As believers in Christ, we have an assignment from the Lord to make disciples and bring him glory. We can’t complete that mission without a sober mind. But we can live abundantly and victoriously for God’s glory when we practice the following 6 steps to a sober mind.
What is a Sober Mind?
The Bible defines ‘sober’ as having a disciplined, controlled, sound mind. To have a sober mind is to be in control of your thoughts, emotions, and actions. A sober-minded woman is circumspect, aware, and alert to the enemy. On the other hand, an unsober woman is foolish and caught up in her feelings.
A sober-minded woman isn’t without feelings, she doesn’t suppress her emotions. She renews her mind with the truth of scripture. Thereby changing her emotional responses to be in line with God’s will and word, as she exercises a sober mind.
Let’s break down how to get a sober mind.
6 Steps to a Sober Mind
- Take a time-out.
- Take every thought captive.
- Take it to the word.
- Tap out of the fight.
- Tap into the force.
- Talk it out with God.
Reign in your responses to have a sober mind
1. Take a time-out. Pause to put the situation into perspective. Life is full of stresses that stir up anger, anxiety, and unholy attitudes. But when we stop and get the proper perspective, we can respond in a way that glorifies God.
We avoid humiliation when we reign in our responses instead of having an emotional explosion.
Take a time-out, rule over your flesh and feelings, and be sober-minded.
Proverbs 16:32 KJV ~ He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.
Arrest your thinking to be sober-minded
2. Take every thought captive. Put the cuffs on it! A sober mind is a controlled, disciplined, sound mind. To train our carnal minds to be sober, we have to arrest our thinking. Sometimes the words and actions of others can cause runaway thoughts, fueled by our insecurities and fanned by our adversary. As a result, assumptions and imaginations that ruin relationships consume our minds. But it doesn’t have to be that way.
Don’t let the enemy triumph over you. Practice being sober-minded, take a time-out, take every thought captive, and take it to the word…
2Corinthians 10:5 KJV ~ Casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ;
The truth is the key to being sober-minded
3. Take it to the word. Pick a scripture! You can use the concordance in the back of your Bible to find a verse that pertains to the situation. Or there are Bible apps, like Blue Letter Bible, that have that feature as well.
To submit to and filter your mind with the Bible, you have to know what it says, so memorize, memorize, memorize!
Every scripture you commit to memory is a deposit into your spiritual storehouse. You can’t withdraw what you don’t have, so be intentional to memorize scripture.
When the world, the flesh, and the devil bombard you with lies, submit to biblical truth. For example, when you withdraw Philippians 4:8 from your spiritual storehouse, you can remember to think about things that are true, pure, and lovely, instead of carnal thoughts that lead to ungodly behavior.
Stop and ask yourself “What is true?”, because the truth changes everything.
The more truth we flood our minds with, the less susceptible we are to believe lies. Click To Tweet
I highly recommend reading the newly expanded and updated version of Lies Women Believe, and the Truth that Sets Them Free by Nancy Demoss Wolgemuth. This book is eye-opening, heart-examining, spirit-refreshing, and mind-renewing. It will definitely help you have a sober mind!
Remember your real enemy for a sober mind
4. Tap out of the fight. Practice humility! We exercise a sober mind in moments of trials, testing, and temptations. Remember that the person causing you grief or driving you crazy is not your enemy- Satan is! Chaos and contention originate with him.
Ephesians 6:12 KJV ~ For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.
We pursue righteousness when we practice humility, lay down our rights, and relinquish the desire to be right.
If you want to be cool in the crazy and calm in the chaos-cleave to Jesus and leave the drama, the distraction, and the divisive devices of the Devil behind. Click To Tweet
Be strong in the Lord for a sober mind
5. Tap into the force. Power up! Ephesians 6:10 tells us to “be strong in the Lord and in the power of his might.” The same spirit that enabled Moses to lead the Israelites out of Egypt empowered David to take down Goliath, Samson to defeat the Philistines, and Elijah to call down fire from heaven, is in you.
You have resurrection power within you (Romans 8:11), you just have to tap into that force.
Yield to the Spirit’s power and your responses to conflict and contention will improve.
Prayer therapy for a sober mind
6. Talk it out with God. Pray without ceasing! 1Thessalonians 5:17. This is a super simple scripture to put in the storehouse. 1Peter 5:7 is another verse for the vault: Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.
Prayer is essential for a sober mind. Pray for a scripture to help in the time of need, for deliverance from the enemy, for wisdom on how to handle the situation, and for strength to stand against the wiles of the devil.
God wants our initial instinct to be prayer, in every situation, with every person, no matter what the trial, test, or temptation. He wants us to come to him first because he’s our daddy and he loves us.
God is the best therapist, his sessions are always free, and he’s always available, so turn to the Lord when you need help to be sober-minded.
Psalm 46:1 KJV ~ God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.
Practice makes progress for a sober mind
God desires for each one of His daughters to be sober, Spirit-filled, strong, and stable women. He wants us to be ruled by and reveal His truth, so we can make disciples and bring him glory!
Practice makes progress, so when the next stressful situation comes your way, repeat these 6 steps to a sober mind. And then watch God work wonders in your thought processes and responses.
For more articles related to 6 Steps to a Sober Mind:
Renew Your Mind and Revive Your Heart with ‘It is Written’
4 Examples of Sober-minded Women in the Bible
How to Have a Sober Mind Daily
18 Psalms for a Sober Mind in Suffering
What Does it Mean to Be Sober?
How to Be Sober in Stressful Times
The Importance of a Sober Mind for Spiritual Stability
16 Scriptures for a Sober Mind
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The more fellowship you have with Jesus, the more sober-minded you become. I designed and published a tool to help Christian women to know Jesus more. My Jesus Journal focuses your time in the word on learning more about the Lord and cultivating a closer relationship with Christ.
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Are you looking for a guest blogger?
If you need someone to contribute articles to your website, or to collaborate with you on a project, you can view my portfolio and my beliefs to see if I would be a good fit for your readers. If so, please email me at dailyhisdisciple@gmail.com with what you are looking for, and I will get back to you as soon as possible.
Pray With Confidence
Prayer is vital for being sober-minded. If you would like to grow in your prayer life, then check out Pray with Confidence. It’s a website for helping women overcome prayer obstacles, and I am one of the regular contributors. Here are some links I think will be a blessing to you:
When Your Prayer for Pain Relief Goes Unanswered
3 Short Prayers for Spiritual Stability
19 Bible Verses that Reveal the Will of God
Check out the prayer resources, Bible verses, and tough questions tabs. There are many great options to boost your spiritual growth!
This is the most beautiful and soul-lifting article I have read this year. It just changed my mindset and revealed my identity of who I am in Christ, and how I can be in charge of my thoughts.
Thank you for making this available. I am overwhelmed and blessed by it.
Praise the Lord! I’m so glad it was a blessing to you.😊
Last night the Lord showed me the words “sober minded” in my dream. I woke up this morning and being obedient I knew it was a response given to me for my personal struggle. I experienced something that left me baffled and confused, I couldn’t get over a kid lying like that. Well the Lord showed me it isn’t the flesh it is satan and his attacks on our children. In the dream one of the party was present with me as we walked when the Lord showed me the word. As He led me to research the words/phrase I didn’t have to search far because your article was the one He led me to. I thank God for showing me what I need to work on, and for birthing this knowledge through you, so many can find it in their time of need. May God continue to bless and pour into you as you pour into others. Amen and hallelujah
Praise the Lord! I’m so glad it met you where you’re at. God is good!
Great post! Very well thought out, I love how all 6 start with a “t” and great scriptures to support what you had to say. I especially love the last two, probably because those are the ones I need to remember. Many thanks 😊
I’m glad you enjoyed it! 🙂
For the past few week I have been teaching on growth, maturity, and perfection in Christ. As I was searching word study on a sober mind your blog popped up. I read the entire 6 Steps of your lesson, and it tied in perfectly with my lesson plan on a sober mind. I use the 6 steps and added to the series I’d been teaching on, and it was a tremendous blessing to the group.
Peace & blessings to you
Pastor Darrin
Praise the Lord, I am so glad it was a blessing to your group. A sober mind changes everything! Blessings to you! 🙂
Very powerful blog. I’m researching on Sober Minded. Your post jump out. It connects with what the holy spirit showing me. This enhance it alot. Blessings thanks lot.
Praise the Lord, I’m glad it was a blessing to you!
I had Googled “sober minded” to get a better understanding of what that really meant & how we walk that out when I came across your study from Feb 2018. You clearly expounded on the subject in such an orderly way. I believe it was what I needed to put into practice to face life more like Jesus. Thank you! Kathleen
Praise the Lord! I’m so glad it was a blessing to you Kathleen. 🙂 A sober mind is needed now more than ever! Thank you for reading and giving me your feedback. You’re a blessing!
Thank you very much, it is indeed needed and helpful to me and I believe to as many that will come across this six(6) step of becoming sober in mind.
More grace ma.
Praise the Lord! 🙂
Powerful stuff here! I’ve used these steps and know for a fact they work! Now, if I can only train my heart to use them every time! It truly amazing when you deliberately set out to take your thoughts captive and re-route them through the mind of Christ. Joy unspeakable and full of God’s glory no doubt!! Thanks for sharing all of this. Now, I gotta share it with other folks! You’re a blessing!!!
You’re a blessing!! 😊❤️
You’re such a great bible teacher! This is excellent stuff. I especially liked the “just tap-out” advice! I’ve been guilty of doing the ooposite. No good comes from that. 😉
Great article!
I’ve been guilty of that as well. I’m sure we all have! Thank you for reading and commenting, you’re so sweet, I appreciate your feedback! 😊
I love how the Lord is using you to disciple us! You lay out the step by step action plan to make it easier for us to grow deeper in Christ! TY for the time it takes you to do this! Bless you …
It’s my pleasure! I love the word and getting to teach it is a blessing. Thank you for always being a sweet encourager, you’re a blessing! 🙂
This was so encouraging! I especially love the point on taking every thought captive. It’s hard to do, but I notice a definite change in my emotions and later thought processes when I do!
It is hard to do!! It just comes naturally to let those thoughts simmer and stew. That’s why it’s so important to have a mentor, an aged woman who can teach us how to correct our thoughts and filter our minds with the word of God. Thanks for reading. Blessings to ya! 🙂
God bless you for this article.
I have found the insights and the guide in the article very useful and life changing.
Actually, today is the day three for some spiritual exercise for members in Catholic Charimatic Renewal at my church. The topic for the day is ‘Exercising our Power and Authority’. One of the major scriptures came from 1Peter 5:8-9a.
So, I searched the internet to really understand what it means to be sober-minded. I thank the Holy Spirit for leading me to this article. Everything in the article fits in perfectly (e.g. Ephesians 6:10-20)
I have realized that without growth in the 6 stages, it may be difficult to let the Jeremiah 1:10 be made manifest in our lives as believers.
Thank you.
Praise the Lord! I hope that you’ll share it with others who might need more understanding on the subject of being sober-minded, and how to practically apply it. Blessings!