Scripture
“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.” Romans 12:3 NIV
Observation
In the Portuguese NIV version, the translation of this verse is: “Don’t have a higher concept of yourself than you ought to have; but on the contrary, have a balanced concept, according to the measure of faith that God has given you.
After this verse, Paul speaks about the importance of every member of the body, doing what they are supposed to do. Everyone exercises the different gifts by the grace that was given to us. And he mentions a few: prophecy, serving, teaching, encouragement, giving, leadership, and mercy. He does not stop by just mentioning it, but in every gift, he calls us to act upon it.
Application
I think some people have an image of themselves to be great and super positive of themselves, not realizing their weaknesses that even others could see in them.
But there is also the opposite, people who might think less or lower than they ought, have low self-esteem, and have a hard time believing in themselves.
The scripture teaches us here to have a balanced concept of ourselves, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each other.
What does that mean?
It is to understand who we are, our weaknesses, and our strengths.
It is to leave aside comparisons that we may have drawn along the way and exercise the gift that God has given you.
I think a good application to see how balanced concept we have of ourselves is to list:
- 5 strengths
- 5 weakness
- gifts that God has to give you
- when I am actively using these gifts
Prayer
Heavenly Father, help me to have a balanced concept of myself. To not think more highly and neither too low of who I am. But understand my strengths and weakness, the gifts you gave me, and focus in using those for the glory of your name. In Jesus’ name, I pray.
