Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. (Romans 12:12)

I love the way J.B. Phillips phrases this verse: “Base your happiness on your hope in Christ. When trials come endure them patiently, steadfastly maintain the habit of prayer.” What Paul was saying is that the exercise of grace affects our convictions. What I mean is that your beliefs affects how you behave?. It’s true. As James told us, you know your faith by your works. You know you are standing beneath an apple tree because of the fruit hanging over your head. You can also tell what you believe by how you behave. Many Christians think they believe many things that they really do not believe. How do I know they don’t? Because they don’t put them into practice. Don’t say you believe God heals, and complain that you are sick. Don’t worry over your finances if you believe God is your provider.

Also, if you really trust the Lord and are committed to Christ, then you are going to obey him. You are going to do what he says. Your life, your words, your conversations, your friends, every aspect of your life are reflected by what you believe.

We are looking at how beliefs affect behavior, and we see that what verse 12 points to is the evidence of faith in God. It says that we are to “Base your happiness on your hope in Christ . . .” If you are down and depressed, you have no hope in Christ. Your trust, confidence, anticipation will be governed by your belief in your Messiah. When trials come you can “endure them patiently, steadfastly and maintain the habit of prayer.” The only way to rejoice in your hope is to have a hope based on your faith in Jesus Christ. There is always something to be thankful for and something to look forward to. Alexander Whyte, the Scottish preacher, always began his prayers with an expression of gratitude. One cold, miserable day the church people wondered what he would say. He prayed, “We thank Thee, O Lord, that it is not always like this.” Well, that works. Our hope is based in Jesus. Do you believe that?

I have a plaque I have displayed at work that was given to me by one of my daughter-in-laws, last Christmas. It reads: “Lord, this will be a good day!” (I added the explanation point). But did you notice, it does not read, “Oh dear God, please, please, make it a good day.” No! It sets my anticipation right from the start. Even if I was the worse customer, I can maintain my peace, and yes, it may take me more time, but I will resolve their problem and have a peaceful day.

As the days progress, we are going to face difficult days. Jesus told us quite plainly that in the end of days, times would be difficult. Well, the only way we are going to persevere in tribulation is to know that the Lord is with us in the midst of it and to trust his leadership in those hard times. The only way to be devoted to prayer is to believe that prayer works, to believe that there is a God who answers prayer, who is personally involved in your life. All of this boils down to whether you have a living faith in a living God. What are your convictions? What are those things you truly believe? If you find that by your behavior, you betray a lack of convictions, then go to your Father and ask him to give you a revelation of Himself, a revelation that will change your life. It will also change the lives of others around you.

If you are hopeful, others will be encouraged to hope. If you persevere under tribulation, others will know that they can persevere too. If you believe in prayer, others will benefit from your ministry to them through prayer. God’s grace flows through you to others.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Let us not allow slackness to spoil our work and let us keep the fires of the spirit burning, as we do our work for God. (Romans 12:11)

Verse 11 says that the exercise of grace affects the way we act. This is one place where a other translations can be helpful. The King James Version says, “Not slothful in business.” The New American Standard says, “Not lagging behind in diligence.” However, the New International Version is probably the closest to the intent when it says, “Never be lacking in zeal.” You see, what Paul is talking about is the enthusiasm and intensity with which we live our lives. We can walk around with our heads hanging down, or we can walk with our heads held high! Oh, not arrogantly and pridefully, but rather with confidence and joy. Knowing that our Lord reigns! One of the marks of a Christian is that he has an enthusiasm for life. A Christian may be down, but he should never be defeated. Just how zealous we are to be is indicated by the next phrase, “keep your spiritual fervor.” The word used here means “to boil.” We must keep our spirits at the boiling point. That’s how we will find ourselves “serving the Lord.” I like what the New English Bible says, “With unlagging energy, in ardor of spirit, serve the Lord.” We should be excited about our relationship with the living God. Serving the Lord is exciting business. The idea that too much enthusiasm is wrong is just plain baloney. A fervent spirit is contagious.

Also, with so much at stake, a Christian can never be lazy or lukewarm, indifferent or apathetic. When you see a need, you are moved to meet that need. You call the “ministers” to take care of it, you go and meet that need!

You can’t live an isolated life. You must mesh your life as closely as possible with other believers. No snobbery. No privileges. All together, sharing the same ideas (the Apostles doctrine), the same friends (fellowship), the same practices (breaking of bread), and the same religious habits (public prayers).

Several years ago I listened to a young couple talk about the passage that says if you have two coats, to give to him who has none. Well, they had recently realized that they were now over the median income of the other church members, so they were a two-coat family now, and that gave them the responsibility of caring for the others.

They also remembered that while the husband was in college, they were the ones with no-coat; and many times believers would slip them money or put a bag of groceries in the back door. They had increased their giving within the church, but were also looking for folks who needed their help.

Others have reached out to my wife and me with assistance during our times of difficulty. People have left groceries for us as well. During a time of very serious financial need, we received several thousand dollars from different brothers and sisters.

Patrice and I in turn have reached out to help other families with groceries, or money or simply a shoulder on which to cry. Sometimes our service was something as simple as letting a college student use one of our cars for a trip home or providing leftover carpeting to cover the floor of a single mother’s bathroom. Our rule has always been that if we see a need, then the Lord must want us to do something about it. The funny thing is that we never consider whether we can afford it. Our Brothers need is all that matters, and somehow our Father has always provided the means.

We had provided the deposit for a single mom to move into a bigger apartment, that was more suitable for her young son. We never once ask her to return the funds, but when she was able, she did indeed return them. We also provided babysitting with it needed.

Look, we are not “Rockefellers.” We have limited means, as well.  We simply read Romans 12:13 which The Living Bible paraphrases as: “When God’s children are in need, you be the one to help them out.” My wife and I take this quite literally! It doesn’t say to call the Pastor or the Elders of the church. It makes no mention of calling the ministry team. It calls for you to help them. In Charles Swindoll’s book, For those that Hurt, his number one recommendation is to get your eyes off your own problems and begin to help others out of their problems.

Sharing in the family of God is a sure sign that your faith is authentic, and the Grace is active in your life. I love it when we can get so comfortable with each other that we can think, “Hey, this sweater doesn’t fit me very well any more, I think Scott could use it.” It is not about who is richer and who is poorer as we use the word charity these days: it is charity in its old usage—just pure love in the Body!

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Let us have real warm affection for one another as between brothers, and a willingness to let the other man have the credit. (Romans 12:10)

Verse 10 tells us that when we exercise grace, it will affect the people we meet. When we try to live out practical Christianity, we develop our relationships with the other brothers and sisters in the local church. Paul reminds us that we are in the family of God. We are brothers and sisters. He reminds us that relationship is the ground of our commitment to one another. There may be some brothers and sisters we like more than others, but we are commanded to be devoted to everyone, because we are all in the family. As it has been said, you can pick your friends, but you’re stuck with your relatives. Oh, I admit that sometimes it can be hard. If fact, someone put it this way:

To dwell above, with saints in love,
Ahh, that will be glory;
To dwell below with saints we know,
Well, that’s a different story!

There is a lot of truth to that poem. Sometimes it is difficult to dwell with saints below, but it can be done, and we need to learn to do it well.

Many of you have heard the story about how, on my trip home from Texas, I picked up a hitchhiker. When he saw my Bible lying on the dashboard, we started talking about the Lord. I very quickly learned that he indeed believed in Jesus, and was in fact, one of my brothers.

He was very tired and fell asleep while I drove us north. As he slept, the Lord began to open my heart toward this brother. I kept saying to myself, “If this was really my brother (referring to my physical brother, Dave) there isn’t a thing I wouldn’t do to help him.” I had picked this hitchhiker up in the south where it was a little warmer, and I realized, as we crossed the Mississippi River, that it was much colder where we were heading. He wanted to go to Chicago, and it was in early October.

As he slept I kept thinking, “If this were really my brother . . .” and the Lord said, “He is really your brother.” I would reply, “Yes Lord, I understand that, but if he was really my brother (again referring to my physical brother). “But, He is your brother . . .” “yes, I understand that, but if . . .” (I catch on a little slow, sometimes).

This went on for a few minutes and finally it hit me what the Lord was saying to me! He really was my brother! He was my brother as much as or more than my physical brothers.

Then I saw what my full responsibility was to this hitchhiker. I wasn’t really familiar with Chicago and he said I could drop him off at a rest stop near the city. When I finally let him out, I gave him my leather jacket, my sleeping bag, a couple of phone numbers of ministries that I knew in Chicago. I also gave him all the money I had on me at the time, which was about fifty-five dollars, and since he was about my size, I gave him some pieces of clothing out of my suitcase.

I am not trying to brag about how “spiritual” I am, but to illustrate that the Lord seems to take this “family relationship” quite seriously.

Going back to our study, we see that in latter part of verse 10 we have a real key to encouraging one another. It says, “Honor one another above yourselves.” You see, when we exercise grace toward one another, we regard others as more deserving than ourselves. This is what we are exhorted to do in Philippians 2:3, where it says, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves.” The practical outworking of brotherly love in the body of Christ will be that we are eager to build up one another.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. (Romans 12:9)

Another way to look at that is that the exercise of grace affects our character. The work of the grace of God in the life of the believer is to change that person into the image of Jesus Christ. For that to happen, our attitudes must change. Our character must be transformed, and the greatest evidence of this change is that we can now love, freely and fully. We can love by grace.

If you have the King James Version, it says, “Let love be without dissimulation.” The New American Standard says, “Let love be without hypocrisy.” The New International Version says, “Love must be sincere.” J. B. Phillips translates it, “Let us have no imitation Christian love.” So what does all that mean? Well, according to what we just read, our love must be sincere. It must not be phony. It must be real and genuine, not put on or acted out. It is interesting that this word translated hypocrisy is the same word in Greek which referred to those who made their living on stage as actors. It meant, “to impersonate someone; to play a part; to simulate or to feign or to pretend.” What we are being told here is that followers of Jesus, we aren’t to simply act like we love someone, we should really love them! When the Spirit of God comes to live in your heart, you can’t help but be stimulated by love. When it comes to love, we cannot merely play the part. Our love will be genuine.

What Paul says next is interesting, especially in how it relates to love. He says, “Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.” Huh? Is this saying that true Christian love rejects sin but not persons? I believe so. All too often, Christians fall into either one of two extremes: either they end up rejecting the individual in their hatred of sin, or they end up condoning the sin because they do not want to reject the individual. We see this happen all the time when dealing with homosexuals. You see, it is possible to love anyone . . . w/o condoning their sin. It requires grace, but it is possible.

However, we cannot love the individual and end up condoning sin, or reject the individual because we hate sin. True love loves the individual while, at the same time, hating sin. Love without truth is compromise, and truth without love is legalism. We must have neither. What we need in the church of Jesus Christ today are people who love everyone with genuine love, just as they are. At the same time, we stand for truth and seek to help people to change by the grace of God. We can do that without being fuzzy. I read a story about a Mississippi State Senator in 1958 who addressed the Legislature:

You have asked me how I feel about whisky. All right, here is just how I stand on this question: “If when you say whisky, you mean the devil’s brew, the poison scourge; the bloody monster that defiles innocence, yea, literally takes the bread from the mouths of little children; if you mean the evil drink that topples the Christian man and woman from the pinnacles of righteous, gracious living into the bottomless pit of degradation and despair, shame and helplessness and hopelessness, then certainly I am against it with all of my power.

But, if when you say whisky, you mean the oil of conversation, the philosophic wine, the stuff that is consumed when good fellows get together, that puts a song in their hearts and laughter on their lips and the warm glow of contentment in their eyes, if you mean Christmas cheer; if you mean the stimulating drink that puts the spring in the old gentlemen’s step on a frosty morning; if you mean the drink that enables a man to magnify his joy, and his happiness and to forget, if only for a little while, life’s great tragedies and heartbreaks and sorrows, if you mean that drink, the sale of which pours into our treasuries untold millions of dollars, which are used to provide tender care for our little crippled children, our blind, our deaf, our dumb, our pitiful aged and infirmed, to build highways, hospitals and schools, then certainly I am in favor of it. This is my stand. I will not retreat from it; I will not compromise.

You see, the exercise of grace affects our character. By the power of the Holy Spirit we are enabled to love one another without compromise.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Sorry. It was supposed to make you chuckle). Anyway, that is the way the church is sometimes. He are guilty of giving people an encyclopedia on theology instead of giving them a practical demonstration of how to live out true Christianity. The church needs to be a place where people can see faith in action. It needs to be a place where people can experience the benefits of real love and acceptance. It needs to be a place where people can see a living demonstration of the grace of God.

This portion of Paul’s letter deals with the practical application of our Christian faith. We can see several areas where grace affects the Christian. Paul challenges us to flesh out our theology in everyday living. Think of it as a continuation of the message we just read. Paul was sharing how the church is a multi-membered, multi-gifted body of believers, who are bound together in a mystical union with one another and with Jesus Christ, joined together in a living, dynamic relationship in which every member is important, and every member is needed.

Oh, I realize that might be a mouthful, but because we were placed in the Body and gifted by Jesus Christ, we have a definite responsibility to every other member of the body of Christ, and more particularly, to the local church where he has placed us. That responsibility is to exercise the gifts and ministries God has given us. As we do so, we will accomplish the Kingdom work through the ministry of the church to the glory of God.

The message here is that we not only have a responsibility in the exercise of these gifts, but we also have a responsibility in the exercise of grace, a responsibility to love by grace.

God’s grace is not only extended to us, but is to be ministered through us, both to our brothers and sisters in the church, and to those in the world. The point is that grace has an effect on us. It not only has an effect on us, but it should affect our behavior.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Think of the next gift as a gift of going. I am referring to the gift of showing mercy. If we are going to show mercy, then we have to be willing to go to someone who needs mercy—like people who are sick, or afflicted in some way. Sometimes, they are depressed and we have to make the first move. Do this cheerfully—but with sensitivity. Proverbs 17:22 says, “A cheerful heart is good medicine.”

We have only touched on this list of gifts. There are all kinds of other gifts mentioned in 1 Corinthians 12, 1 Peter 4, and Ephesians 4, and all of these “gifts,” I have discussed are not natural abilities or talents. No, no. This are gifts of grace—gifts God gives each of us to be used ministering to one another, and the world. While everyone has at least one gift, no one has all the gifts. That is why we need one another. What would happen if all those with the gift of teaching refused to teach? What would happen if all those with the gift of serving refused to serve? What would happen if all those with the gift of mercy or hospitality or music decided just to quit? What a bleak place the church would be!

You need to see that when you joined the local church, you were placed in a vital, living relationship with the brothers and sisters who are here. You have a gift. You have a ministry. You have a role. You have a function to perform in the body of Christ. That function is not just for your own good, but for the good of all. Everyone wasn’t called to be a pastor, or a teacher, or deacon. You might not be a gifted musician, or be gifted to work with children. However, you do have a ministry.

Now the body is not made up of one part but of many. If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason cease to be part of the body. Let’s quit being philosophical here. You might not have the gift of teaching, but you might be a great host. Maybe your gift is in giving your time or money. Don’t get all upset when you don’t have a particular calling or gift. Be who you are!

If the whole body was an eye, where would the sense of hearing be? If the whole body was an ear, where would the sense of smell be? Our Lord has arranged the parts in the body, every one of them, just as he wanted them to be. If they were all one part, where would the body be? As it is, there are many parts, but one body. The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!” (1 Corinthians 12:14-21)

We need one another. Eyes are wonderful, but what good would they be without a head to put them in? Ears are wonderful. Ugly, but wonderful. But what good would they be without a head to hang them on? God is the designer of the body. He gave you precisely the gift that he knew we needed. You just need to begin to function.

The Church is not merely an organization. The Church is an organism. It is a living, dynamic body of believers in Jesus Christ who have entered into a covenant relationship with God and with one another, and who are responsible to God and to one another. God help us to be the kind of Church that is consecrated to God, committed to one another, and calling to the world to look to Jesus and be saved.

God help us to be alive in Jesus. So many churches are not. They are like the prophecy of the dry bones in Ezekiel 37:1-14. There the real question was “can these bones live?” And the answer was that they could only as the breath of God inhabited them. Then they stood on their feet as a mighty army. This is the only way the churches of Jesus Christ will go forth as a mighty army today. We need the same breath of God to fill us. That is what makes the church alive.

All that being said, I still hear people say, “The church is full of hypocrites.” Someone else will say, “They don’t practice what they preach.” “If that’s what Christianity is, I don’t want any.” People usually say this as an excuse for their lack of commitment—and the reason they get away with it is that there is an element of truth in them. There are hypocrites in the church. There are people who don’t practice what they preach, and there are people who show, by their lack of faithfulness, that what they have isn’t worth very much.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

. . . if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (Romans 12:8)

The first is the gift of giving, or the gift of contributing. God has blessed some people with the singleness of heart to give greatly to the work of God. The true motive of giving is love for God. Love is ever measured by its gift. The Bible says, “For God so loved . . . that he gave.”

I want to go back to the story of Barnabas. I love what was being told in the fourth chapter of Acts. First, it was presented as an example of what we can and should do. Barnabas (don’t you love that nickname? “Son of Comfort.” And, it says that the apostles were the ones who named him that. What testimony! I want to be a “Son of Comfort”!) oh, sorry for the sidetrack . . . anyway, Barny sold some property he owned. Barnabas owned the property and could have done anything with the proceeds. He could have bought some CDs with it; he could have given it to his children (if he had any); he could have taken a Mediterranean cruise; he could have done whatever he wanted to because it was his money! Nobody required him to give it the church. However, something had happened in his heart and he felt inspired—compelled—to joyfully offer the funds to the church.

Wow! How about that? I bet a big deal was made about it. Everybody was shouting and hooting, slapping “high-fives”  . . . I suppose it’s possible that only a few people knew about it, but the fact that it’s mentioned here, gives you the impression that the church was excited and rejoiced that Barnabas gave the money . . . and I can picture Barnabas kind of shrugging it off . . . “No, big deal. I knew the funds were needed, so I just sold the property . . . “

That’s how all of us should respond with all the gifts the Lord gives to us. That’s the way my father-in-law is. He is extremely generous and the Lord has delighted in his willingness to share and provided for him quite well. Even being retired he continues to give.

I know someone who has a tremendous gift of encouragement and will meet you with a hug and big smile anywhere and anytime. If you make any mention of it, she will shrug her shoulders because it is as natural for her as it is for a fish to swim.

There are others who have the ability to take God’s Word and present it in the simplest terms—taking the most complex issues, and making them understandable. When you mention it to them, they shrug their shoulders and say, “Thank you.” There is no pride or excitement over the gifts, they don’t even think of it being a special “gift,” it is “just who they are.”

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage . . . (Romans 12:6-8)

These are the gifts given to expound the Word of God. You might call them the speaking gifts. The first deals with the inspiration of truth. It is the gift of prophesying. Prophecy is not foretelling future events, it is a forth-telling of the mind of God. Let me explain what I mean. The prophetic gift illuminates the Word of God and gives us a living word for the here and now. Many times, the prophetic word will come as you are listening to the Word of God being expounded or taught. The Holy Spirit will quicken that Word, and through the preacher speak directly to your heart. Other times, as you pray, God will place an impression on your heart. Other times someone may give you a word of prophecy. You should always evaluate these by the Bible, but you should always be open to hear. Through prophecy, God speaks a living, fresh word to us. This prophetic word will always encourage and uplift you—it will also confirm what God has already spoken to you.

The next gift is serving or ministry as the King Jim’s Version translates it. Ministry is service—the incarnation of truth. We get our word deacon from this same word. A deacon is a servant in the Church. Everybody can deaconize. You can serve as an usher; cut the grass; direct traffic; help park cars; set up tables; take a meal to someone’s house. We are all called to serve one another.

The next gift is the gift of teaching—the interpretation of truth. Teaching is the imparting of knowledge about the Scriptures to the human mind. It is different from preaching somewhat, in that preaching speaks to the heart while teaching speaks to the mind. Teaching informs while preaching moves the will. I believe this gift is given to many more Christians than realize it. As you are instructed in the Word of God and make the Word of God a part of your daily living, then you can teach someone else who does not know as much as you know. Now, a good teacher will give himself or herself to a diligent study of the Bible, comparing Scripture with Scripture, using sound methods of exegesis, hermeneutics, homiletics, analysis and synthesis. We need excellence in teaching. However, not every teacher needs to be in front of a class. Effective teaching can take place one-on-one.

The final gift in this section emphasizes the intention of truth. It is the gift of encouraging. There is an illustration of this gift in the Scriptures in the life of Barnabas. He was called “the son of encouragement.” That’s what the name Barnabas means. Although his real name was Joseph, I’ll bet no one called him Joe. I bet they called him Barney. He was the kind of guy that you would probably find with his arm over someone’s shoulder, encouraging, comforting, urging him on. What a gift! We have such a need for this gift in the Church. Wouldn’t you like to be a son or daughter of encouragement? Some people are so discouraging. Some are so down in the mouth, you ask them how they are doing and they will give you an organ recital, the physical kind. It just does not seem like they are happy unless they are miserable. They make everybody else miserable, too. We need encouragers—people who lift up weary hands, people who not only tell you that you can do it, but will help you get the job done. This is the intention of truth, to motivate us to be all we can be for Jesus Christ.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

For just as you have many members in one physical body and those members differ in their functions, so we, though many in number, compose one body in Christ and are all members of one another (Romans 12: 4-5)

Do you want to know how the Church should function? Just look at your own body. Every part of your body has a specific function. You have hands that can pick things up with, you have feet that can carry your body as you walk. All that is cool, however, your hands or your feet could not do their jobs unless they are connected to your arms and your legs. You have a heart that pumps blood to every part of your body. You have a set of lungs that delivers oxygen into your bloodstream. Both your heart and lungs cooperate with each other, but they would be useless if they were not connected to the rest of your body. You have eyes to see with, ears to hear with, a mouth allows you to eat and taste food and to speak. You have a nose that can smell a rose as well as sour milk, ears that can hear. There are all kinds of organs in the human body, and they must all work together, guided by the head of the body, the brain.

Now, some members are more important than other members are. I suppose that if we had to choose between our right hand and our heart, we would certainly keep our heart. However, we don’t want to be forced to make that choice, do we? Each member is important. While our little finger may not be as important as our left eye, if we were to break it, all of the other parts of the body would cooperate to get it swift medical attention. It’s not just the finger’s problem, it is our problem. We are connected. Each member of our body is important. It is all for one and one for all.

Paul is comparing the mystical body of Christ, the Church, to our human body. Each member has a role, a function, a ministry. Each member is necessary and important. Each member is inter-related to each other member. When we all cooperate under the leadership of the Head, Jesus Christ, the ministry of the local church is powerful and effective.

Verse 5 says that each member belongs to all the others. This is the intimate relationship we have with one another. Look around at each member in whatever church you attend. Look at the people in front of you, behind you, and beside you. They are the Church. They are not all like you. Each one of them has different gifts, different ministries. Unless each of you work together, you are not complete. You need them and they need you. We all need each other in the Church. Not one of you is called to go it alone.

Because all of us are necessary, there is a certain responsibility we have toward one another. With the responsibility comes accountability. If we need one another, then when one of us lays down on the job, the others suffer. We have a responsibility to exercise the gifts and ministries God has given us.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome

Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance, but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities by the light of the faith that God has given to you all. (Romans 12:3)

With so much emphasis today on a “positive self-image,” I think this verse should stand-out for us. Is it possible to think of yourself too highly? Of course. Look at Donald Trump! How we think of ourselves is important because the Church is of course, made up of people, people we are intimately related to. How we relate to one another is going to depend on our attitude toward ourselves and toward each other. However, the danger is to think of ourselves more highly than we should. I remember when I first moved to Ann Arbor, I was thinking, “You folks need me.”

It took a few years (and the patient work of the Holy Spirit) but I finally realized that they did not need me. I was just one, of many believers who were able to preach and teach. They did not need me, but I desperately needed them.

When I was a Pastor, I had the opportunity to meet some nationally know personalities—names you would recognize—who were the most arrogant and demanding people I had ever met. Don’t get me wrong, I have also met some the most respectful, dignified, humble and contrite preachers as well. People I am truly honored to have met. I am not referring to them, here. I am talking about the ministers who were guests, yet expected “3 and 4 Star” hotels; reservations in the most deluxe restaurants, and to be chauffeured driven to their meetings. Those are the folks I think Paul was talking about when he said, “Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance.”

On the other hand, there is also the other danger of not thinking of ourselves as highly as we should. There is a balance to be found here. Don’t so belittle yourself that you see yourself as being worthless. Our opinion of ourselves should not to be too high or too low. Yes, just like the story of the Three Bears where one bed was too hard, and another was too soft. Our opinion of ourselves should based on sober judgment and a realistic view of what God has done in our lives. It should not involve self-exaltation—or self-deprecation.

C. S. Lewis wrote The Screwtape Letters, which contains a series of imaginary letters from a senior devil to a junior devil, in which the senior devil, Screwtape, teaches the junior devil, Wormwood, the art of temptation. In this series of letters, we find an interesting dialogue on how to develop false humility. Remember, this is written from a demon’s perspective so the enemy is God. Screwtape tells Wormwood,

I see only one thing to do at the moment. Your patient has become humble. Have you drawn his attention to the fact? All virtues are less formidable to us once the man is aware that he has them. But this is specially true of humility. You must, therefore, conceal from the patient, the true end of humility.

Let him think of it, not as self-forgetfulness, but as a certain kind of opinion (namely, a low opinion) of his own talents and character. Some talents, I gather, he really has. Fix in his mind the idea that humility consists in trying to believe those talents to be less valuable than he believes them to be.

No doubt, they are less valuable than he believes. But that is not the point. The great thing is to make him value an opinion for some quality other than truth. Thus, introducing an element of dishonesty and make-believe into the heart of what otherwise threatens to become a virtue. By this method, thousands of humans have been brought to think that humility means pretty women trying to believe that they are ugly, and clever men trying to believe they are fools.

The Enemy wants to bring the man to a state of mind in which he could design the best cathedral in the world and know it to be the best, and rejoice in the fact without being any more (or less) or otherwise glad at having done it, than he would be if he if it had been done by another. The Enemy wants him, in the end, to be so free from any bias in his own favor that he can rejoice in his own talents as frankly and gratefully as in his neighbor’s talents.

What our Father wants is for us to rejoice in his work in and through us, without being puffed up in pride. We must always remember that we are not the only ones through whom he works. It is through every believer in the body of Christ that his work gets accomplished.

If interested, you can download the entire study of The Letter to Christians at Rome