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What if self-control isn’t mainly about saying, “no,” but about keeping Christ at the center of what we desire? Money reveals our heart. But biblical temperance is more than willpower—it’s a gift of the Spirit that enables us to enjoy God’s gifts without letting them take God’s place. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West and Pierce Taylor Hibbs talk about how temperance shapes how we handle money. Then, it’s on to your calls.

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What if self-control isn’t mainly about saying no, but about keeping Christ at the center of what we desire?

Money has a way of revealing what our hearts are chasing. Our spending, saving, giving, and borrowing decisions often tell a deeper story about what we love, what we fear, and what we believe will satisfy us. That’s why biblical temperance is about far more than discipline or willpower.

In our continuing series on the cardinal virtues and how Christian character shapes the way we handle money, author and theologian Pierce Taylor Hibbs joined the show to help us consider temperance, or self-control. 

He is a Senior Writer at Westminster Theological Seminary and the author of The Book of Giving: How the God Who Gives Can Make Us Givers. Today, he reminds us that self-control is not merely a human achievement. It is a gift of the Spirit that helps us enjoy God’s gifts without letting them take God’s place.

When many people hear the word “self-control,” they think of willpower. They imagine discipline, restraint, or simply saying no to whatever they want in the moment.

But Scripture gives us a deeper picture.

Self-control is not merely a personality trait some people have and others lack. It is not gained by sheer determination. Instead, self-control is closely connected to the heart. A lack of self-control often reveals disordered desires—places where our hearts are chasing something other than God. The presence of self-control reveals a heart that is increasingly content in God and His promises.

That means temperance is not about rejecting every enjoyable thing in the world. It is about rightly ordering our loves. God must be first, and everything else must take its proper place beneath Him.

In other words, self-control is about keeping first things first.

That truth should encourage us. If self-control were only a matter of willpower, many of us would have little hope. We have all experienced the frustration of trying harder, setting new goals, making new rules, and still falling back into the same habits.

But Galatians 5 tells us that self-control is a fruit of the Spirit. It is something God produces in His people as we walk with Him.

That does not mean discipline is unimportant. Habits, boundaries, budgets, and accountability can all be helpful tools. But they are not the source of true self-control. The source is God Himself.

So when our desires are out of order, the first step is not merely to try harder. It is to turn to the Lord in prayer and ask Him to form in us what we cannot produce on our own. God has given us a new heart in Christ, and by His Spirit, He teaches us to desire what is good, lasting, and true.

Temperance may involve restriction because our desires can easily become disordered. But restriction is not the goal. The goal is joy rightly ordered under Christ.

A simple example is something like coffee or sugar. There is nothing wrong with enjoying either. They can be good gifts from God. But if our world were to fall apart without them, that might reveal something about the state of our hearts.

The problem is not that we

From the outside, they had the kind of marriage people pointed to. Growing ministry. Growing influence. Growing success. Behind the scenes, hidden sin was doing damage nobody could see. Authors and podcast hosts Justin and Trish Davis share a story that shifts the question from "How could that happen?" to "Would I recognize the warning signs?"

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Wood that’s been split and sawn, and sanded and shaped can make some fine furniture. But if our compassion should get the best of us and we didn’t want to see that wood face that stress, most of us would just have some chunks of tree sitting in our living rooms. Today on A NEW BEGINNING, Pastor Greg Laurie points out how the sanding and shaping in our lives helps us mature into the kind of people God wants us to be. Good encouragement coming today.

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When hardship filled the headlines and uncertainty reached into nearly every home, Moody Radio kept proclaiming the unstoppable gospel. On the next Faith & Finance Live, Rob West continues our look back at Moody Radio’s impact as part of its year-long centennial celebration. For 100 years, these microphones have carried biblical truth into everyday life, including through the Great Depression and World War II. Hear more about these eras. Then, it’s on to your calls. That’s Faith and Finance Live . . . biblical wisdom for your financial decisions, weekdays at 4pm Eastern/3pm Central on Moody Radio.

Faith & Finance Live is a listener supported program on Moody Radio. To join our team of supporters, click here.

To support the ministry of FaithFi, click here.

To learn more about Rob West, click here.

To learn more about Faith & Finance Live, click here.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.