Romans 12:3
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
We are all created equal in God’s eyes; however, we are all created differently. It’s easy to wonder why some have great hunting success and others can hardly find it. From one sport to the next you even see some excel in one area, but are terrible in another. It’s just the way God made us. It would be scary if we were all the same! Can you imagine everyone around you being just like you? That would be horrifying. Praise God we are all different.
Since we are all different, that means we all have different abilities. Some whitetail hunters kill big deer year after year because they have a great place to hunt and a large deer population. Some expert hunters can go into a public wildlife area and consistently drag out a big buck. On the other hand, you can take another hunter and put him on these two properties and he will return empty-handed every time. Though he may not be good at hunting, this same person can hit the lake and know all about fishing. For some, it takes a long time to learn about the habits of wildlife, but for others they exceed much quicker. Why is that? Again, we are created equal, but different.
Every good thing God does for us the Devil attacks. We see it all the time in the hunting and fishing community. One fisherman out fishes a lot of others and he then begins to think of himself more highly than he ought to think. Even the big buck killer thinks he is better than anyone who hunts for meat or kills 1 ½ year-old deer. This is nonsense! If God has blessed you with great hunting and fishing abilities, Praise the Lord, but remember, we are all created differently which means we all have a different perspective.
There is a great division in our nation. It’s sad how much pride and arrogance are carried over into our hunting and fishing world as well. We need to encourage and help one another in protecting our conservation and stop acting like our method of hunting is the only way there is. If you use a crossbow, good for you! Keep using it. If you enjoy shooting an animal at 500 yards with a high-powered rifle, great! If you like to fish with a bobber, stop worrying about the methods of others. Again, remember God has created us all differently. Stop looking down on others for doing things differently than you or stop getting frustrated at those who have excelled because of their God-given abilities!
In the context of Romans, we see this same division happening in the local church! God has not given the same measure of faith to everyone. Gifts differ from believer to believer, but we are all of the body of Christ. “For as we have many members in one body, and all members have not the same office:” (Romans 12:4) Paul is making an example of the members of our body. These members would refer to an eye, hand, or foot. These are all functioning parts of the body, but they all operate differently. Though they function for different purposes they all are still of the same body working together.
Paul then begins to use this illustration of members of the body to different gifts of the believer functioning within the church. “Having then gifts differing according to the grace that is given to us…” (Romans 12:6) In verses 6-8 Paul mentions some of these gifts as ministering, teaching, and giving. What he is saying is that God gifts some to be teachers and God gifts some to be preachers. He gifts some to be givers as well. Everyone is gifted differently! If God has gifted everyone differently, why is there so much pride in the church when one person can do something better than another? “For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)
Some men of God can really preach and some men of God can really teach, but man, when it comes to giving it’s a bit of a struggle. Then some may give it all to God, but they don’t do well at teaching or preaching. These are gifts from God! Where the great problem lies is that when we excel in the gifts that God has given us, we begin to think of ourselves more highly than we ought to think. We act like other believers can’t be right with God because they don’t preach the way you can or they don’t encourage others the way you do. We are the body of Christ! We all have different abilities and we don’t need pride to have place in our hearts because of our abilities.
Have you recently thought higher of yourself than another believer in your church? Could it be that God didn’t give them the gifts He gave you? Don’t let your gifts destroy you. We have enough division in this world already, we don’t need it in our churches! Sometimes frustration gets the best of us, but that is not an excuse to look down on others. “And above all things have fervent charity among yourselves: For charity shall cover the multitude of sins.” (I Peter 4:8)
Memory Verse
Romans 12:3
“For I say, through the grace given unto me, to every man that is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think; but to think soberly, according as God hath dealt to every man the measure of faith.”
