To Be Sober

Sober-Mindedness This is an attitude of seriousness that says she is in earnest about her duty as a wife, mother and maker of the home.  It is a lack of silly behavior, smart  remarks, hasty retorts and put-downs. It involves a keen awareness of the existence of one's soul and and the effect that flamboyant, reckless and stupid joshing around has on the soul.

Sober-Mindedness
Indulging in silly talk harms the soul because it can cause you to forget who you are, what your talents are, your capabilities and your worth. It makes you feel detached from your training and education.  Most people who homeschool do so for the purpose of curbing the vast amount of foolishness that goes on among groups of youth, but even a homeschooler can miss this vital point.  Boys, as well as girls, need to be taught that while it is good to laugh in a wholesome way and enjoy life, it is important not to sever the line between the soul and God by blocking out good sense with foolish talking.

Silliness Can Be Dangerous
  A casting-off-all-care, partying spirit is a distraction to serious things. I am not speaking of healthy, hearty, life-giving laughter that renews the human spirit, as spoken of in Proverbs 17:22,  but the abandoning of good sense. Such silliness can result in blocking out all other sounds and losing the ability to be alert.  Noise and foolish talk  that blocks out all other sound, is the similar to being in a drunken state, because it dulls the senses and slows responses. If someone yelled "fire" in group of silly women, their mocking and derision would drown out the warning.  This example is one reason to enjoy life and laugh but always have a feeling of your connection with God and be alert to life around you.

Dont Be Drunk With Sarcasm
Being serious-minded is like being sober. People are more likely to respect a serious person, than one who is constantly ridiculous.  The idea that a woman must be friendly, outgoing, fun-loving, and humorously sarcastic, has been popular for quite some time, but this is not the role model that Titus 2 is speaking of when it says:







1But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine: 2That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.


3The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things; 4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children, 5To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.






6Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.




The scriptures here are not just telling people not to be drunk, but to be sober-minded. (verse 6).  No one will take a silly woman seriously, and a woman who is not serious about her responsibilities at home will not be able to train her children to be sober minded. 




It is one thing to really enjoy life, and have some hearty laughter. Proverbs says that laughter is good for you. This laughter, however, has to be something other than constant, silly giggling and tittering is much more shallow than hearty laughter which bolsters the heart so much it is like


For as the crackling of thorns under a pot, so is the laughter of the fool: this also is vanity.






Ecclesiastes 7:6

ridicule Matthew 9:24

Prov 17:22   A cheerful heart

Most older women recognize the purpose of being sober-minded, but what can they do to curb the enormous amount of ridiculous behavior when around other women, young and old, who just want to have a good time?  While there is nothing wrong with enjoying life and basking in the company of good friends, women must learn to curb their behavior so as not to waste time, or become a negative influence.

Indulging in unrestrained , with no thought for the past that the present abandonment of sense creates, is like drunkenness.  A person can become just as dissolute with mocking and sarcasm as someone who is losing his sense of time through drinking.

Living as though It has rightly been said that law is the god of righteousness; licentiousness is the god of fools.