For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others.
Romans 12:3-5, The New International Version
This week we are taking a slow walk through the next three verses of Romans 12. When we left off last week, Paul was telling us that the power to know God and His will comes as our mind is renewed by the Holy Spirit.
He leads his thoughts with a caveat, telling us that what he is saying comes by the grace of God. Then he lays it on us, "Do not think more highly than you ought, but think of yourself with sober judgement, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you." Paul realized that to tell his readers not to think more highly of themselves than they ought would sound very judgmental, but Paul may have been thinking of his own history. Jesus found him when he was puffed up in pride.
You see, the more the Lord works in us and we learn his word and his ways, it is easy to start looking down upon those who have not traveled the path as far as we have. We probably can all relate to this in our walk with Jesus. So Paul warns us away from that prideful mind. He knew that faith and pride cannot coexist because one looks at the self and the other at the Lord.
Our natural man (sinful) has a tendency to allow pride in our hearts even as we see the Holy Spirit work in us. We, like Paul reminds us, must realize that any progress we make in our spiritual walk is simply because of the grace of God. Whatever good happens in our life is always because of His love and grace.
Let's take to heart his first encouragement, stay low in your heart as the Lord takes us higher in His transforming life.
Here are our action plans today:
Read through these verses a few times. See how the Holy Spirit may speak to you through them today.
Ask the Holy Spirit to search your heart for spiritual pride and replace it with an understanding of grace for you and for others.
Let's pray together for the concerns in our country: Resolution of the coronavirus, healing for the sick, and peace in our government. 1 Timothy 2:1-2
Have a great day!
Love, Pastor Stuart