Assess Yourself Honestly

It’s safe to say that we all tend to know what we don’t do well. Sometimes I wish it were as easy to identify our gifts as it is to pinpoint what we’re not gifted at.

Because of the privilege and authority God has given me, 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. Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body. We are many parts of one body, and we all belong to each other. In his grace, God has given us different gifts for doing certain things well. (Romans 12:3–6)

Paul begins by positioning what he’s about to write as a warning. Let’s isolate and emphasize this warning:

Don’t think you are better than you really are. Be honest in your evaluation of yourselves. (12:3)

Here we’re told to do an honest self-evaluation. Of what? Of the gifts, God has placed on our lives in real time.

Why do I use the words real time? Simple. Think of the biblical example used earlier. Saul’s honest assessment before he met Samuel would have been, “I cannot prophesy.” This would have been true and accurate for Saul at the time. However, once he met Samuel and the gift of God came on his life, his honest assessment would have changed to this: “I can prophesy.”

Regarding different gifts, Paul’s words are crystal clear: “Just as our bodies have many parts and each part has a special function, so it is with Christ’s body” (Romans 12:4–5). Simply consider your own body: Your fingers can do things your nose can’t; your nose can do things your ears can’t; your ears can do things your stomach can’t; your stomach can do things your liver can’t; and the list goes on.

We’re all called, and we all carry unique gifts that are needed to fulfill our kingdom assignment.

Our gifts aren’t only for the gathering of saints in a building, although they are valid and important. I certainly don’t want to downplay our gatherings. The intention here is to expand our view of the operation of God’s gifts. If we’re called to labor outside the church, which is the case for most of us, we’re called to operate supernaturally through our gifts within our circle of influence—among our ethnos group. If you’ve separated the secular from the sacred, that mentality needs to change.

When you walk into the room, no matter where it is—the hospital ward for your work as a surgeon or nurse, the public school classroom for your teaching, the factory for your skilled labor as a machinist, and so forth—you’ve been gifted to bring the sacred into that atmosphere and to disciple it in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. You have divine backing and authority to bring heaven to earth, just as Jesus did with Zacchaeus and others. You’re called to multiply the kingdom’s mode of operation throughout your arena of influence.

Respond

What gifts for the kingdom has God given you?

Share a time when you utilized one of those gifts.

What was the outcome?

Prayer

Lord Jesus, help me see opportunities to share You everywhere I go.