We live in a time when our hearts dictate all that we do and live for. The idea of self-control and self-denial may be offensive to some. But self-control is the ability to pursue the important over the urgent, the eternal over the temporal. It is the ability to choose what is necessary over what is desired. This fruit is what is needed in all the other fruits. We are able to display this fruit in the strength of Jesus, who was self-controlled to the point of death for us.