Measure Yourself Fairly

Deuteronomy 23:1-27:26

“You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large and a small. You shall not have in your house, two kinds of measures, a large and a small. A full and fair weight you shall have, a full and fair measure you shall have, that your days may be long in the land that the LORD your God is giving you. For all who do such things are an abomination to the LORD your God.” Deuteronomy 25:13-16

Last Sunday morning I learned something about God I didn’t really know before. He hates an “I don’t deserve it” attitude.

I had just finished warming up with the praise band and we were taking our break before service when I felt the Holy Spirit calling me into a secluded little cubby at the front of the sanctuary. As I entered I simply fell to my knees I was so overwhelmed by His presence and love. While down on the floor He spoke to me of my position in this new church and in the world. And like every other time He has spoken to me of my calling I have answered with a “Me LORD? Really?” as in to say, “isn’t there someone else out there more qualified? Better suited? You know, someone who knows what in the world You’re talking about.” And when He answered me I could feel the heat of His anger burning against me in a way that made me giggle with glee. (Yeah, I know, weird right? But it’s true!) He said,

“I hate it when you use false humility to deny yourself My blessings made available through Christ. You are RIGHTEOUS. It’s a gift. Receive it! And everything that comes with it. I am so sick and tired of your false humility! Stop that! If I say that you are, then you are. You are made in My image. You’ve ALWAYS been made in My righteous image. You are My CHILD. ACT LIKE IT!”

Then I immediately thought of Romans 12:3 “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.”

You see there’s this principle in life where if something is true, then the opposite is also true. So if we are not to think of ourselves more highly than we ought, then the opposite is also true. We should not think of ourselves more lowly than we ought. But rather, to think of ourselves with “sober judgment” (or a sound mind) according to the measure of faith that God has given us.

In this verse God has given us a measuring stick with which to judge ourselves, our amount of faith. And where does it say that that faith comes from? “God has assigned” it. The scripture goes on to say,

“for as in one body we have many members and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; the one who exhorts, in his exhortation; the one who contributes, in generosity; the one who leads, with zeal; the one who does acts of mercy, with cheerfulness.” (Romans 12:4-8)

You see, we’re all different. And we’re all different for a REASON; to perform different functions. Some people were just made to be hands; generous in everything they do, giving to a fault. While others were made to be mouths; they just can’t help talking about Jesus and what He’s done and who He is. Then there are others that were made to be feet; going where others wouldn’t dream, doing what others are too afraid to do, seeing what some just couldn’t face. We all have our parts to play in this dance we call life. And I can look at those hands and those feet and think to myself, “I should be more like them”, but I would be fooling myself. Can a foot talk? Can a mouth walk? The thought is preposterous, but it’s the truth. You’ve got to be who God made you to be, do what God made you to do, say what God made you to say.

One day, a lawyer asked Jesus, “Teacher, which is the great commandment in the Law?” And Jesus said, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew 22:34-40)

I ask you, how can you fully love your neighbor if you can’t even love yourself? And how can you love yourself if you don’t know who you really are, who were you created to be? And how can you know who you were created to be if you’re never talking to your creator and reading His Word?

And that, my friends, is precisely what we’re spending the rest of the year working on! We are spending time in God’s word, digging around for the Treasure of the Truth of who YOU really are. How? By finding out who HE is! Remember, we’re made in His image. But it will only be as effective as you allow it to be. If you’re not searching your Bible every day for clues, there’s a high likelihood you’ll miss one. His word is alive and active, sharper than a double-edged sword, and filled with POWER beyond your wildest imagination. So let’s get in there and see what we can find for ourselves!