The Prison of Prideful Thinking

In the first two verses of Romans 12, Paul implored us to make our bodies into living sacrifices. He argued that this was a logical response to who God is, given how he had described him in Romans 11.  Paul was making the case that the continual, daily sacrifices in our lives – as marked by godly and reasoned physical choices – count as religious service to God. His point was that what we do with our bodies, reflects our spiritual state, which largely flows from how we think. He then strongly asserted that how we think protects us from being pressed into the godless mold of a world that hates God (Romans 12:2). In fact, how we think, according to Paul, allows us to discern the will of God and to know what is good and acceptable in light of that will. 

With that background in mind, Paul then immediately warns believers at Rome to manage their thinking so that they remain humble and avoid falling prey to one of the worst sins ever – pride (Romans 12:3)! And he models for them a powerful theological truth. He says “by the grace given to me, don’t think more highly of yourself then you ought to think (Romans 12:3).” The word grace in the bible usually refers to an unmerited favor given to someone by God. Paul recognized that he hadn’t done anything to merit God’s favor, and he wasn’t so prideful that he couldn’t admit that. He understood that God simply gave that grace to him out of his endless spring of perfect and divine love.  Having left the life of a Pharisee, Paul was no longer interested in trying to establish his own righteousness (Romans 10:3).  That would be an affront to God, and frankly silly since God is immeasurably above him, so he rejected all of his religious accomplishments as a Pharisee, which he now saw as garbage, and instead considered himself to be the chief of sinners (Philippians 3:3-8, 1 Timothy 1:15). Paul adopted a more accurate view of himself in relation to a completely holy and perfect God, and this allowed him to function as a mature follower of Christ. Paul wanted the individual believers in the church at Rome to have an accurate view of themselves, and for that view to be commensurate with the faith God had assigned to each of them. Trusting God through that assigned faith instead of through whatever talent they thought they might have would hedge against an evil pride that is always lurking in the human mind.

Not only was there a spiritual reason for why Paul wanted them to manage their thinking, but also a practical one, because he goes on to discuss how in a faith community that we all function as one body with different jobs.  If our pride becomes embedded in the job we’re doing, then there will be confusion, drama, disdain, contempt, resentment, and a general lack of love.  So Paul is saying, “check yourself before you wreck yourself!”  But even more profoundly, he wants them to think humbly so that they don’t wreck the community to which they belong. Right thinking about who you are in relation to God protects you from falling prey to the cancer of pride, and spreading it through the faith community where you operate. 

Although Paul doesn’t mention it in Romans 12, Pride will also keep you from the altar, the baptism pool, the job you think is lowly, the forgiveness you really need to ask for, the forgiveness you need to give, the love you need to receive, or the love you need to grace upon someone. So, be sure to always manage how you think, and keep every thought captive to obey Christ (2 Corinthians 10:5).