A Sane Estimate

Are you amazed, as I am, how God speaks to us the very words we need to hear at a given time in our lives? He spoke directly to me this morning via words in a letter the apostle Paul wrote to the Christians in Rome centuries ago.

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, J. B. Phillips Translation)

I don’t usually have exaggerated ideas of myself or my importance. Instead, I feel inferior and inadequate much of the time. Those feelings cause me to shrink back from many things I could do and should do. Consequently, I’m asking God to give me a “sane estimate” of myself and my abilities, neither overestimating nor underestimating myself.

To accomplish that, He will lead me to the truths found in His Word. For example, “I can do all things [not in and of myself, of course] but through Christ, who gives me the strength I need.” (See Philippians 4:13.) Others have experienced the truth in those words, including the unidentified person who said, “If God brings you to it, He will see you through it.”

Therefore, I need to believe the truth about myself. As God gives me a sane estimate (His estimate!) of myself rather than a skewed one, I’ll live more confidently and make better choices.