Looking at Pride One More Time
Once again I turn my attention to Romans 12 to see what other items that it contains for me. We now come to verse 3 where it says,
Romans 12:3 (NASB) [3] For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
This is a call to humbleness, the opposite of pride. We tend to think in terms of how well we are doing in the world and that clouds our thinking and makes us less receptive to the Lord's leading. In fact, let the Lord elevate us in His site. If we are to have a renewed mind that is thinking the way that the Lord thinks, then we by definition will know a lot about the Lord and we have cultivated a closeness with Him. That is the only way that we would be able to think in the correct manner. I remember the verse in Jeremiah -
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NASB) [23] Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; [24] but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.
This is the complete opposite of pride, to know and understand the Lord. When we have reached that level of knowledge and understanding then we have arrived. But again I go back to the method and that is to become close to Him and to become close to His Word. Our attitude in this verse in Romans 12 indicates that we know some things about ourselves from being in the Word of God and being close to Him. As we draw closer, we will naturally have less and less opinion of ourselves because we have come to understand the infiniteness of the Lord. We will also have learned to depend upon the Lord for everything. we will have examined ourselves and have learned that we cannot trust our own judgement of ourselves. This is the essence of this verse and the reason that it is so important to grasp correctly. We will have also settled down and understand what our weaknesses are and how easy it is for us to fall away. It talks about doing this with the measure of faith that the Lord has given us. As we understand mor and more about the Lord and depend on Him more, our faith increases. Big God, big faith - little God, little faith, it goes hand in hand.
Romans 12:3 (NASB) [3] For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
This is a call to humbleness, the opposite of pride. We tend to think in terms of how well we are doing in the world and that clouds our thinking and makes us less receptive to the Lord's leading. In fact, let the Lord elevate us in His site. If we are to have a renewed mind that is thinking the way that the Lord thinks, then we by definition will know a lot about the Lord and we have cultivated a closeness with Him. That is the only way that we would be able to think in the correct manner. I remember the verse in Jeremiah -
Jeremiah 9:23-24 (NASB) [23] Thus says the LORD, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; [24] but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD.
This is the complete opposite of pride, to know and understand the Lord. When we have reached that level of knowledge and understanding then we have arrived. But again I go back to the method and that is to become close to Him and to become close to His Word. Our attitude in this verse in Romans 12 indicates that we know some things about ourselves from being in the Word of God and being close to Him. As we draw closer, we will naturally have less and less opinion of ourselves because we have come to understand the infiniteness of the Lord. We will also have learned to depend upon the Lord for everything. we will have examined ourselves and have learned that we cannot trust our own judgement of ourselves. This is the essence of this verse and the reason that it is so important to grasp correctly. We will have also settled down and understand what our weaknesses are and how easy it is for us to fall away. It talks about doing this with the measure of faith that the Lord has given us. As we understand mor and more about the Lord and depend on Him more, our faith increases. Big God, big faith - little God, little faith, it goes hand in hand.