Qualification Three — Sober-Minded | 1 Timothy 3:2

Therefore an overseer must be 3 sober-minded. — 1 Timothy 3:2 The following three qualifications of leadership are virtues that are closely related. They address the thoughts, feelings, and actions of the leader.  The one today describes the leader as "sober in thought." In other words, he is not intoxicated by thoughts that result in bad judgments and actions in his life. This leader controls his mental acuity, so he doesn't fly off the handle and act with extremes. So to give you a picture of what Paul is talking about, here is a description of what a sober-minded leader will not do. They do not consume unreasonable amounts of left or right-leaning news, drink in the fears they perpetuate, and then become intoxicated with anger so that they are impossible to have a reasonable conversation with. Instead, they are "sober in thought." They can discern truth and trust God's sovereignty even when the news has gone crazy. Now I chose politics to illustrate this, but I could have done this with anything we tend to overconsume. The consumption level of social media, money, success, food, sports, gaming, etc. Because in this country, we can overconsume anything. Thus, what Paul describes is a leader who has regulation on his thought life. He knows when enough is enough and can stop before his mind is consumed by what it's consuming. Because there is a point, our minds become consumed by what it's consuming. And once this happens, feelings and actions become so intoxicated that they act without much thought. So today, if you have been overconsuming something, really anything, maybe it's time to sober up. This means it might be time to think differently about that thing that is consuming so much of you. ASK THIS: Is there one area of life you have been consuming too much? DO THIS: Think about why you are consuming it, and then think biblically about it. PRAY THIS: God, I am ready to sober my mind to you and your will in this area _________________. PLAY THIS: Better Man.Check out other all Vince Miller's videos and audios for small groups at: https://beresolute.org/ Get Vince's most widely read resources The Daily Devotional at: https://beresolute.org/mdd Check out more ALL IN products like the one Vince is wearing at: https://beresolute.org/product-category/all-in-hats/ ____________________________________________________________________________________ Connect with Vince socially: FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/millervince INSTAGRAM: https://www.instagram.com/vinceleemiller LINKEDIN: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vincemiller TWITTER: https://twitter.com/vinceleemiller