14 March 2026

Christians may identify themselves by the affirmation of the briefest confessional statement, ‘Jesus is Lord!’ But the more important way of identifying a Christian is through the fruits of the Spirit. There are nine altogether – joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.

It is conceivable that someone could make the verbal confession, ‘Jesus is Lord!’ but not evidence the fruits of the Spirit in their daily lives. In that case, we would say that they did not have integrity. They said one thing but did something which contradicted what they said.

The last on the list is self-control. In a recent study, researchers  concluded that, ‘The individuals with poor self-control were ageing more quickly than their peers.’  And they went on to suggest that ‘impaired emotional regulation is a common risk factor for many conditions, including depression, anxiety and disordered eating.’

Some people do not believe that you can control your emotions. This is how you react to a particular situation and there’s nothing you can do to change it. Of course, this isn’t true. ‘Let it all hang out!’ is not a wise course to take if you want to secure peace of mind.

One of the strategies which people can adopt is to change the way they think about a particular situation. You can reframe it and review it by taking an external perspective on what is going on. If you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel.

And so the insights about the mind in New Scientist align with the Christian gospel. ‘Let the same mind be in you that was in Christ Jesus.’ says St. Paul, celebrating  the self-control and restraint which Jesus exercised in  humbling himself and becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross.

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