Think with Sober Judgment

“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment, each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned.” -Romans 12:3

Even in his ministry of instructing believers in the grace of God, Paul appeals to the grace given to him for the task. His instruction is the natural outflow of what he has already stated, that “…by the mercies of God, [they would] present [their] bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is [their] spiritual worship [and] not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of [their] mind[s], that by testing [they] may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect” (Romans 12:1–2). 

First of all, then, believers need to think of themselves appropriately. The most common temptation is to think of oneself more highly than one ought. We are only what we are because of the grace given to us by the mercies of God. A right view of ourselves begins with a right view of God. This is how we “think with sober judgment.” We don’t have too lofty of a view of ourselves because we know we are sinners saved by the grace of God.

And we are not to have too low of a view of ourselves because God has assigned to each of us a measure of faith. In other words, there is a ditch on either side of sober judgment. One ditch is to fail to recognize we don’t deserve what we have and the other ditch is to fail to recognize that even though we may not deserve it, we indeed have it. And that means we not only have value but we have a purpose.

One way I have often thought about this truth is to think about the value of one’s thumb. Detached from the lifeblood and associated appendages of the hand, it is a worthless piece of flesh and bone. It would not, for example, make a beautiful ornament one would want to put on display; it would be disgusting. But attached to the lifeblood and associated appendages, it is an invaluable piece of the body. It would be difficult to put a price tag on the value of one’s thumb in its proper context.