- Joined
- Apr 25, 2006
- Messages
- 18,404
Understanding Your Capabilities
‘Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities.’ Romans 12:3 PHPS
It can be hard to remain positive at times. Television, newspapers and social media can create such a climate of fear and depression, it clogs up your ability to say ‘yes’ to things that are uplifting. Yet when we treasure the ways of God, and decide to become firmly grounded in Him, we have to prepare ourselves to say ‘no’ to those things in life that don’t match up to His Word and His ways. In today’s world, that can be so difficult.
The Bible says: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ (Romans 12:2 NIV) This ‘renewing of your mind’ is a process that only God can bring about in us. It is a work that enables us to ‘have a sane estimate’ of our capabilities. If we surrender to Him, God will replace the ‘exaggerated ideas’ we have about ourselves—whether they are overestimations or underestimations—with realistic and reasonable understandings of our own strengths and weaknesses. He provides us with the tools of freedom so we can be liberated from pride about ourselves and also from hypercriticism about ourselves.
God wants to use us to make a real difference in the world. But it’s important to learn to ‘take captive’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV) those thoughts that would say otherwise. This will never mean we should end up being full of ourselves. No. Knowing who we are in God will mean we’re full of Him; not full of ourselves. We should be ready to point others His way.
written by Bob Gass
‘Don’t cherish exaggerated ideas of yourself or your importance but try to have a sane estimate of your capabilities.’ Romans 12:3 PHPS
It can be hard to remain positive at times. Television, newspapers and social media can create such a climate of fear and depression, it clogs up your ability to say ‘yes’ to things that are uplifting. Yet when we treasure the ways of God, and decide to become firmly grounded in Him, we have to prepare ourselves to say ‘no’ to those things in life that don’t match up to His Word and His ways. In today’s world, that can be so difficult.
The Bible says: ‘Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.’ (Romans 12:2 NIV) This ‘renewing of your mind’ is a process that only God can bring about in us. It is a work that enables us to ‘have a sane estimate’ of our capabilities. If we surrender to Him, God will replace the ‘exaggerated ideas’ we have about ourselves—whether they are overestimations or underestimations—with realistic and reasonable understandings of our own strengths and weaknesses. He provides us with the tools of freedom so we can be liberated from pride about ourselves and also from hypercriticism about ourselves.
God wants to use us to make a real difference in the world. But it’s important to learn to ‘take captive’ (2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV) those thoughts that would say otherwise. This will never mean we should end up being full of ourselves. No. Knowing who we are in God will mean we’re full of Him; not full of ourselves. We should be ready to point others His way.
written by Bob Gass
