Ruling Self is Key to God's Kingdom on Earth

Proverbs 16:32

He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.


There is a Biblical balance between the revelation God gives concerning His overall purpose, and the daily, practical applications that build that kingdom from within to without.

As the scripture above clearly states, he who rules his spirit is better than he that takes a city. Why? Because those who live and operate under self control, can rule anything and any situation.

It also refers to the need to take charge of the things in our own lives first before we are able to effectively take charge of larger things. That's why we're encouraged to not to despise the days of small things (Zechariah 4:10).

God's kingdom on the earth is a very practical kingdom. We sometimes lose sight of that fact because of the awesome way the Holy Scriptures talk about the kingdom, using majestic imagery and the language of victory of King Jesus.

For that reason we can get lost in our imaginations when dwelling upon that descriptive language, failing to understand it all leads to us responding in a very practical way.

All of that is associated with self-discipline, aided by the Holy Spirit who dwells within and empowers us.

That's why when elders and deacons were described as to the required attributes, those attributes were very practical and specific.

They were men of self-discipline and self-control, who ruled their own houses well and were blameless. They ruled their spirits, and thus were able to rule their own house, then were able to help take care of the Church of Jesus Christ.

This is the standard all believers are held to, no matter what their calling in life is. I don't mean by that everyone must be married. I mean we're all called to be people in control of ourselves.

Over time that can be enlarged to any area of life God may want us to engage in, which will built on solid ground, because we are grounded in self-control and discipline.

So we can completely be inspired by the vision of God for His people in this age, but we must understand it needs to move from vision to reality. Only those under the discipline of the Holy Spirit will produce fruit that will have an impact on this world, and those works will also follow us into eternity and be rewarded.