Sober Self-Assessment

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 measure of faith God has given you.Romans 12:3 


A proper perspective of oneself fosters sound judgment—this begins with surrender and submission to Jesus. However, an enlarged ego clouds our judgment, like an early morning drive over a fog covered bridge we have a limited, even skewed view of reality. If we speed up, we are destined for an unpleasant outcome. It is when we see our capacity larger than the Lord sees our capacity—that we tend to follow the temptation of trusting in our abilities over faith in Him.

Ego forgets God’s word and foolishly embraces counsel contrary to Christ. We make decisions based on our limited emotional view without inviting the wisdom of two or three objective advisors who know our situation and us well. Unsound judgment seeks only the answer it is looking for and ignores wise warnings. Indeed, an enlarged ego entangles itself with insecure thinking and feels the need to be the center of attention.

However, sound judgment does just the opposite. It is fearful of forging advice from friends who do not fear the Lord. Sound judgment sees itself as an instrument of God’s grace. It understands that Christ is the conductor over the orchestra of opportunities vying for your attention in everyday life. This is why faith in the Lord and staying under His authority is the pathway to making wise decisions.

Jesus complimented a military leader who illustrated his sound judgment with statements like, “I am not worthy” [of Jesus’ presence], and “I am a man under authority.” Jesus followed up with a phrase of affirmation, “I tell you, I have not found such great faith even in Israel” (Luke 7:6-9). Sound judgment listens to the truth, understands the truth and is transformed by the truth, all by faith. 

Lastly, don’t flagellate your faith with false humility. Paul describes those who try to sound spiritual, but ironically are prideful in their thinking, “Do not let anyone who delights in false humility and the worship of angels disqualify you for the prize. Such a person goes into great detail about what he has seen, and his unspiritual mind puffs him up with idle notions” (Colossians 2:18). They talk a lot about God, but they do little for God. Thinking too lowly of oneself is as unhealthy as thinking too highly of oneself.

Instead, see yourself as your Savior does, forgiven and forever His child. You have nothing to prove when you rest in Him. You can be confident that you are Christ’s and you are free from the guilt of sin. Appropriate His grace by faith and He will give you sound judgment.  Motivated by grace, you will instinctively invite input from others and act accordingly. Sound judgment surrenders to its Savior Jesus and submits to authority. By God’s grace have a modest self-assessment of your gifts and abilities.

“If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves” (Galatians 6:3).


Prayer: How can I align the Lord’s assessment of who I am with how I see myself?

~Wisdom Hunters Devotional~