You Must Rule Prov. 25 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
The Bible shows that you have some areas of your life over which you must rule. However, our tendency is to transfer the responsibility for these areas to someone else. We will say things like, “I’m praying for God to do ‘this’ for me because I can’t” [the truth is that you won’t]. “The devil is doing ‘this’ to me” [when often he didn’t]. “You really make me happy or you really make me mad” [when the choice to be happy or mad is yours, not theirs]. Therefore, you must rule over:
Your Spirit – Prov 25:28 – you have seen cities destroyed and with their walls broken down from enemy attacks – they didn’t remain that way if they are still occupied today – people cleaned up the cities and rebuilt them – likewise, when your spirit is wounded, you need to refortify and rebuild – your must rule your own spirit or like a city you will be destroyed – you are to put away all bitterness, anger, wrath, and malice, you are to be angry and sin not, you are to deal with and overcome your feelings of loneliness, depression, fear [2 Tim 1:7], anxiety and so forth.
Your Body – 1 Cor 9:27 – Solomon said that if you are a man given to appetite put a knife to your throat – in other words, he hangs the responsibility for managing your appetite squarely on your shoulders – Eli was criticized for being a fat man – you need to properly nourish yourself – you need to learn to deal with the stress in your life – you need to develop your sleep habits so that you get adequate rest – you need to manage your moderate exercise – you need to develop godliness in your life.
Your Sin – Gen 4:7; Rom 6:12 – when David committed adultery with Bathsheba he said, “I have sinned” – he didn’t blame anyone else and he didn’t call it anything other than what it is, “sin” – you need to rule your thoughts – you need to rule your lusts – you need to rule your pride – the Lord holds you responsible for your sin so you must deal with it – it is to convenient to say “in my flesh dwelleth no good thing” or “I am waiting on the Lord to deliver me from this” or “the devil is really beating me up with this” – you deal with it by God’s grace!
Your Wife – Gen 3:!6; Eph 5:22-23 [1 Pet 3:1] – contrast Is 3:12 – Jezebel was a very wicked wife who usurped authority – Vashti was put away because she refused to obey the king – Sarah gave poor advice in the matter of Abraham conceiving with Hagar but gave godly advice in the matter of separating Isaac from Ishmael [ultimately Abraham was responsible to follow the Lord in both cases] – Sarah willing followed Abraham from Ur into Canaan and from Canaan into Egypt and Gerar and even failed to disclose the truth of her marriage to Abraham in order to protect him.
As a young woman if you are considering dating a young man you’d better consider this first, “Is he submitted to Jesus Christ?” It is not enough that he is saved. If he is not following the Lord you will never be comfortable submitting to the Lord working through him in your life. As a young man, don’t even think about taking on the responsibility of a wife until you learn to submit to the Lord. You cannot lead a wife if you are not submitted to the Lord.
Conclusion: You must rule over your spirit, body, sin and wife in your life. These are things that the Lord has given for you to do. He will help you but he is not going to do it for you.