51 Bible Verses about Self Control

A foolish man lets out all his wrath, but a wise man keeps it back quietly.

The wise sayings of Solomon, the son of David, king of Israel. To have knowledge of wise teaching; to be clear about the words of reason: To be trained in the ways of wisdom, in righteousness and judging truly and straight behaviour:read more.
To make the simple-minded sharp, and to give the young man knowledge, and serious purpose: (The wise man, hearing, will get greater learning, and the acts of the man of good sense will be wisely guided:)

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith, Gentle behaviour, control over desires: against such there is no law.

For the grace of God has come, giving salvation to all men, Training us so that, turning away from evil and the desires of this world, we may be living wisely and uprightly in the knowledge of God in this present life;

The Bishop, then, is to be a man of good name, the husband of one wife, self-controlled, serious-minded, having respect for order, opening his house freely to guests, a ready teacher;

But opening his house freely to guests; a lover of what is good, serious-minded, upright, holy, self-controlled;

That old men are to be simple in their tastes, serious, wise, true in faith, in love, and of a quiet mind.

So, for this very cause, take every care; joining virtue to faith, and knowledge to virtue, And self-control to knowledge, and a quiet mind to self-control, and fear of God to a quiet mind, And love of the brothers to fear of God, and to love of the brothers, love itself.read more.
For if you have these things in good measure, they will make you fertile and full of fruit in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. For the man who has not these things is blind, seeing only what is near, having no memory of how he was made clean from his old sins.

So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air: But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.

But if, in any man's opinion, he is not doing what is right for his virgin, if she is past her best years, and there is need for it, let him do what seems right to him; it is no sin; let them be married. But the man who is strong in mind and purpose, who is not forced but has control over his desires, does well if he comes to the decision to keep her a virgin. So then, he who gets married to his virgin does well, and he who keeps her unmarried does better.

For the purpose of God for you is this: that you may be holy, and may keep yourselves from the desires of the flesh; So that every one of you may keep his body holy and in honour; Not in the passion of evil desires, like the Gentiles, who have no knowledge of God;read more.
And that no man may make attempts to get the better of his brother in business: for the Lord is the judge in all these things, as we said to you before and gave witness. Because it is God's purpose that our way of life may be not unclean but holy.

So make your minds ready, and keep on the watch, hoping with all your power for the grace which is to come to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;

So then, let us not take our rest as the others do, but let us be self-controlled and awake. For those who are sleeping do so in the night; and those who are the worse for drink are so in the night; But let us, who are of the day, be serious, putting on the breastplate of faith and love, and on our heads, the hope of salvation.

But the end of all things is near: so be serious in your behaviour and keep on the watch with prayer;

Be serious and keep watch; the Evil One, who is against you, goes about like a lion with open mouth in search of food;

You have knowledge of this, dear brothers. But let every man be quick in hearing, slow in words, slow to get angry;

The heart of the wise man is the teacher of his mouth, and gives increased learning to his lips.

He who keeps watch over his mouth and his tongue keeps his soul from troubles.

Do not all be teachers, my brothers, because we teachers will be judged more hardly than others. For we all go wrong in a number of things. If a man never makes a slip in his talk, then he is a complete man and able to keep all his body in control. Now if we put bits of iron into horses' mouths so that they may be guided by us, we have complete control of their bodies.read more.
And again ships, though they are so great and are moved by violent winds, are turned by a very small guiding-blade, at the impulse of the man who is using it. Even so the tongue is a small part of the body, but it takes credit for great things. How much wood may be lighted by a very little fire! And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell. For every sort of beast and bird and every living thing on earth and in the sea has been controlled by man and is under his authority; But the tongue may not be controlled by man; it is an unresting evil, it is full of the poison of death. With it we give praise to our Lord and Father; and with it we put a curse on men who are made in God's image. Out of the same mouth comes blessing and cursing. My brothers, it is not right for these things to be so. Does the fountain send from the same outlet sweet and bitter water? Is a fig-tree able to give us olives, my brothers, or do we get figs from a vine, or sweet water from the salt sea?

But I say to you, Do not make use of force against an evil man; but to him who gives you a blow on the right side of your face let the left be turned. And if any man goes to law with you and takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe from him.

But I say to you who give ear to me, Have love for those who are against you, do good to those who have hate for you, Give blessing to those who give you curses, say prayers for those who are cruel to you. If a man gives you a blow on one side of your face, then let the other side be turned to him; from him who takes away your coat, do not keep back your robe.

Servants, take orders from your masters with all respect; not only if they are good and gentle, but even if they are bad-humoured. For it is a sign of grace if a man, desiring to do right in the eyes of God, undergoes pain as punishment for something which he has not done. What credit is it if, when you have done evil, you take your punishment quietly? but if you are given punishment for doing right, and take it quietly, this is pleasing to God.read more.
This is God's purpose for you: because Jesus himself underwent punishment for you, giving you an example, so that you might go in his footsteps: Who did no evil, and there was no deceit in his mouth: To sharp words he gave no sharp answer; when he was undergoing pain, no angry word came from his lips; but he put himself into the hands of the judge of righteousness:

And after a time, his master's wife, looking on Joseph with desire, said to him, Be my lover. But he would not, and said to her, You see that my master keeps no account of what I do in his house, and has put all his property in my control; So that no one has more authority in this house than I have; he has kept nothing back from me but you, because you are his wife; how then may I do this great wrong, sinning against God?read more.
And day after day she went on requesting Joseph to come to her and be her lover, but he would not give ear to her. Now one day he went into the house to do his work; and not one of the men of the house was inside. And pulling at his coat, she said, Come to my bed; but slipping out of his coat, he went running away.

Now when Saul came back from fighting the Philistines, news was given him that David was in the waste land of En-gedi. Then Saul took three thousand of the best men out of all Israel, and went in search of David and his men on the rocks of the mountain goats. And on the way he came to a place where sheep were kept, where there was a hollow in the rock; and Saul went in for a private purpose. Now David and his men were in the deepest part of the hollow.read more.
And David's men said to him, Now is the time when the Lord says to you, I will give up your hater into your hands to do with him whatever seems good to you. Then David, getting up, took the skirt of Saul's robe in his hand, cutting off the end of it without his knowledge. And later, David was full of regret for cutting off Saul's skirt. And David said to his men, Before the Lord, never let it be said that my hand was lifted up against my lord, the man of the Lord's selection, for the Lord's holy oil has been put on him. So with these words David kept his servants back, and did not let them make an attack on Saul. And Saul got up and went on his way.

So David and Abishai came down to the army by night: and Saul was sleeping inside the ring of carts with his spear planted in the earth by his head: and Abner and the people were sleeping round him. Then Abishai said to David, God has given up your hater into your hands today; now let me give him one blow through to the earth with his spear, and there will be no need to give him a second. And David said to Abishai Do not put him to death; for who, without sin, may put out his hand against the man on whom the Lord has put the holy oil?read more.
And David said, By the living Lord, the Lord will send destruction on him; the natural day of his death will come, or he will go into the fight and come to his end. Never will my hand be stretched out against the man marked with the holy oil; but take the spear which is by his head and the vessel of water, and let us go. So David took the spear and the vessel of water from Saul's head; and they got away without any man seeing them, or being conscious of their coming, or awaking; for they were all sleeping because a deep sleep from the Lord had come on them.

Then Abishai, the son of Zeruiah, said to the king, Is this dead dog to go on cursing my lord the king? let me go over and take off his head. And the king said, What have I to do with you, you sons of Zeruiah? Let him go on cursing, for the Lord has said, Put a curse on David, and who then may say, Why have you done so?

I made an agreement with my eyes; how then might my eyes be looking on a virgin?

Men were cruel to him, but he was gentle and quiet; as a lamb taken to its death, and as a sheep before those who take her wool makes no sound, so he said not a word.

But he kept quiet and said nothing. Again the high priest questioning him said, Are you the Christ, the son of the Holy One?

Then the ruler's armed men took Jesus into the open square, and got all their band together. And they took off his clothing, and put on him a red robe. And they made a crown of thorns and put it on his head, and put a rod in his right hand, and they went down on their knees before him, and made sport of him, saying, Long life to the King of the Jews.read more.
And they put shame on him, and gave him blows on the head with the rod.

And with our hands we do the hardest work: when they give us curses we give blessings, when we undergo punishment we take it quietly; When evil things are said about us we give gentle answers: we are made as the unclean things of the world, as that for which no one has any use, even till now.

Do you not see that in a running competition all take part, but only one gets the reward? So let your minds be fixed on the reward. And every man who takes part in the sports has self-control in all things. Now they do it to get a crown which is of this world, but we for an eternal crown. So then I am running, not uncertainly; so I am fighting, not as one who gives blows in the air:read more.
But I give blows to my body, and keep it under control, for fear that, after having given the good news to others, I myself might not have God's approval.

The mouth of a foolish man is his destruction, and his lips are a net for his soul.

This is what the Lord has said about this people: Even so they have been glad to go from the right way; they have not kept their feet from wandering, so the Lord has no pleasure in them; now he will keep their wrongdoing in mind and send punishment for their sins.

Now on the day after, an evil spirit from God came on Saul with great force and he was acting like a prophet among the men of his house, while David was making music for him, as he did day by day: and Saul had his spear in his hand. And Saul, balancing the spear in his hand, said, I will give David a blow, pinning him to the wall. And David got away from him twice.

Then David sent to the house for Tamar and said, Go now to your brother Amnon's house and get a meal for him. So Tamar went to her brother Amnon's house; and he was in bed. And she took paste and made cakes before his eyes, cooking them over the fire. And she took the cooking-pot, and put the cakes before him, but he would not take them. And Amnon said, Let everyone go away from me. So they all went out.read more.
Then Amnon said to Tamar, Take the food and come into my bedroom, so that I may take it from your hand. So Tamar took the cakes she had made and went with them into her brother Amnon's bedroom. And when she took them to give them to him, he put his arms round her and said, Come to bed, my sister. And answering him, she said, O my brother, do not put shame on me; it is not right for such a thing to be done in Israel: do not this evil thing. What will become of me in my shame? and as for you, you will be looked down on with disgust by all Israel. Now then, go and make your request to the king, for he will not keep me from you. But he would not give attention to what she said: but being stronger than she, he took her by force, and had connection with her.

They made God angry again at the waters of Meribah, so that Moses was troubled because of them; For they made his spirit bitter, and he said unwise things.

My son, if you have made yourself responsible for your neighbour, or given your word for another, You are taken as in a net by the words of your mouth, the sayings of your lips have overcome you. Do this, my son, and make yourself free, because you have come into the power of your neighbour; go without waiting, and make a strong request to your neighbour.

Where there is no vision, the people are uncontrolled; but he who keeps the law will be happy.

And while he was talking about righteousness and self-control and the judging which was to come, Felix had great fear and said, Go away for the present, and when the right time comes I will send for you.

For this reason God gave them up to the evil desires of their hearts, working shame in their bodies with one another: Because by them the true word of God was changed into that which is false, and they gave worship and honour to the thing which is made, and not to him who made it, to whom be blessing for ever. So be it. For this reason God gave them up to evil passions, and their women were changing the natural use into one which is unnatural:read more.
And in the same way the men gave up the natural use of the woman and were burning in their desire for one another, men doing shame with men, and getting in their bodies the right reward of their evil-doing. And because they had not the mind to keep God in their knowledge, God gave them up to an evil mind, to do those things which are not right; Being full of all wrongdoing, evil, desire for the goods of others, hate, envy, putting to death, fighting, deceit, cruel ways, evil talk, and false statements about others; Hated by God, full of pride, without respect, full of loud talk, given to evil inventions, not honouring father or mother, Without knowledge, not true to their undertakings, unkind, having no mercy:

Do not keep back from one another what is right, but only for a short time, and by agreement, so that you may give yourselves to prayer, and come together again; so that Satan may not get the better of you through your loss of self-control.

But if they have not self-control let them get married; for married life is better than the burning of desire.

These things seem to have a sort of wisdom in self-ordered worship and making little of oneself, and being cruel to the body, not honouring it by giving it its natural use.

But these men, like beasts without reason, whose natural use is to be taken and put to death, crying out against things of which they have no knowledge, will undergo that same destruction which they are designing for others; For the evil which overtakes them is the reward of their evil-doing: such men take their pleasure in the delights of the flesh even in the daytime; they are like the marks of a disease, like poisoned wounds among you, feasting together with you in joy; Having eyes full of evil desire, never having enough of sin; turning feeble souls out of the true way; they are children of cursing, whose hearts are well used to bitter envy;

He who keeps a watch on his mouth keeps his life; but he whose lips are open wide will have destruction.

For this cause do not let sin be ruling in your body which is under the power of death, so that you give way to its desires;

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, a quiet mind, kind acts, well-doing, faith,

He who is slow to be angry is better than a man of war, and he who has control over his spirit than he who takes a town.

He who overcomes will have these things for his heritage; and I will be his God, and he will be my son.

And the spirits of the prophets are controlled by the prophets;