Trap 2 Christians Fall Into: Having a False View of Oneself

(This is the second in a series entitled: “8 Traps Christians Fall Into.”)

TRAP 2 CHRISTIANS FALL INTO: HAVING A FALSE VIEW OF ONESELF

“For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.” (Romans 12:3)

Are you stuck on yourself? To be stuck on yourself means that you see yourself as different than others. Either you see yourself as better or you see yourself as worse. So let me ask it again: Are you stuck on yourself? (Be honest.)

The truth be told there are a lot of believers in Jesus Christ caught in this kind of thinking (stuck!) that the Apostle Paul speaks to / warns us about in the verse above.

FALSE HUMILITY IS A FORM OF PRIDE, TOO

Each of these ways of seeing oneself ~ whether it’s being better or being worse than others ~ each of them are ultimately forms of pride. (Ouch.) Each of them are forms of thinking more highly than you ought.

Yes, even when you see yourself as being worse than others. It’s also thinking more highly than you ought. For when one sees himself like that, what he’s basically doing is he’s separating himself from everyone else. (Isn’t it true?)

And in doing so, a person is making himself the center of attention ~ “Me bad, everyone else okay” ~ do you see how that works? “Me bad, everyone else okay” ~ it draws the attention to self. It’s self-centered thinking. It’s what’s sometimes referred to as “false humility.” False humility is one of the worst forms of pride.

ON EQUAL FOOTING BEFORE GOD

We need to think of ourselves in a proper way. We need to think of ourselves as God would have us think ~ with sound judgment as Romans 12:3 admonishes.

A former pastor of mine liked to coin the phrase (you may have heard it): “The ground at the foot of the cross is level ground.” What it basically means is that there are no superstars in Christ, neither are there any worms. And it’s the cross of Jesus that has seen to that. It has put all believers on equal footing before God.

There is not a one of us any better than another, neither is there a one of us any worse. Did you need to be reminded?

You might also be interested in:

• 7 Points on Spiritual Warfare (plus 3 bonus points)
• Trap 1 Christians Fall Into: Thinking God is Angry With Them