| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Character and integrity” Our Bible verse for today: “Therefore, with your minds ready for action, be sober-minded and set your hope completely on the grace to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ.” 1 Peter 1:13 (CSB) Our thought for today: “Be sober-minded” This morning we will continue our discussion from yesterday regarding the great need in our society and in our churches for more men and women who have true wisdom and deep insight. Recently at Oak Hill Baptist Church we completed a study of the letters 1 & 2 Peter. Peter’s goal in those letters was to encourage believers to live well for Christ in the middle of tough circumstances and to do so by having a Biblical worldview, living holy lives, and by not allowing ourselves to be deceived and misled by liars and false teachers. To set the stage for that teaching, in 1 Peter 1:13 Peter urges us to be “sober-minded”. What’s being described there are people who are calm and reasoned in their thinking. They are not emotional or easily excitable, and they are not given to extremes in their thinking. They are thoughtful, wise, and insightful. Consequently, they see situations and people for what and who they are, and they respond to them based on that insight. Sober-minded people are not easily fooled or led astray because they base their thinking and decision-making on Biblical truth. I contend that godly men and women who have spent years of life carefully and intentionally cultivating strong character and sterling integrity will be those sober-minded people who bring clarity and truth into difficult situations. They do that by applying a Biblical worldview to all of life. They take what they are seeing and hearing, lay it alongside the truth of the Bible, and then come to conclusions about what is true or false, right or wrong, based upon how it compares to what God has said in His Word. In order for anything to be the right course of action, it must first be consistent with Biblical principles. Even if the Bible doesn’t speak directly to that particular situation, there will still be Biblical principles that apply. This does matter. In our society today we need many more godly men and women of character and integrity who are sober-minded (calm, thoughtful, reasonable, and not given to extreme thinking). I encourage you to be sober-minded, and then expect that of others as well. God bless, Pastor Jim |
| Copyright © 2022 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. |
-
Follow
Following
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 