Fiona Sandford Supporter

I think this is a literal statement. The City walls are it’s defenses. I interpret this to mean that if we do not exercise self-control we are the easily overrun and potentially destroyed by the enemy.

April 25 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Kristine Rodrigues Supporter

Wisdom is a defense as stated in Ecclesiastes, and wisdom gives life. Self control is based on wisdom. One controls himself/herself because s/he has learned through experience or sound doctrine that behavior has consequences. Though self control one acts, or refrains from acting, to achieve the desired results. If one does not have self control s/he becomes vulnerable to his/her environment and the intentions of others.

April 25 2019 • 1 response • Vote Up • Share • Report

Al Mark Supporter

If you don't have self-control, you are at the mercy of anyone or anything that wants to manipulate and control you. Addicts are a prime example of what it looks like when you lose self control - you don't control you, something else controls you.

A city whose walls are broken through is what's left when an invading army has overcome it and taken control of it. The city's inhabitants are no longer in control; an outside force is.

November 16 2019 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report

Jack Gutknecht Supporter ABC/DTS graduate, guitar music ministry Baptist church

This person has no natural defenses but reveals his true nature all the time. The proverb is stating that without self-control a person is vulnerable, like a city without defenses. --bible.org

Compare the young man who goes after the loose woman: If the young man is not captivated by his wife but is captivated by a stranger in sinful acts, then his own iniquities will captivate him and he will be led to ruin. Proverbs 5:23 --

"He will die for lack of self–control; he will be lost because of his incredible folly," A loss of self-control can lead to our demise. Men, we need to get a hold of ourselves; better yet, let the Holy Spirit get a good hold on us and take the reins of our life. 

My former professor at Dallas Seminary, Dr. Charles Ryrie, said, "A man without self-control is an easy victim when attacked by his desires and impulses." See the flip side: "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city." (Proverbs 16:32)

“The essence of emotional self-regulation is the ability to delay impulse in the service of a goal. The importance of this trait to success was shown in an experiment begun in the 1960s by psychologist Walter Mischel at a preschool on the Stanford University campus. Children were told that they could have a single treat, such as a marshmallow, right now. However, if they would wait while the experimenter ran an errand, they could have two marshmallows. Some preschoolers grabbed the marshmallow immediately, but others were able to wait what, for them, must have seemed an endless 20 minutes. To sustain themselves in their struggle, they covered their eyes so they wouldn’t see the temptation, rested their heads on their arms, talked to themselves, sang, even tried to sleep. These plucky kids got the two-marshmallow reward. The interesting part of this experiment came in the follow-up. The children who as 4-year-olds had been able to wait for the two marshmallows were, as adolescents, still able to delay gratification in pursuing their goals. They were more socially competent and self-assertive, and better able to cope with life’s frustrations. In contrast, the kids who grabbed the one marshmallow were, as adolescents, more likely to be stubborn, indecisive, and stressed.”

Source: Emotional Intelligence, Daniel Goleman, Bantan Books, quoted in Reader’s Digest, January, 1996.

December 18 2022 • 0 responses • Vote Up • Share • Report