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. For just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we, though many, form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Romans 12:3-6a
“If you have wealth, do not glory in it, nor in friends because they are powerful, but in God Who gives all things and Who desires above all to give Himself. Do not boast of personal stature or of physical beauty, qualities which are marred and destroyed by a little sickness. Do not take pride in your talent or ability, lest you displease God to Whom belongs all the natural gifts that you have. Do not think yourself better than others lest, perhaps, you be accounted worse before God Who knows what is in man. Do not take pride in your good deeds, for God’s judgments differ from those of men and what pleases them often displeases Him. If there is good in you, see more good in others, so that you may remain humble. It does no harm to esteem yourself less than anyone else, but it is very harmful to think yourself better than even one. The humble live in continuous peace, while in the hearts of the proud are envy and frequent anger.”
Thomas à Kempis in “Avoiding False Hope and Pride,” chapter 7 of The Imitation of Christ.
As we move to Romans, the next of Paul’s letters, we see that God generously supplies us with gifts by His grace alone. We must not be proud but glory in God, the giver of all good gifts.
And, as Thomas notes, we must not glory in wealth or those who are powerful. That happens a lot as charities approach the year-end giving season. Let me explain.
Too many ministries boast in their good deeds to try to convince people to give them money. Then they run to the powerful instead of the Powerful. The latter, of course is God, the Provider of all good gifts.
So, what’s this mean for us? It means that if we get to do good deeds as charities, don’t take any credit but give all glory to God. We must not think more highly of ourselves than we ought.
Instead, let’s simply celebrate everything we have to enjoy and share as gifts of grace. And, let us remain humble for this is the pathway to peace. Make it so, Lord Jesus, for each of us.