Holding the City Walls

“Whoever has no rule over his own spirit
Is like a city broken down, without walls.” (Proverbs 25:28)

We treat many of our sins in a passive sort of way, as things that simply “come over us,” as if there were nothing we could do about them. We “can’t help ourselves,” we say, whether it is a rush of anger, a “mood” of despondency or depression, falling into a passion of lust, or the avoidance of some duty through fear, indecision, or just plain laziness.

But the Bible knows better. We are to rule over our own spirits. We are little cities in microcosm, and our sins are our enemies. When we let our guard down, and especially when we do this on a habitual basis, the walls are breached, and our cities are occupied by our enemies, who continue to carry out their designs and govern our cities for us.

But we are not to let sin reign in our mortal bodies, in our little cities. (Romans 6:12) By God’s grace, we do have the ability to hold the walls: to control our temper, to walk away from temptation, to keep our tongues from evil, to face our fears, to rejoice always even when other “spirits” within us fight against us to the contrary.

God’s grace is the key, of course, and we begin to pray for the grace to obey by praying for God’s grace in mercy, forgiveness, and repentance. Confess your sins now before the Lord, asking Him to deliver you from them, as well as asking Him to fill you with a spirit of obedience and self-control.

“Lord God, we confess our utter inability in and of ourselves to keep ourselves from sin, and we confess our lack of diligence in holding the walls of our spirit by resisting the enemies of sin, temptation, and the devil. Forgive us, dear God, for our “letting our guard down” and for our allowing sin to get the upper hand, and grant us the grace to rule over our spirits consistently and persistently. We give You thanks for Your own Holy Spirit, who resides within us, and pray You would fill us with Him and the holy fruit of self-control He produces. Help us to set a guard over our tongues, to control our temper, and to do Your will and obey Your voice regardless our feelings or “spirit” to the contrary. Grant to us, dear Lord, merciful Father, true and lasting repentance, we pray in Christ’s name. Amen.”