«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).
I’m so clumsy!» she furiously said to herself. She had dropped a bowl of soup on the floor, but that mundane mistake made her unleash a storm of self-reproach. She had a negative vision of herself, and it conditioned the rest of her thinking. She had many intact virtues in spite of having lived numerous decades, but I would often hear her saying bad things about herself.
God tells us He has named us, that we’re His (Isaiah 43:1), that we’re His special treasure (Exodus among many other things; and sometimes we tell ourselves the worst insults.
Oh, how we dishonor and disdain Him by doing that!
In our religious understanding, by emphasizing we are nothing, we may even sometimes run the risk of forgetting that to Him we’re the most valuable beings He created.
Sometimes we limit ourselves to the patterns of this world and forget to keep in mind His image of us and the plan He traced for our lives from the beginning. If we did more of what He tells us and believed more in His opinion, we would be more similar to what He talks so much about.
Some people choose to tell themselves positive phrases in the morning when looking at themselves in the mirror. Although it might be effective, perhaps it’s not a method with which everyone feels comfortable, and it may also be dangerous to those who are very conceited.
But, above all, we can try to recall verses that refer to our value in God’s sight. They will give us a balanced vision of the place we hold in the Universe and, in His hands, we may be participants in the fulfillment of His promises.
Although today’s verse talks about the high self-esteem many people tend to have, its advice is just as applicable to those who have a low self-esteem.
Paul ‘s advice is to use sober judgment. Let’s be careful about the impact of our words because, in the end, like the text says, sober judgment is closely related to the measure of faith we show we have.