*Take Charge of Yourself* _By Archbishop Charles Agyinasare_ _Day 135 (15/05/2025)_ > _Galatians 5:22-23 (ESV) “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace…self-control; against such there is no law.”_ Self-control is a fruit that our recreated human spirit is empowered to bear through the grace and power of the Holy Spirit. And if God expects a believer to have self-control, then it implies that there are things about ourselves that we have to control by ourselves; no one else can do it for us. Self-control means that we have to take charge of our lives. However, the Holy Spirit supplies us grace to do that. Napoleon Hill said, “If you do not conquer yourself, you will be conquered by self”. Here are three things we have to take charge of: 1. *Our thoughts.* _Philippians 4:8 (BBE) “For the rest, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things have honour, whatever things are upright, whatever things are holy, whatever things are beautiful, whatever things are of value…give thought to these things”_ We must take charge of our thoughts. There are thoughts that seem to come to us by themselves, but we have the power to decide to think about them or to reject them. The Bible tells us to cast down wrong and negative thoughts contrary to the Word of God and to direct our minds to praiseworthy thoughts. 2. *Our desires.* _Galatians 5:24 (NIV) “Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires”_ We must take charge of our desires and appetites. Failing to deliberately control your desires and appetites will cause you to live disorderly and unwisely in life. We must train ourselves to follow our born-again spirit which has been infused with the love of God and with godly desires, so that we are not controlled by our fleshly desires. 3. *Our emotions.* _Ephesians 4:26 (NIV) “In your anger do not sin. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry.”_ We must take charge of our emotions. We may not be able to control the happenings that stir our emotions but we can exercise self-control to keep from reacting beyond reason. Anger, over-excitement, grief, frustration etc., unchecked may cause us to do the wrong things. Therefore, rule your emotions. _Precious one, possess self-control and be the master of yourself; do not become a victim of wrong thoughts, wrong desires and wrong emotions. Take charge and rule yourself._ *Prayer:* _Heavenly Father, I receive grace to exercise self-control over my thoughts, desires and emotions, in Jesus’ name. Amen._ *Cross references:* 2 Corinthians 10:3-5 Galatians 5:13-17 Proverbs 25:28 _Join my WhatsApp and Facebook broadcast channels for more insights and life-changing information:_ *WhatsApp:* https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaDR57i8F2p9KGQQdf1C *Facebook:* https://m.me/j/AbYGVDBGVG4mwk4K/