“In honor giving preference to one another.” Romans 12:10 NKJV
“When you are more empty of self, God has a life He can fill and use.”
My thoughts today are about “preferential treatment.”
Have you ever heard someone described as being “full of themselves?” That could describe a person so preoccupied with themselves that they have little room or thought for others. If you think that you are ever the center of the world, you must have a very small world revolving around you! It could also describe a person who lives as though what they think and say is the final, definitive word on any subject. If you should think differently or disagree with them, you are obviously thought to be wrong. They have little time for others’ opinions, nor need for another’s counsel. They think themselves “wise in their own eyes.” Proverbs 3:7 NIV. What a mistake!
The idea may be better expressed this way: the more full of yourself you are, the less room you have for anyone else, or even God. Conversely, when you are more empty of self, God has a life that He can fill and use. Paul prayed for the believers at Ephesus, “That Christ may dwell in your heart by faith . . that you may be filled with all of the fullness of God.” Ephesians 3:17-19. Can you even imagine what that promise would be like in your life?
John models the heart of the truly wise. When the followers of John the Baptist reported to him the growing popularity of Jesus’ ministry, he wisely responded, “He must increase; but I must decrease.” John 3:30. John was not “full of himself,” he wanted to be filled with Jesus. We would not be so insecure about decreasing, if we understand that Jesus will increase in and through us.
I think that there are two possible explanations. You may wrongly think yourself too valuable and important to become anything less than you think you are. Or just as wrongly, you may not understand who you really are in Christ, and be afraid that to lose anything of yourself may leave you even less than you feel you are already. Nothing could be further from the truth, when you are willing to lose yourself in God’s love. Jesus said, “For whoever will save his life will lose it; and whoever will lose his life for My sake will find it.” Matthew 16:25-26.
God says, “Be honest (and accurate) in your estimate of yourself, measuring your value by how much faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 NLT. The surrounding verses are all about giving yourself entirely to God, then receiving gratefully and sharing generously the gifts of personality and service that the Holy Spirit places in your life. The passage is all about emptying and filling, and then generously pouring out your new life in service to God and others, without reserve.
Humility is not thinking less of yourself than would be accurate. I think humility may simply be thinking more of others because you value them as God does. “In honor giving preference to one another,” is appreciating others more, not depreciating yourself.
My prayer for you today is that you will know what God believes about you.