Sober Judgment

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment …  Romans 12:3

We all know him. The guy who talks about himself incessantly. Like the guy next to me on an airplane once. He went on about himself for 45 minutes. I couldn’t get a word in. Finally, he paused and asked, “So where did you say you’re from?” Just the mention of my hometown reminded him of a trip there, which meant another 20 minutes of him talking about himself!

Another man invited his boss to his house for dinner with his family. All through supper the boss kept using this phrase, “I am a self-made man.” Finally having enough, the employee’s daughter leaned to her dad and said, “If he’s a self-made man, why did he make himself that way?!”

We don’t tend to like people who are arrogant, puffed up, and full of themselves. We use a lot of unkind words like pompous and conceited. Yet how often do we ourselves fall into the trap of thinking of ourselves “more highly than we ought,” to use Paul’s phrase (Rom. 12:3)? When we have a disagreement with a spouse, are we more interested in restoring peace … or being right and getting the last word? When we face criticism, do we choose to take the heat … or do we pass blame onto others? I believe that much of our criticism of others is much more about making ourselves look better by comparison than it is about prompting change.

The sad truth is that we often think of ourselves too much and consider others far too little. But this should not be the way of those who follow Christ. The common pattern of the world is to elevate yourself and tear down others. The uncommon way of Christ is to consider others better than yourself (see Philippians 2:3-8). Think about this: even Jesus Christ, who was God Himself, did not think of Himself highly. He lived with extreme humility and was even willing to die a humiliating, excruciating death — putting Himself below, while lifting us up.

If we follow Christ we should have the same humble posture. Rather than tearing others down, we are quick to understand, slow to judge, generous with forgiveness, rich in showing love, willing to serve, and sacrificial in lifting others up.

Prayer: Jesus, You gave me a great example of humility. Help me to have sober judgment, thinking of myself less and others more. Amen.