Because of the privilege and authority God has given me (Paul), I give each of you this warning: 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 us. — Romans 12:3

There are a lot of verses like this in the Bible. Don’t think more of yourself that you ought. Living in a culture that is self consumed and focused on independent lives, I can’t help but see the truth in it.

But I think there is a flip side to the Romans verse above. The very end part where it says “Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves, measuring yourselves by the faith God has given us”.

What is the faith that God has given us? That we can trust him because of who he says he is and what he is has done and that is forgive the world of its sin and death through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Okay. Good. Now that we’re on the same page let’s get a little more theoretical. The Romans 12 verse talks about not thinking you are better than you really are – which let’s be honest (which the verse says to do, so let’s go there), we all need to remember and hear from time to time. Some of those times might be closer together for some of us than others.

But what about not thinking we are less than we really are? I struggle to even write about this because I don’t want to sound like a feel good hippie who just wants talk about how God is Love and that is all the matters. Because I know that God is also wrath and perfect justice. Without his justice, we wouldn’t need (or have) his mercy.

But let’s take some samples from scripture. Keep in mind that these were written by the same God-inspired human.

Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. – 1 Timothy 1:15 

Okay. There’s Paul definitely not thinking he is better than he really is. We all have our moments where we think we are the worst of sinners. Great. Next verse:

But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. -Romans 5:8

Wait a second. While we were still sinners – the WORST of sinners, Christ died for us?!

Sometimes we get stuck in 1 Timothy 1 there – we are the worst (insert weakness noun here). We think don’t deserve love and we forget about Romans 5. If we get stuck there in 1 Timothy 1, we are not being completely honest in our evaluation of ourselves. Yes, we are all the worst of sinners…BUT (and it’s a big one), while we were still being the worst, Christ decided to give his life.

So… We are loved. We are cherished. We are important enough to God to sacrifice his sone for us. We are worthy.

So dear friends, be honest in your evaluation of yourselves and do not think you are better than you really are, but do not think you are less than you really are. Hang on to the to the truths in scripture that tell us how to keep humble. Start with these verses here, and comment below with your favorite.