And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But he that lacketh these things is blind, and cannot see afar off, and hath forgotten that he was purged from his old sins. Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall: For so an entrance shall be ministered unto you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
-2 Peter 1:5-11 KJV
The word "temperance" is replaced by self-control in many translations, but as we were going over this verse in our Teen challenge meeting, this translation really struck me.
The root of temperance is temper(or tempering), which is a process of softening a metal in order to increase structural stability. In the terms of pottery,temper is what you add to the clay to minimize shrinkage.
As God works us (tempers), he causes the situations to build self-control. The more we yield to His hand and to trusting in Him even when it seems all is lost, we gain self-control. True self-control is allowing God to wield you and allowing Him to keep you giving you strength to resist.
To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen
-Jude 1:24-25 NIV
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