This and other spiritual gifts are related to faith.
Romans 12 speaks of them and how they are used, but the verse before the list says,
“For by the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think of
himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think with sober judgment,
each according to the measure of faith that God has assigned” (Romans 12:3).
As I struggle with how I think about others, I also swing
back and forth regarding my self-esteem. The extremes of pride and self-pity
are the fleshy version, but as Romans says, I need to stay with a biblical view,
God’s view of who I am as well as the spiritual condition of others. I cannot
be blind to the negatives, but must not let them give me reason to become
negative myself.
Today’s devotional reading offers a way to do that. This affirms
that my efforts to govern how I think about others are on the right track.
The verse is about spiritual growth. While God makes it
happen, His people are to engage in spiritual disciplines that put us in the
right place for His transforming work.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge. . . (2 Peter 1:5)
This verse affirms how any new Christian will want to
change. As faith develops, developing virtue begins to have more appeal. As virtue
grows, a desire to learn more about God will grow too. However, even ‘older’ Christians
must “work out our salvation” so as God works in me, I need to cooperate.
The devotional writer says this: You will find it less
easy to uproot faults — than to choke them by gaining virtues. That is, weed
the garden rather than trying to choke out the weeds by planting more flowers.
This applies to how I think about others and myself. I
cannot smother criticism with praise, yet it is helpful to weed it out by not dwelling
on my faults, and still less on the faults of others. In every person who comes
near, I should look for what is good and strong; honor that; rejoice in it, and
as I can, try to imitate it. He concludes that my faults (real or perceived) will
drop off, like dead leaves, when their time comes.
This is good advice. Yet there is one caveat. Should God give
me a perception of sin in my life or sin in the lives of others, these thoughts
are not to be dismissed or replaced by positive thinking. As Oswald Chambers
says in My Utmost for His Highest — “When we discern that people are not going
on spiritually and allow the discernment to turn to criticism, we block our way
to God. God never gives us discernment in order that we may criticize, but that
we may intercede.”
Lord, when I’m “tipped over” my discernment turns to a
critical spirit or becomes blind altogether. And I stop praying. Instead of
trying to balance this problem by my own efforts, I need to be filled with the Holy
Spirit. Otherwise, I will not and cannot use this gift as You intend. Today,
may I abide in Christ and confess any shortfall as it happens. Deepen my faith
in You.
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