Romans 12:3–8 (NIV)

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. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith; if it is serving, then serve; if it is teaching, then teach; if it is to encourage, then give encouragement; if it is giving, then give generously; if it is to lead, do it diligently; if it is to show mercy, do it cheerfully.

I follow this just fine when Paul says, “Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment,” but then he adds, “in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.” What does that mean?

I understand that faith is distributed to each of you. Our faith comes from God.

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast. — Ephesians 2:8–9 (NIV)

But how can my judgment of myself be in accordance with my faith?

The rest of this passage explains it. Notice that Paul makes the faith connection again in verse 6. If your gift is prophesying, then prophesy in accordance with your faith.

That one’s easier to understand. Any prophesy is by faith. It isn’t something you figured out; it’s illumination from God. So, when Paul says, “prophesy in accordance with your faith,” he’s saying your prophesying must be strictly what God gave you and not something clever you ginned up on your own. “Faith” here includes illumination.

That concept explains the first instance too. In this passage, “faith” means more than just belief; Paul is using it to refer to the whole package we received when we were saved.

And not everyone gets the same package. We have different gifts, according to the grace given to each of us. Thus, you shouldn’t think of yourself more highly than you ought. You need to think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you.

You’re on a team and the team needs you do the job your package enables you to do.

Our sinful nature gives us way too much self-focus. We’re prone to hot-dogging and showing off. That often gets in the way of the team goals.

Don’t get caught up in thinking how great your gifts are. Paul is commanding us to think soberly about our gifts so we can be valuable team members.

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