LEARNING DAILY

 

Romans 12:3, Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given you.

 

We have been going to a variety of doctor appointments the last month. Each appointment has involved examinations and tests to determine health issues and eye sight issues. As we have gotten older the body has changed, the hair color has changed, and I seem to have to squint to see more clearly. Oh, the joys of growing older!

 

As I look in the mirror in the morning, I sometime wonder who is looking back at me. Oh, don’t think I am feeling sorry for anyone. That is not so. What I have had to do is look within to do a little self-evaluation of where I am on the road to eternal life in God’s kingdom. Romans 12:3 tells us we need to be evaluating ourselves; that is not to beat ourselves up or drag ourselves down. Sometimes people say nice things about what we have done. We must be careful to remind ourselves that we are not defined by what others or what the world wants us to think. You and I are defined by our relationship with Jesus Christ.

 

There is a difference between being encouraged by those around us and from swelling up with pride because of what the world says about us. This verse encourages us to just take some time and evaluate ourselves so we do not think too highly of ourselves nor to think too little of ourselves. Psalm 139:14 tells us we are fearfully and wonderfully made; God made each of us unique. God knew each of us before we were born; that is at the center of ever Believer’s self-esteem and self-worth. So, it is worth the time to evaluate where our relationship with the Lord is. How am I doing as I walk on the narrow way. Am I being drawn to walk too near the edge of that road by my old nature?

 

Therefore, it is important for each of us to be careful how we think of ourselves. The abilities, gifts, and knowledge is given to us by God. No one has all faith or all knowledge; we have only what has been “measured” to us; all of us have a degree of faith and gifts and knowledge, but not all of it. MacLaren’s Expository tells us, “Paul here gives a precise standard, or ‘measure’ as he calls it, according to which we are to estimate ourselves. ‘Faith’ is the measure of our gifts, and is itself a gift from God. The strength of a Christian man’s faith determines his whole Christian character. Faith is trust, the attitude of receptivity. There are in it a consciousness of need, a yearning desire and a confidence of expectation.” He goes on to say, “So then the more faith a man exercises the more of God and Christ he has.” To follow this line of thinking, then, is to recognize as Believers we are part of the body of Christ and the gifts and knowledge we have by faith are to work with others in the body of Christ for the glory of God. To recognize this should cause us to walk in humility. We can only judge ourselves in this light and not by any worldly achievement, material possession, or worldly knowledge. The only thing God will look at in each of us is our relationship to Jesus Christ and how we used the faith He gave to us to further His kingdom.