Jas 3:16   For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice.

What are we to do with those Christians who are disorderly, not under self-control?

2Th 3:6   Now we command you, brethren, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that ye withdraw yourselves from every brother that walketh disorderly, and not after the tradition which he received from us.

We know that in the last days, which we are now in, it will be a time without self-control.

2Ti 3:1-5   But mark this: There will be terrible times in the last days. People will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boastful, proud, abusive, disobedient to their parents, ungrateful, unholy, without love, unforgiving, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not lovers of the good, treacherous, rash, conceited, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God -- having a form of godliness but denying its power. Have nothing to do with them.

We are to be self-controlled, having nothing to do with those who are not self-controlled.  This is because those who practice no self-control tend to infect those who have a desire to live godly lives of self-control.  Pretty soon everyone is out of control and God is out of the picture.

Stories Of Self- Control

"Self-control is the capacity to break a chocolate bar into four pieces with your bare hands - and then eat just one of the pieces."

Self-control is an act of the will.  It is a strong act that results in humility and love.

Marshmallow Experiment

The most important thing about emotional self-control is the ability to delay immediate gratification or desires in favor of reaching a goal in the future. The importance of this fact was shown in an experiment begun in the 1960s by psychologist Walter Mischel at a preschool on the Stanford University campus. Children were told that they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right now. However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Some preschoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately, but others were able to wait what, for them, must have seemed an endless 20 minutes. It as hard for those how chose to wait so in their struggle, they covered their eyes so they wouldn't see the temptation, rested their heads on their arms, talked to themselves, sang, even tried to sleep. Whent the experimenter returned they were rewarded with two marshmallows. The interesting part of this experiment came in the follow-up. The children who as 4-year-olds had been able to wait for the two marshmallows were, when they were older children, still able to delay immediate gratification or fulfillment of desires in pursuing their goals. They were more able to deal with social life and were more bold and self-assertive, and better able to cope with life's frustrations. In contrast, the kids who grabbed the one marshmallow were as older children more likely to be stubborn, unable to make up their minds or indecisive, and stressed out.

Unfortunately we are teaching our children, in fact our whole world today is being taught through TV, movies, music, books, magazines that self-control is something that is undesirable.  The world says that you can be much more free if you would just lose your self-control.  This has even entered the church, especially with regards to slain in the spirit where it is being taught that you can only have the Holy Spirit if you lose your elf-control.  But self-control is actually the very thing that brings freedom.

Passions Forge Their Fetters