Romans 12:3 “For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” [NIV]
My senior year of college some of my girlfriends and I thought it would be a great idea to take a road trip from Delaware, Ohio, to the Kentucky Derby. None of us had been there before but it seemed like a cool item to add to our résumé of adventures, and in those days being thought of as cool sounded pretty appealing.
The first thing I noticed when we arrived were the long, long lines. I had never seen bathroom lines that extensive! I began to panic, thinking of the predicament I would be in if I had to go.
As you may have figured out, those long lines were not people waiting to go to the bathroom. They consisted of people waiting to bet. On horses. Who knew? Obviously, we thought we knew what we were getting ourselves into, but we didn’t have a clue. We assumed people went to watch the horses race, not bet on which one would win! Our coolness factor took a pretty big hit that day. Naivety and coolness just don’t go together.
I guess we all experience those times when our estimation of ourselves exceeds our knowledge and capabilities. Scripture warns us not to think more highly of ourselves than we should. I recently heard a sermon on the importance of having a teachable spirit. It requires cultivating a humble heart, one not threatened by corrections or suggestions. Ecclesiastes 4:13 says, “Better a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer takes advice.” I don’t ever want to get to the place where I think I know it all. Where I replace sober judgment and honest self-assessment with pride. You probably don’t either.
Well, I’m not as naïve as I was in college, and I’m still not very cool. But that’s ok. I’ve found something better to pursue. I’m going after a humble heart, one filled with grace. Will I ever let conceit and vanity get in the way? Perhaps, but as long as the Holy Spirit helps me, I wouldn’t bet on it!