More highly than he ought

“For I say, through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.” - Romans 12v3

For a long time I enjoyed posting on Christian internet forums. I posted on christianforums.com, Fighting Fundamentalists, Online Baptist, Baptist Times, and the Baptist Board. Although there is some fun and good fellowship there I began to see after a while that when it came time for discussions that these platforms gave people a chance to show how highly they think of themselves. Hidden at their computers behind the screen of cyberspace people can say whatever they want and soon their true nature shows. Discussions soon became personal battles and exchanges of insults.

Sadly that kind of thing is not limited to the internet. When our views, ideas, thoughts, and opinions are challenged we often respond the same way. We get angry because someone has the cheek to disagree with us. We carry this even further when we find ourselves thinking that we do it right and any one who does it differently is wrong. We develop a “my way or the highway” kind of attitude that reflects a root problem – we think more highly of ourselves than we ought to think. That is a nice sounding phrase for one thing – it is still called pride.

Romans 12v3 brings it back to earth, instead of this proud arrogance we ought to think soberly. Faith here refers to what is called in other places “The Faith,” or the body of belief, or what became known as Christianity. Our faith is a gift if God, He is the One Who measured it out. God gave it to each one of us. None of us should ever exalt ourselves over others because we all have the same standard, the faith that God gave us. If we see that standard than there is no way that we ever have to worry about thinking too highly about ourselves.