Going Behind the Word: How to live soberly

What does it mean to live soberly? The American Heritage Dictionary offers one definition for the word sober. "Straightforward and serious; not exaggerated, emotional, or silly." What does this mean when applied to faith, or the way we live? Let's look at other biblical verses to see if they offer any clue to what Saint Peter is suggesting in the first reading. Later in his letter, he writes this: "Be free, yet without using freedom as a pretext for evil, but as slaves of God." One aspect then may be seeing our actions for the faith in the context for that freedom that allows us to become what it is we are meant to be.