For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls. If you’re a parent, you know, a child will fight you because you want to put a certain healthy food in their mouth. Now, this child hasn’t read a diet book but decided they want to eat a certain way. What they’re fighting is authority, “My body belongs to me, and I will choose what I put in my mouth.” Or a child who’s clearly sleepy who will fight you when you try to put them to bed. You have got to know that there’s something inside of us–sin is fiercely rebellious; sin is fiercely independent.

Let me talk about what sober-mindedness is not. It’s not the lack of ability to have fun, to laugh, an absence of sense-of-humor. Sober-mindedness is not taking yourself too seriously. We all have done that and have been around people who do that.

Is being sober-minded the same as being serious all the time?

Remember, he combined Father and Judge in a way that clarifies the kind of fear that a believer should have? Well, he puts three things together being sober around drinkers in this passage that are very helpful. Here they are, obedience to the truth, sincere brotherly love, and the living and abiding Word of God.

The most prominent effects are on the liver, which is where alcohol gets broken down, but there are secondary effects on our other organs, such as the heart, gastrointestinal tract, pancreas, and brain. These can range widely and are often dependent on how long alcohol is in the body, and how much you consume. Adults planned to take part in Dry January, while 35 percent of U.S. adults reported attempting to give up alcohol for a full month in 2022. As the number of participants increases, this raises the question of what the benefits of giving up alcohol for a month are, and whether a month is long enough to start experiencing them.

Can any amount of alcohol actually be healthy?

God disciplines those whom He loves.” It’s just wrong to think that since I’m God’s child, and since I’m the object of His grace, there’ll be no consequences for my sin. Think about this, and this is what Peter is arguing, this is Paul Tripp’s way of saying this, “Your heart is only as trustworthy as what controls it.” Your heart is only as trustworthy as what controls it. If God controls your heart, then your heart is trustworthy. If the Word controls your heart, then your heart is trustworthy. If the glory of God controls your heart rather than self-glory, then your heart is trustworthy. But your heart is not always uniformly trustworthy because passions for things that are outside of God’s will, even if in a moment, will grip us.

• “Clean and sober” is a commonly used phrase, which refers to someone having an extended period without alcohol or other drugs in their body.
• And what you do and say, no matter where you are, means something, it’s important!
• Sobriety actually means, first, not being intoxicated.
• If you’re questioning the role alcohol plays in your life, you might be curious about what it’s like to lead a “sober life” without alcohol.
• At the end of the day, why you’re not drinking isn’t anyone’s business!

Today, there is aids in cow, cancer and leukemia in chickens, leukemia in dairy products, and tuberculosis is breaking out in the cattle. You see, we have the streamlined inspection system where we not longer have enough meat inspectors form the federal government to go to the processing plants and examine the meat for themselves. As a result, the quality of the meat products is controlled by the ones who stand to suffer the loss if it is rejected. God has given us a blueprint to run the Christian race. We have it in our hands today, priceless material in which God has warned us not to eat stimulants. “Through the use of stimulants, the whole system suffers.

Find members of your community who are also sober curious or find a new community

And I think that bottom line also sets up everything Peter is going to say for the rest of this book. All the hard calls that we will hear in 1 Peter are based on the fact that God is good. My confidence in the Word of God is, I pick it up and I know to whomever I’m going to go to it with, wherever I’m going to go, however old they are, however young they are, whatever culture they’re in, this Word will always apply. And at the heart of that Word is the good news of salvation in Jesus Christ. The Christian life is not just about obedience.

By being fully present in the moment, individuals can appreciate the simple joys, maintain wholesome connections, and cultivate a positive mindset. Being sober-minded allows for a healthier and more sustainable form of enjoyment that is not reliant on external substances or temporary highs. So, what does that look like, this living with eternity in view? Well, Peter says, first of all, it means being self-controlled–you don’t give way to that pleasure-mindedness that says, “This moment’s happiness is all that there’s worth living for.” Be “sober-minded,” think seriously. Man, if the Bible teaches us anything, it is to take life seriously.

Now I know, you’ve heard me read this passage and you’re thinking, “What in the world is this talking about? About Christ’s speaking to the spirits in prison and days of Noah, and…” Well, you’re in good company. Martin Luther said, “This is the one passage in scripture he absolutely did not understand and did not how to know make sense of.” Calvin said many of the same things. Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way, showing honor to the woman as the weaker vessel, since they are heirs with you of the grace of life, so that your prayers be not hindered. I think Peter must understand how hard-hearted we can be, how dull our ears can be, how we don’t always hear what God says the first time He says it.