2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.

THEME OF THE DAY. WHO IS IN CONTROL? There are three possible sources of control when it comes to living our lives. We will be under the control of one of the three all the time. None of them will share their authoritative control over us.

The first agent of control of human beings is the devil. Every human being is born in his kingdom, under his slavery, captivity, and control – “And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but kind to everyone, able to teach, patiently enduring evil, correcting his opponents with gentleness. God may perhaps grant them repentance leading to a knowledge of the truth, and they may come to their senses and escape from the snare of the devil, after being captured by him to do his will” (2 Timothy 2:24-26). In these instructions to Timothy, the Apostle Paul describes those foreign to the knowledge of the truth, which is new life in Christ, are in the “snare of the devil, captured by him.” He would also write to the Corinthians stating that the “god of this world”, the devil, has unbelievers in a state of “blind control; “In their case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God” (2 Corinthians 4:4). Acknowledged or not, every human being outside of Christ is under the control of Satan and cannot break free on their own.

The second agent of control is in today’s scripture; the love of Christ. What glorious spiritual freedom is found here. It is liberating, satisfying, and God’s design for His children. Yet, often, we misunderstand what this means in our daily walk with the Lord. To be under control of Christ’s love is not about us. In fact, it draws us far away from ourselves. The key to understanding a life under the control of Christ’s love is found in the latter words of today’s scripture – “that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised.” We may know immediately if Christ’s love is controlling us by who we are primarily focused on in life; ourselves or Christ. If we find ourselves absorbed more with me, my, and mine instead of Christ and others, we are not under the control of His love. His love crucifies self-love. His love frees us from self-centered living to live Christ and others-centered. Simply consider the level of our investment in Christ’s interest and the interests of others to determine if Christ’s love is controlling us or not.

The third agent of control is ourselves or self-love. However, this must be qualified. Only Christians have the power to choose who controls them. Salvation has given us the power of choice. Before we became Christians, due to sin and Satan, we were dead and unable to exercise choice. But through new birth, we have been delivered from Satan’s control and placed under Christ’s loving control with the ability to daily choose who will control us – Christ’s love or self-love. Satan cannot control us anymore, but who does control us is now within our power to choose. The choices are two – Christ or ourselves and the battle for the right choice will be intense. The conflict between selfishness, which is defined as being under the control of self-love, and selflessness, which is defined as being under control of Christ’s love, will be fought daily and throughout the day. Yet, it is a conflict which can be won consistently. It is a matter of consciously choosing to yield to the Spirit of God who is not only able, but willing, to empower us to ‘put self on a shelf’ and free us from the joyless experience of self-love.

Yes, Christ has set us free from the inescapable control of the devil. He has also empowered us to walk in His freedom by enabling us to overcome the sin of self-love. Let’s learn to walk under the only true place of spiritual contentment and satisfaction – under the control of Christ’s love.

PRAYER: “Father, help me to daily surrender my life to be under the control of Your Son’s love”

QUOTE: “The Christian makes the daily choice of who controls them; sinful self or the selfless Christ”