Sound mind meaning; what is it all about?
A sound mind is one that possesses the ability to keep the body, soul, and spirit under control. Another sound mind meaning is self-discipline. It can keep the vigorous cravings of the soul under check. Hence, a sound mind can judge and discern rightly in any matter.
It is very important to develop a sound mind if you want to be in charge of your life. Many people out there suffer from poor mental orientation. They tend to easily fall back before challenges. Instead of coming all out against them.
A sound mind has the ability to understand the problem at hand. Profer solutions as well as take the necessary actions to enforce the solutions.
The sound mind meaning may vary based on your understanding. We can agree that whatever affects our minds tends to affect our entire being. Have you observed that you can’t do much if your mind is troubled? If a sound mind is an inevitable part of our living, how then can we develop a sound mind?
Before we go ahead, let’s establish that in this article, we will use the following terms interchangeably; sound mind, and sound of mind.
More On Sound Mind
A sound mind is sane and rational and can keep the whole body and soul under control. At the center of a sound mind is discipline.
It does not mean there won’t be issues or matters that may bring turbulence to the soul and thereby affect the body, but a sound mind is such that it puts the mind in check in the midst of all happening around it.
A sound mind is very key to living a productive life. You can’t take charge of your life if you don’t have a sound mind.
What Does The Bible Say About Sound Of Mind?
The expression or the phrase sound mind is seen in 2 Timothy 1:7. ”For God has not given us the spirit of fear but of power and of love and of a sound mind.”
Paul wrote this particular letter to Timothy, his spiritual son. He focused this letter on strengthening Timothy’s mind in preparation for Paul’s execution which was drawing near.
From the text above, we see sound mind meaning or sound mind definition as a life not enveloped by fear or any negative emotion.
It is such that one is in charge of his/her life, which is power in action. One that is filled with love and does not accommodate unhealthy emotions. A sound mind is not overwhelmed by the cares of life but focuses on Jesus and his Word.
A sound mind is stable enough to wade through life’s challenges.
What Are The Setbacks To A Sound mind?
Now we understand how crucial having a sound mind or being of a sound mind is, let’s consider what can make having a sound mind impossible or difficult.
1. Comparison
Comparison is said to be the thief of happiness. The more you look at how much the lives of others are better off than yours, you may never accept how much greatness lies within you. The comparison makes you think less of yourself and steals your joy. It hinders you from having the sound mind needed to produce desired results.
2. Lack of Contentment
You can’t have a sound mind if you lack contentment. Lack of contentment affects how you feel about yourself or the things you have around you. It is the product of comparison.
A man with a sound mind is contented with what he has and does not allow his desires to affect his state of mind. It doesn’t mean he can’t go for more, but he is not affected by the present lack in his life.
3. Unforgiveness
Unforgiveness, whether to yourself or others, is one way to rid yourself of a sound mind. It makes you filled with so much hurt and bitterness. To be of sound mind, you need to avoid unforgiveness.
Forgive yourself and those who have hurt you. Not only because they deserve your forgiveness, but it’s a way to protect your sound mind.
4. Negative Emotions
Nothing tampers with our minds like negative emotions. Negative emotions drain our mind power. So, if you want to be of a sound mind, be far from negative vibe givers and things that trigger negative emotions within you. An easy way to ward off negative emotions is by meditating and trusting in God’s word in the Holy scriptures.
Sound Mind Meaning – How To Develop A Sound Mind
If you desire to know how to develop a sound mind, Here are 10 practical tips for developing a sound mind.
1. Love yourself
We view things around us the same way we see ourselves. Self-love gives you a feeling of completeness. And you need to have this feeling to take charge of your life. The Bible commands we should love our neighbor as ourselves. Fact remains that you can’t actually love others more than you love yourself. Real love emanates from the love of God in our hearts.
We process situations and people’s opinions about us from the way we view ourselves. The moment we begin to love ourselves, suddenly we will begin to see things about others from a different lens.
Some of us just need to love ourselves to stop seeing criticisms from a too-personal point of view. If you love yourself, you will not count people’s Negative opinions about you as anything. Rather you will properly discern and understand whatever is being said from the proper perspective. Whatever point deserves a necessary change or action from you, you’ll address them properly. That can only be from a sound mind.
2. Be Content
To be content is a great gain. you must learn to love yourself, and love who you have become. And also accept where you are now.
Irrespective of the fact that we need to make progress, we must still be thankful and generously accept our current status. When we do so, we’ll get ourselves rid of the pressure of trying to become like someone we admire and actually start becoming who we are meant to be. Contentment makes you live in the moment while you reach for the future. Contentment collects you together and offers you the ability to be in control of your personality.
3. Celebrate you
We are always in the Habit of finding faults against ourselves. We hang on too long to our failures and weaknesses and we forget all the beautiful abilities embedded within us. You never imagined what celebrating yourself can do to you. It has a way of building your confidence in your abilities.
Celebrate your successes, celebrate every good thing you’ve achieved. Celebrate your sound mind. Celebrate your intelligence. celebrate your brightness, your brilliance, and every commendable thing in your life. Surely there are good things in you. You must acknowledge them today. You can write them down, identify them and start celebrating them.
When you do this, you find out that all the good things lying low within you begins to find expression. Your mind is eased to take on unimaginable feats. You never imagined you could win a game. You never imagined you could share your last dime with the poor. Suddenly, the moment you begin to celebrate yourself. All those good things hidden within you begin to crawl out. That’s the mystery of celebration. Try it now.
3. Maintain a Happy Mood and Avoid Unforgiveness
Learn to forgive yourself and other people. When you don’t forgive, your mind begins to trap Negative thoughts. The moment your mind becomes active on the Negative, you will lose control of your positive life. Unforgiveness opens your mind up to negativity.
You can’t actually maintain a consistent happy mood when you don’t forgive others. It could be the major thing blocking your happiness. Let go of yourself, forgive yourself, free others from your mind, to experience a wholesome calmness that positions your mind to make the right decisions. Suddenly you’ll realize you are happy. Fortunately, correct, beautiful thoughts flow from a happy soul. This is a powerful tool you can’t keep aside if you wish to develop a sound mindset.
Also, make your surroundings give you joy. Surround yourself with positivity down to how you arrange your home. They say cleanliness is next to godliness, and the finese you give your surroundings will go a long way in conditioning your mind for for calmness and positivity. See more info here.
4. Ponder Before you Act
The wrong words usually rush out first. Always hesitate before you make critical judgments. Don’t be too quick to act. Be swift to hear, and slow to speak. There is always a better answer if you would ponder for a second. Always remember that the wrong word and action may be irredeemable. Calm down. Keep the inner man calm.
5. Maintain Calmness
learn to maintain calm even in the midst of turbulent situations. This will offer you the time and the right state of mind to make proper judgments even in difficult times. Begin to practice the act of easing your mind. This can also be achieved through meditation.
Always try to manage that terror. Don’t give in to its pressure. Tell yourself “I can handle this”. Don’t forget that your confessions can condition your mind to believe the impossible.
6. Learn to Meditate
Meditation is powerful. It can keep your mind under control. A good resource for meditation is the Holy Bible, that’s what I use most times. It works for me. We must learn to meditate on the right things.
Meditation clears your mind and conditions it for the right things. But we must learn to think only about good things. Spend some time daily to meditate on beautiful things such as pleasant quotes, and good quotations from books. Before you step out for the day’s business. Spend some time meditating and analyzing how your day should be. Condition your day by meditation and pro.
7. Positive Confession
When you confess the right things, your mind picks them up and conditions your life that way. Your confessions play a major role in your mind. If you can consistently say I am good, I am intelligent. I think right. I am equal to any task today. I can do all things through Christ. You’ll be surprised at the tremendous results you’ll achieve.
It has a way of energizing your mind to actually believe you can do that even when it seems impossible. The greatest feats in the world were achieved by men who dared to condition their minds to believe the unbelievable. When this happens, you will approach every situation confidently. If you can maintain a confident mindset, then you can properly discern things.
8. Exercise your Mind
Learn to always engage your mind. When you do so, it gives you a sense of control over circumstances. A good way to do this is to participate in reading and writing.
Always read books, especially the ones pertaining to your field. Also, don’t forget to write down things. When you write, your mind is trying to translate the things that it has accumulated into writing. This is a way of exercising the mind. You keep it active. Another way to do this is by participating in contests and engaging in academic games. It improves the mind. As long as the mind is trained to be active, it will deliver good judgments. But, When combined with the other factors above, excellence becomes the benchmark.
9. Rest Well
Finally, Don’t forget to rest well, sleep well, and eat well. Rest has a way of relaxing your mind even in challenging situations. When you are faced with a difficult problem, that seems to be insurmountable, just take a break. Come back and you’ll find out your mind has been equipped to deliver the right judgments.
This is a simple tip that works. It’s also important for handling some difficult research and academic problems. Your mind has the capability to manage that issue. You only need to give it the proper atmosphere and conditioning to function effectively.
How To Develop A Sound Mind – The Takeaway
You can’t be of sound mind if you don’t know how to master yourself and maintain discipline. It is God’s desire for us to be of sound mind. A good way to ensure this is to do away with those factors that affect our sound mind.
Once again, a sound mind is nothing but your mind’s ability to function powerfully given the right conditioning. It can deliver accurate results, and judgments, and tame your inner man even in difficult situations.
It is easy to develop and maintain a sound mind. Don’t forget that everyone on earth today can possess a sound mind.
Start conditioning your mind today with the “tools” outlined above and you will see a tremendous boost in your mind’s power. Remember that God is the author of a sound mind, and meditating on his word will be a good start. That way, you guard your mind against evil, and negative emotions, and position yourself for excellence.
