KATHY GABLER—Fruit That Overcomes Self-Destruction —  I was praying for a lady who was incapacitated and went through months of emergency room runs, hospital stays and testing, but the doctors could not bring the sickness to resolve or even a clear diagnosis.  As I was praying, the Spirit of God revealed what the doctors were looking for: they were looking for her self-destruct button. Where is your self-destruct button? More importantly, why is it there?  Is it embedded in disappointment, self-pity, deceit, desperation, selfishness, unforgiveness, bitterness, anger or guilt?  Once your self-destruct button is pushed, can you recognize how you feel or how you feed destruction?  Have you ever connected the dots to realize that agreement feeds destruction and agreement comes with every unkind word and action, every foul mood freely expressed, every dark habit or pattern and every self-justification when you are wrong?
Self-control is a fruit of the Spirit and it is a powerful expression of self-government, a powerful, non-carnal weapon to defeat enemy strategies and strongholds.  Choices concerning our attitude, words and behavior take dominion eventually.  Over time, every ruling force and condition (good or bad, healthy or destructive) gets in control through attitude, words and behavior, and all three begin with thoughts and feelings.  The one-two punch that defeats self-destruction is: 1) recognize destructive feelings and discern dark thoughts, and 2) refuse to be controlled by them or behave as they dictate.  Self-government becomes our weapon against self-destruction.