His Ambassador Blog

Last week we looked at Romans 12:1-2. Paul reminds us in these verses that we must be living sacrifices to the Lord in everything that we do, and we are able to do this by the transformation of our minds. We can go through this transformation by reading the Word and listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit. This week we are going to look at verse 3 and all that it entails.

‘For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.’

Humility is a quality that takes time to learn. It does not come naturally to us. Something I’m learning in my current season of life about humility is that it should not be self-deprecating. C.S. Lewis said it best, “True humility is not thinking less of yourself; it is thinking of yourself less.” Being humble is being free form pride and arrogance. It is putting your ego aside in order to serve and focus on others. In no way is humility meant for us to go around hating on ourselves or not taking care of our bodies/minds. But it does mean that we don’t think of ourselves as better than others or super incredible because of anything that we do. Philippians 2:3 tells us, “Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves.” We should take care of others, love them, and prioritize them in a way that will require us to make sacrifices.

It’s also important that we recognize that we must humble ourselves before God. True salvation happens when we put our pride and ego aside. We recognize that God is the greatest, that we can’t save ourselves, and that we are truly helpless. When we understand that we need help, this is when Christ steps in, reaching for our hands, and inviting us into fellowship with Him.

Pride is a dangerous thing. Proverbs 18:12 says, “Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor.” When we are too prideful we are unable to do the work and will of God. This is because we will think that we can do it all on our own. But the work of God requires the Holy Spirit. In order for the Holy Spirit to work in us we must be in submission. We must put aside the parts of us that believe we know better than God Himself. It’s important that we don’t let our pride work its dirty hands into the body of Christ. This can cause rifts between church families and believers that may prohibit the sharing of the good news.

What does Paul mean when he says that we should think with sober judgement? To be sober is to have clear vision which is sensible and straight thinking. Having sober judgment is important for Christians because we must be ready at all times to feel the conviction and nudging of the Holy Spirit. We also must make rational, biblical decisions so that we can show others the life of Christ and keep a healthy witness. 2 Timothy 4:5 says, “As for you, always be sober-minded, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist, fulfill your ministry.” If we are not sober-minded, we will not be able to fulfill our ministry. We will become drunk with the things of the world, unable to understand what is true and righteous, unable to move in the direction of heaven. When we are thinking like this, we will not easily become prideful based on our own merits.

Since most of Romans 12 is about our relationship with other believers based on our relationship with God, I don’t think it was an accident that one of the first thing Paul reminds the church is to be humble. It takes much humility to be able to work well with others. Once God transforms us and we become living sacrifices, we must work on our humility. Letting go of our pride is not easy, but with the work of the Holy Spirit we don’t do so alone.