and you get a little closer to clearing the bar. After failing to clear the bar at several meets, my guy went from not clearing 6’ to making 7’6” at the district meet.  A few weeks later at state, he cleared 8’6”.  The greatest pole vaulter in the world, Mondo Duplantis, clears over 20’.  No one is confusing my guy for Mondo, but they recognize they are doing the same thing.

Following Christ is a lot like that.  Your initial attempts are going to look like failures.  But then you clear the bar…and the bar goes up.  No one is going to mistake us for Christ, but hopefully they recognize we are competing in the same event, that we are striving for the same goal.

-Justin Simmons lives in Glenmora, LA. And preaches for the Glenmora Church of Christ.