Sunday, December 31, 2017

A Sound Mind



The past few days we have learned about: being respectful, about not being a gossip, about not being drunk with wine, and about being a positive example to others. (Titus 2:3)

Today, we are going to start talking about Titus 2:4.

"That they may instruct the young women to be sober minded, that they love their husbands, that they love their children," (GNV)

"That they may teach the young women to be wise, to love their husbands, to love their children" (DRA)

Sober Minded.

According to the dictionary, 'sober-minded' is described as: "showing self-control; marked by seriousness, solemnity as of demeanor, speech; free from excess, extravagance, or exaggeration; reasonable; sound."

One definition linked being 'sober-minded' with being of a 'sound mind.' Being of a 'sound mind', according to Renner Ministries, means, ".....a mind that has been delivered, rescued, revived, salvaged, and protected and is now safe and secure. Thus, even if your mind is tempted to succumb to fear, as was the case with Timothy, you can allow God’s Word and the Holy Spirit to work in you to deliver, rescue, revive, and salvage your mind. This means your rationale, logic, and emotions can be shielded from the illogically absurd, ridiculous, unfounded, and crazy thoughts that have tried to grip your mind in the past. All you have to do is grab hold of God’s Word and His Spirit." 

 The woman in Titus 2 is described as having a mind that is delivered, rescued, salvaged, and protected by Jesus Christ. She is wise. Her thoughts are safe. She has self-control. She is reasonable.

Protecting Our Minds.

I think the key to being sober-minded, wise, and of a sound mind is: protecting our minds.

According to 1 Peter 5:8, "Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour." 

Paul writes that we are to be alert- sober minded- wise. The devil is lurking around, trying to find someone to tempt and overcome.

In the verse proceeding this one, Paul warns to cast all our anxiety on Jesus Christ, he then states that we must be alert. One thing this verse tells us is this: FEAR causes us to NOT be alert.

When All We Can Think About is Fear.

Fear has overwhelmed my soul for quite some time. I have struggled with anxiety for as long as I can remember. And one thing I've learned about fear is that when you're truly struggling with it-- when you're letting it take over your mind--- you cannot focus on anything else. Your defenses drop. You start getting careless. You struggle to merely survive. And when you're struggling to just survive-- your mind becomes an open battle ground for anything to enter in to it.

When we are consistently fearing and worrying, we open the door for the enemy. The quote says, "An idle mind is the devil's workshop..." and well, I've found that to be true.

The more I let anxiety and worry in to my soul-- the less I feel the tug of Jesus Christ. That is because He has called us to have a sound mind. This is where He is free to operate. He cannot fill our lives with the good things when we are consistently letting the bad inside.

It is a Battle Ground.

To have a sober, sound mind-- it is a battle field. We have to continually be warring against the enemy of this world to keep our thoughts and actions aligned with the Word of God.

According to 1 Thessalonians chapter 5, we are called to be sober. And in order to be sober, we are called to put on faith and love as a breastplate and the hope of salvation as our helmet. (1 Thessalonians 5:8)

"Because we are men of the day, let us keep our minds awake. Let us cover our chests with faith and love. Let us cover our heads with the hope of being saved." (NLV)

"But we belong to the day, so we should control ourselves. We should wear faith and love to protect us, and the hope of salvation should be our helmet." (NCV)

Paul writes that since this is a battleground- a battle ground of our mind- we should protect ourselves with faith, love, and the hope of being saved.

Faith.

Faith is the first protective element discussed in 1 Thessalonians 5 because it is the foundation by which we stand. We cannot know God without faith. Faith is the evidence of things not seen. 

Before we can overcome fear (or whatever is attempting to overtake our mind) we have to have the faith in God that He can remove it. We have to tell ourselves 'This isn't too much for Him.' We have to continually say, "If He brought me to it, He CAN bring me through it." We have to trust Him that although we did not bring our thoughts under His subjection at first, He can still cleanse our hearts and help us to think of Godly things. Faith is the only way we can move forward in the battleground of our minds.

"There isn't enough room in your mind for both worry and faith. You must decided which one will live there." And act on it. Faith without works.. faith without prayer... it is dead.

Love.

Love is the next step in protecting ourselves. Once we let faith in and we start letting faith do it's work-- we need to rid our lives of hatred. 

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that."

You may feel like darkness is filing your soul right now. You may feel like worry is trapping you. But the only way that can be driven out is through the light-- through love.

Start loving today. 

Start loving your life.
Start truly loving Jesus Christ.
Start loving your family- even harder.
Start loving your friends- even harder.
Start loving your hobbies.
Start loving your job.
Start loving your days.

Start loving.

When you love- when you fill your life with positive energy- good things-- bad cannot stay! When you focus on the GOOD things, the bad will not be at the forefront of your mind. This is the only way to overcome the works of the enemy.

Faith in Jesus Christ.
A heart full of love.

And

Hope of Salvation.

God promised that He would never leave us nor forsake us. He promised to be our Savior in every situation in our lives. 

"God is a restorer of broken years." 

He is a restorer of broken hearts.
Of broken minds.
Of broken spirits.

He is a restorer.

I can attest to it! He has restored my mind-- one day at a time. I am not 100%, but I didn't go downhill all at once either. It was a gradual destruction of my mental strength-- and it will be a gradual building of my mental strength as well. As long as I have His help and trust in Him.

We have the hope of salvation. We have the hope that He will rescue us. But we have to trust Him to do it.


Jesus, help us to have a sound mind today. You have called us to be wise- to be reasonable- to have self-control. I pray over our minds today, Lord. I pray that You help us to guard our thoughts against the work of the enemy and that we continually focus on Your Word! It is a lamp unto my feet... a light unto my path. In Jesus name, Amen.

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