Proverbs 25:28
A person without self-control is like a city with broken-down walls.
When I read this verse, I immediately think about the day I visited Goodrich Castle in Wales because the similarities between us and fortified castles or cities are clear to me.
Goodrich Castle was built at the top of a hill on a high point so that attackers were already at a disadvantage. In our spiritual walk, when we were born again of the spirit, we received everything necessary to walk in victory. We are living with the advantage! Any enemy that seeks to attack us: sickness; poverty; depression etc, already loses since we have everything we need to emerge victorious.
Castles also have high, fortified walls and Goodrich has stood for centuries. For Christians, we are strengthened by the Word of God and ‘no weapon formed against us will prosper.’ (Isaiah 54:17) The enemy may try to penetrate our walls but when we have built up our defences, we become impenetrable. Like castles have apertures in their walls, known as arrow-slits or loops so that the arrows could be fired onto the approaching enemy below, we have the weapons of our warfare: the Word of God, to fire back at anything that would try to bring us down. There is so much power in our words!
For me the fact that Goodrich Castle was built in a remote, high place signifies us distancing ourselves from the temptations of the world. This is part of our personal defence against things that have hindered us in the past.
In the Old Testament, when this verse was written, it wasn’t possible to be born again of the Spirit, and the person had to take control of their spirit. Now that we are living in the New Testament days, our spirits are the part of us that has been renewed and is full of God. Therefore, we are to let the Spirit rule the body. Galatians 5:16 says, ‘So I say, live by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.’
However, we do well to heed the advice of Proverbs 25:28, because the breaking down of our defences leaves us vulnerable to attack. The New American Bible translates self-control as controlling one’s temper, and the Aramaic Bible in Plain English says ‘an impatient man.’ This is one way that we can break down our own defences when we have zero control over our actions, words, and emotions. We leave ourselves vulnerable to attack.
Self-control is an issue when it comes to overeating or eating things that are bad for us. Keeping our bodies strong and healthy gives us opportunities to complete our God-given assignment on the earth. Without the body, we are no longer in the world and therefore have no influence. Proverbs 25:16 says, ‘Do you like honey? Don’t eat too much, or it will make you sick!’ Keeping our eating under control means doing everything in moderation because you can get too much of a good thing.
So, let’s live by the Spirit, where we have everything that we need to control every appetite and keep our defence walls strong against the attacks of the enemy.