Romans 12:3 For by the grace given to me I say to every one of you not to think more highly of yourself than you ought to think, but to think with sober discernment, as God has distributed to each of you a measure of faith.
Have you ever taken one of those self-assessment quizzes where you had to rate yourself? As I was killing time I didn't have the other day, I decided to take one of these such quizzes. Each of the questions asked me to rate myself according to how I thought I performed socially, emotionally, physically, etc. Similarly, my husband had to do a self-evaluation of his job performance today.
Self-evaluation is a part of life and should be a part of the Christian life; for it helps us continue to strive for godly living. However, it is important that we have a proper view of ourselves. Romans 12:3 tells us that we are not to think too highly of ourselves. My husband and I love watching "America's Got Talent." Inevitably, they have the contestants on the show who think they are the next headliner; yet when they begin to perform, they are in actuality TERRIBLE. When the judges tell them the truth of their fate, they are in disbelief! Somehow, in their minds, they had built up an over-inflated and unrealistic view of themselves. Their pride blinded them to the truth.
Unfortunately, the same thing happens in a spiritual context. Believers who once relied upon the grace of God somehow start to see themselves as the ones who are making things happen. They start to believe that it is by their talent and influence that opportunities open. Soon, their view of God and others becomes deflated because their view of self has become so grandiose.
The buffer to this puffed up way of thinking is to instead view ourselves with sober judgement. In other words, we should look at ourselves in light of who we are under God's grace. In Christ, we are redeemed, set free, complete, and sanctified. Without Him, we condemned, accused, and separated from God. The only thing that measures who we are in Him is our faith. Therefore, an honest self-evaluation for a believer should consist of looking at how much faith we are putting in Christ. That really is the only plumb line for a believer. The works we do, the money we give, and anything else should be a reflection of the faith we have in Jesus.
If you had to rate yourself on a scale 1-10, how much time, attention, and daily trust are you giving to Jesus?
Have you ever taken one of those self-assessment quizzes where you had to rate yourself? As I was killing time I didn't have the other day, I decided to take one of these such quizzes. Each of the questions asked me to rate myself according to how I thought I performed socially, emotionally, physically, etc. Similarly, my husband had to do a self-evaluation of his job performance today.
Self-evaluation is a part of life and should be a part of the Christian life; for it helps us continue to strive for godly living. However, it is important that we have a proper view of ourselves. Romans 12:3 tells us that we are not to think too highly of ourselves. My husband and I love watching "America's Got Talent." Inevitably, they have the contestants on the show who think they are the next headliner; yet when they begin to perform, they are in actuality TERRIBLE. When the judges tell them the truth of their fate, they are in disbelief! Somehow, in their minds, they had built up an over-inflated and unrealistic view of themselves. Their pride blinded them to the truth.
Unfortunately, the same thing happens in a spiritual context. Believers who once relied upon the grace of God somehow start to see themselves as the ones who are making things happen. They start to believe that it is by their talent and influence that opportunities open. Soon, their view of God and others becomes deflated because their view of self has become so grandiose.
The buffer to this puffed up way of thinking is to instead view ourselves with sober judgement. In other words, we should look at ourselves in light of who we are under God's grace. In Christ, we are redeemed, set free, complete, and sanctified. Without Him, we condemned, accused, and separated from God. The only thing that measures who we are in Him is our faith. Therefore, an honest self-evaluation for a believer should consist of looking at how much faith we are putting in Christ. That really is the only plumb line for a believer. The works we do, the money we give, and anything else should be a reflection of the faith we have in Jesus.
If you had to rate yourself on a scale 1-10, how much time, attention, and daily trust are you giving to Jesus?
