We’re continuing our walk through Peter’s first epistle. He’s speaking about holiness, being set apart to God. In my last post, I talked about preparing your mind with the Word of God.

Now we’ll continue through verse 13.

Therefore, prepare your minds for action; be self-controlled; set your hope fully on the grace to be given you when Jesus Christ is revealed.

1 Peter 1:13 NIV

The next thing the apostle tells us is to be self-controlled. The Greek word he uses means to be sober – not drunk.

Upon hearing that you might think, “Well, I’m okay, I don’t drink.” But that’s not exactly what he’s talking about here. He’s warning us against the dangers of being intoxicated with the world or the world’s way of doing things.

Think about that word – intoxication. It has within it the word toxic. Something toxic is poison. Have you allowed the poison of the world to enter your spiritual life?

Moses dealt with that issue when teaching the children of Israel.

Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations; make sure there is no root among you that produces such bitter poison.

Deuteronomy 29:18 NIV

We need to learn to keep ourselves free from the poison of the world. We can’t be running after the same things that those in the world are chasing. The fact is that those without Christ are running after false gods.

Some are seeking pleasure, education, money or athletic achievement. But all these things only bring temporary happiness. True fulfillment is found only in the Lord.

Jesus warned His disciples about this. It’s something that we really need to take to heart. Especially since we’re living in the last days.

“Be careful, or your hearts will be weighed down with dissipation, drunkenness and the anxieties of life, and that day will close on you unexpectedly like a trap.”

Luke 21:34 NIV

There are actually two words in this verse that deal with drunkenness. The first is dissipation. The Greek word literally means tossing-head. It was the common term used for a hangover. We associate this term with drinking, but Jesus wasn’t limiting it to the use of alcohol.

Whenever we leave our calling to chase after the world, there’s a wasted period of time while we get back on track again. This is the period of our spiritual “hangover”. Too many Christians are living most of their lives in dissipation.

They’re either giving in to the desire for the things of the world or they’re trying to regain what they’ve lost. Don’t waste most of your life in dissipation.

Drunkenness, then, is the actual pursuit of worldly pleasures. You can become intoxicated on more that just alcohol. As I’ve talked about previously, power, money, sports, and a host of other distractions can rob you of your effectiveness in Christ.

Does that mean that all these things are sin? Absolutely not! But if you find yourself more involved in these temporary things than in your walk with God, then your priorities are messed up.

Jesus tells us that because of our knowledge of future events, our lives should be different from the world. We have a mission before us that’s time sensitive. Those things that hinder us from effectively preaching the Gospel of Christ must be put away.

Question: Do you periodically check yourself to see if you’re being enticed by the world?

© 2025 Nick Zaccardi