Biblical Self-Control — The First Leadership Requirement

by Ryan Rush | Mar 25, 2025 | The Outlaw Faith

Alright, outlaws—yesterday we talked about how self-government is the foundation of all freedom. Today, we’re going deeper:

What does the Bible actually say about self-control?

Spoiler: It’s not optional. If you can’t govern yourself, you’re not qualified to lead anything. Not your home, not your work, not your church, and definitely not a country.

God’s Word doesn’t just suggest self-control as a nice “extra”—it says without it, you’re not fit for responsibility.

That’s bad news for modern America, where discipline is treated like a mental illness and “doing what you feel” is the highest virtue.

What the Bible Says About Self-Government

Let’s start with a Proverbs punch to the face:

“A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” — Proverbs 25:28

Translation: If you can’t control yourself, you’re basically an unprotected town—wide open for attack.

• No discipline? The enemy can wreck your life.
• No control over your words? Your marriage, job, and friendships will collapse.
• No control over your impulses? Your finances, health, and reputation will follow.

The Bible doesn’t treat self-mastery like a soft skill—it’s life or death.

Now, let’s raise the stakes:

“He must manage his own household well… for if someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” — 1 Timothy 3:4-5

Boom. You want leadership? It starts with ruling yourself first. If your own life is a mess, you have no business leading anyone else.

The Brutal Truth: Weak Men = Strong Tyrants

Here’s why this matters:

Weak men who can’t govern themselves always end up ruled by stronger men who can.

✅ If you can’t control your spending, you’ll be ruled by debt collectors.
✅ If you can’t control your body, you’ll be ruled by doctors and prescriptions.
✅ If you can’t control your anger, you’ll be ruled by HR policies and lawsuits.
✅ If you can’t control your emotions, you’ll be ruled by propaganda and fear.

The less self-government we have, the more external government we get.

This is why tyrants love weak men. Strong, self-controlled men don’t need them—they govern their own homes, their own communities, their own businesses. Weak men, on the other hand, need “Caesar” to tell them what to do every second of the day.

Modern America: A Self-Controlled Society or a Circus?

Let’s see how we’re doing:

🚨 “Follow your heart” culture. (Translation: “Obey your impulses.”)
🚨 Men who melt down over a tweet. (Meanwhile, the Founders were out here dueling over insults.)
🚨 People who blame their bad choices on “capitalism” or “the system.” (Your credit card wasn’t forced into debt—you were.)
🚨 More Americans addicted to screens than any drug in history. (But sure, let’s ban straws.)

Tell me again how we’re ready for less government?

The Outlaw Faith Challenge: Take Back Your Own Territory

If a man without self-control is like a broken city, then it’s time to start rebuilding your walls.

This week, pick one of these to attack head-on:
✅ Your time. Get up earlier. Stop wasting hours scrolling.
✅ Your mouth. Think before you speak. Cut the excuses.
✅ Your body. Eat like an adult. Exercise. Stop acting like your metabolism is a victim.
✅ Your mind. Read a book. Read the Bible. Stop filling your brain with trash.

You were built for more than just existing. But if you can’t lead yourself, don’t expect anyone to follow you.

Tomorrow: Weak Men, Strong Tyrants — Why Freedom Dies When Men Get Soft.

Freedom Starts With You — What the Founders Expected from Free Men

by Ryan Rush | Mar 24, 2025 | The Outlaw Faith

Welcome to Outlaw Faith—where this week, we’re looking at the kind of government that actually matters most: the one inside your own skull.

Everybody loves to talk about fixing America, but nobody wants to talk about fixing themselves. Why? Because fixing America is easier—you just yell at the TV and share angry memes. Fixing yourself? That requires actual work.

But here’s the brutal truth the Founders understood:

If men can’t govern themselves, freedom doesn’t work.

Self-government isn’t just about voting—it’s about being the kind of man who doesn’t need a leash. If you can’t rule your own emotions, your own habits, or your own responsibilities, then what are you doing crying about the government? You are living proof that people need more of it.

That’s not me saying it—that’s straight from the Founders.

The Founders’ Expectation: Be a Man Who Can Handle Freedom

John Adams:

“Public virtue cannot exist in a nation without private virtue, and public virtue is the only foundation of republics.”

Translation: If people can’t control themselves, the government will have to.

George Washington:

“A good moral character is the first essential in a man… It is therefore highly important that you should endeavor not only to be learned but virtuous.”

Translation: If you’re a degenerate but can quote Thomas Jefferson, you’re still a degenerate.

The Real Reason America’s Falling Apart

Here’s the cold, hard reality nobody likes to say out loud:
America isn’t falling apart because of elections. It’s falling apart because of men who can’t govern themselves.

Think about it:

• How can we have small government when people can’t even show up to work on time?
• How can we defend freedom when men melt down over mean words on the internet?
• How can we be a strong nation when half of us can’t put down our phones for more than 30 seconds?

The government keeps growing because people keep getting weaker. You can scream about tyranny all you want, but if you can’t control your impulses, you’re just outsourcing your personal responsibility to a bigger, badder babysitter.

And the Founders knew this would happen.

The Cycle: How Weakness Leads to Tyranny

The pattern is always the same:
✅ Strong men govern themselves → Government stays small.
❌ Weak men need to be controlled → Government gets bigger.
❌ Bigger government removes responsibility → Men get even weaker.
❌ Weak men cry for even more government.
💀 Freedom dies.

Congratulations, we’re right between steps 3 and 4 right now.

Self-Government in 2025: How Are We Doing?

Let’s check in on how well we’re governing ourselves today:

• Finances: 60% of Americans can’t cover a $1,000 emergency.
• Discipline: 75% of men are overweight, and our grandfathers would laugh at our idea of “hard work.”
• Impulse control: The average person checks their phone 144 times a day. (That’s not a joke—144.)
• Mental toughness: College students need therapy dogs and safe spaces because words are scary.

Meanwhile, the Founders were fighting the British with lead balls and handwritten letters.

Tell me again how we’re ready for freedom?

The Bible Saw This Coming

The Founders didn’t just make this up—they got it from Scripture.

• Proverbs 25:28 — “A man without self-control is like a city broken into and left without walls.” (Translation: If you can’t govern yourself, you’re an open target.)
• Galatians 5:23 — “The fruit of the Spirit is… self-control.” (Translation: If you’re walking with God, you should have discipline—not just feelings.)
• 1 Timothy 3:5 — “If someone does not know how to manage his own household, how will he care for God’s church?” (Translation: Lead yourself first.)

The Outlaw Faith Challenge: Start With You

Want freedom? Start where the Founders did—by ruling yourself first.

This week, I challenge you:
✅ Wake up on time—no snooze button.
✅ Put your phone down for an hour—see if the world keeps turning.
✅ Make a decision and stick with it—don’t flake.
✅ Own your mistakes—no excuses, no blaming.
✅ Act like a free man, not a spoiled child.

The truth is freedom isn’t taken—it’s surrendered. And if we don’t reclaim self-government, we can forget about keeping the rest.

Tomorrow: Biblical Self-Control — The Original Leadership Requirement.

Self-Government — The Freedom Nobody Talks About

by Ryan Rush | Mar 23, 2025 | The Outlaw Faith

Alright outlaws — buckle up.

Next week, we’re talking about the kind of freedom that doesn’t fit on a bumper sticker. It’s not about what the government’s doing — it’s about what you’re doing. It’s called self-government — and it’s the one kind of freedom you can’t vote for, protest for, or hashtag into existence.

The Founders talked about it all the time, but for some reason, nobody teaches it now. Why? Because self-government requires personal responsibility, and that’s harder to sell than victimhood and excuses.

But here’s the hard truth:
You cannot govern a nation if you can’t govern yourself.
If your emotions run you, if your phone owns you, if your impulses control you — you’re not free. You’re a slave with WiFi.

This week, we’re going there.

• Monday: What the Founders actually expected from free men.
• Tuesday: What the Bible says about ruling yourself.
• Wednesday: Why weak men always invite strong tyrants.
• Thursday: What real self-government looks like in 2025.
• Friday: The Outlaw Faith challenge — building a life that needs no babysitter.

It’s going to be funny. It’s going to hurt. But it might just be the most important thing we talk about all year.

See you Monday.

Faith & Freedom — Not Either/Or, It’s Both or Bust

by Ryan Rush | Mar 21, 2025 | The Outlaw Faith

Alright outlaws — this is the big one. We’ve spent all week tearing down the lie that faith and politics should never mix. Now let’s build something better in its place.

If you remember nothing else from this week, remember this:
You cannot keep freedom if you lose faith.

That’s not my opinion — it’s baked into reality, and the Founders knew it. In fact, they hammered this point so hard, you could frame the entire Constitution with their quotes about it.

Faith & Freedom Are a Package Deal

Here’s how the Founders actually saw it:

• Faith teaches people to govern themselves.
• Self-governed people need less government.
• Less government means more freedom.
• Lose faith — people stop governing themselves.
• People act like fools — government steps in to control them.
• Freedom dies.

That’s not theory — that’s history. And we’re living the consequences of forgetting it.

The Founders’ Greatest Hits (Faith Edition)

John Adams:

“Religion and virtue are the only foundations…of republicanism and of all free governments.”

George Washington:

“Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.”

Benjamin Rush:

“Christianity is the only true and perfect religion.”
(Imagine saying that at a PTA meeting today — they’d have him canceled before lunch.)

What Happens When You Separate Faith from Freedom

If you want a country with maximum freedom, you need people who govern themselves — people who don’t cheat, steal, or punch each other over parking spots because they fear God, not because there’s a cop watching.

When you take faith out of the equation, you don’t get more freedom — you get more laws.

• Don’t believe lying is a sin? Here’s 47 pages of corporate disclosure regulations.
• Don’t teach kids that all humans bear God’s image? Here’s a 300-page anti-bullying policy.
• Don’t value honesty in contracts? Here’s 12 agencies to monitor your business.

Lose internal control — government adds external control.

Freedom Without Faith = An Expired Coupon

Here’s the brutal truth:
Freedom only works when people are capable of handling it.
That’s why the Bible says:

“Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom.” — 2 Corinthians 3:17

No Spirit? No freedom. Period.
You can vote all you want, but if people aren’t governed inside, you’ll end up begging for laws to protect you from your neighbors.

Modern Example: The Parent Swap

This is like firing your strict-but-loving dad and replacing him with a weak babysitter who’s scared of the kids.
At first, it feels like freedom — no rules! Candy for dinner! But after about three days, the house smells like armpits and Axe body spray, the dog’s missing, and nobody knows what’s real anymore.

That’s what happens to a nation when you trade moral self-control for legal loopholes and personal “truth.”

The Outlaw Faith Challenge

Faith and freedom rise and fall together — always have, always will.
If you want to keep your freedom:
✅ Strengthen your faith.
✅ Teach your kids real truth — from the Bible, not TikTok.
✅ Build a home that needs zero government intervention because you handle your business like a man.
✅ Be the guy who prays first, acts second, and never bows to Caesar unless God says so.

Next Week: Back to the Founders — but this time, we’re going tactical with what they actually wanted government to do — and what they wanted it to stay out of.