Our Example in Self-control

[Daily Devotional]

Our Example in Self-control 

     Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth: who, when he
was reviled, reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not; but
committed himself to him that judgeth righteously. 1 Peter 2:22, 23.  

     The highest evidence of nobility in a Christian is self-control. We
should copy the example of Jesus, for when He was reviled, He reviled
not again, but "committed himself to him that judgeth righteously." Our
Redeemer met insult and mockery with uncomplaining silence. All the
cruel taunts of the murderous throng who exulted in His humiliation and
trial in the judgment hall could not bring from Him one look or word of
resentment or impatience. He was the Majesty of heaven, and in His pure
breast there dwelt no room for the spirit of retaliation, but only for
pity and love.  

     There seems to be a mist before the eyes of many, for they fail to
discern spiritual things, and do not recognize the workings of Satan to
entrap their souls. Christians are not to be the slaves of passion; they
are to be controlled by the Spirit of God. But many become the sport of
the enemy, because when temptation comes, they do not rest in Jesus, but
worry themselves out of His arms. . . . We make failures in our little,
daily difficulties, and allow them to irritate and vex us; we fall under
them, and so make stumbling blocks for ourselves and others. But
blessings of the greatest importance are to result from the patient
endurance of these daily vexations, for we are to gain strength to bear
greater difficulties. . . .  

     O that we might control our words and actions! . . . What harm is
wrought in the family circle by the utterance of impatient words, for
the impatient utterance of one leads another to retort in the same
spirit and manner. Then come words of retaliation, words of
self-justification, and it is by such words that a heavy, galling yoke
is manufactured for your neck, for all these bitter words will come back
in a baleful harvest to your soul. . . . How much better to have the oil
of grace in the heart, to be able to pass by all provocation, and bear
all things with Christlike meekness and forbearance.  

>From That I May Know Him - Page 139