Sober Judgement

DEVOTION
ROMANS
SOBER JUDGMENT
Rom 12:3-4
3 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.
NIV
To think of myself with sober judgment can mean only one thing. Sober judgment, I cannot help but think the opposite is to lack judgment as if I were drunk. Drunk on my own self, drunk with self righteousness, drunk with spiritual pride and drunk on my own abilities, talents and skills. I must not consider I have any righteousness, talents, skills or abilities of my own. Not that I should consider myself of no or little worth for indeed God does value me. He sent Jesus to die for me, and that certainly proves He places a very high value on me. But at the same time, although I am of value to God, I must remain completely humble in regard to that fact. I am without any ability to be righteous within myself. I am a sinner saved by grace. I cannot even completely stop from committing sin. I have no illusions about my spiritual condition. To think soberly I must not be in a fantasy regarding who I am. I cannot go around with a façade making believe I am some perfect Christian who lives a completely holy sin free life. Yes, I have a desire to be just that, and doesn’t everyone else? Yes, I want to do what is right and think pure and holy thoughts. Yes I want to respond to others in a Christ-like manner. But the true is when I think soberly about myself, I see failure, I see weakness. When I judge myself instead of others, I see the truth. I need Jesus Christ, more than anything else. When I am weak, He is strong, He is my righteousness, and He is my salvation, my Savior, my all in all.