MASTER OR BE MASTERED

 1 Corinthians 6:12 says: “I will not be mastered by anything.” Really it’s a spiritual declaration of independence.

The word “mastered” derives from the Greek root word 'exousia' which is translated “power” but it’s very different than the other Greek word 'dunamis'. Dunamis is the ability to do things that are beyond your ability, it’s supernatural ability. Exousia though is the ability to NOT do what you have the ability to do. It’s willpower, it’s the way we keep our desires from dictating our decisions. It’s the way we maintain self-control and self-discipline. It’s the way we insure that we are controlled by the Spirit of God alone.

I think one way to exercise exousia is the spiritual discipline of fasting. If you can say “no” to food then it’s easier to say “no” to other desires. That single discipline can help you cultivate other spiritual and physical disciplines. In my own experience, physical and spiritual disciplines are not unrelated. One often feeds the other. And long-term, those disciplines will become holy desires.

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