Theology for Everybody: RomansSample

In addition to worshipping God with your head, you must also choose to worship Him with your heart. We live in a culture of influencers, social media, and reality television. Under the guise of “self-esteem,” people constantly go against the idea in Romans 12:3, “not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think.” Most of us think we’re smarter and better than we really are. This isn’t self-esteem, though—it’s pride. The Bible has nothing good to say about pride. It’s demonic and always pregnant with evil.

We are supposed to think of ourselves with “sober judgment,” but for some people, their assessment of themselves seems like they’ve been drinking alcohol. They seem drunk, and they need to be a little more sober. “Each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” Paul wants believers to ask God, “Who am I? How did You make me? Where do I fit? What’s my role?”

When you put together a résumé, do you include the good or bad things about yourself? On a college application, do you say, “Well, I sleep through class a lot, but I’m also good at cheating,” or do you tell the truth? We tend to overestimate and inflate who we are if we ask ourselves these questions instead of God. We find creative ways to present ourselves, and this overblown view is dangerous.

Humility is being honest and agreeing with God. It’s knowing who you are, why God made you, and where you fit in. Humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less. It allows you to be content with whatever position God has given you.

Jesus Christ is humble. He was humble as He came into human history, worked as a carpenter, and died on the cross to save us from our sins. Now He reigns as King of Kings and Lord of Lords, worthy of all glory, honor, and praise.

Humility allows you to welcome God to serve you. Some people will say Christianity is easy—all you have to do is accept Jesus. In reality, though, it’s hard because you don’t add or earn anything. Your attitude must be, I have nothing, and I need everything. It takes humility to allow Jesus to serve you.

Humility also allows us to serve others. Jesus didn’t come to be served but to serve. Humility allows us to be served by God and others and to serve others on behalf of God. You can’t be healthy unless you allow God and others to serve you, and you can’t be healthy unless you’re serving.

There’s something radically delightful about being content and having an attitude of gratitude. In this world, a lack of humility causes a lack of contentment, and people don’t have any joy. We spend our days trying to make more money than we need, impressing people we don’t know, assuming responsibilities God has not assigned us, and winning fights that don’t matter. Humility allows you to find your place on God’s team and find joy in the fact that no matter what position you play, in the end, you’re on the winning team.

Today’s Reflection

Do you find humility to be easier in theory than in practice?