Sowing into ourselves

Intro:

Last week we studies Romans 12:1-2, and found out that God expects to be committed Christians not Just any Christians but Committed Christians according to His guidelines.

Romans 12:1–2 ESV

1 I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. 2 Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.

So, Now that we have made the decided to be committed Christians by having our minds renewed and our lives transformed were do we go from here?

We have made the decision sow our seeds into God by being committed Christians, what’s next? We have to sow into ourselves.

How do we sow into ourselves?

By Thinking Rightly!!!

How do we Think Rightly? Paul answers these question in verses 3–8:

I. Thinking Rightly About Ourselves (v. 3) II. Thinking Rightly About Fellow Believers (vv. 4, 5) III. Thinking Rightly About Our Gifts (vv. 6–8)

I. Thinking Rightly About Ourselves (v. 3)

What do you think about your self? How are we to think about ourselves? In verse 3 Paul gives us an answer:

Romans 12:3 ESV

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.

Having an obscure thought about ourselves is and the universal tendency of the human race. Our nature love to over-think about ourselves.

This takes form in two ways

The first is we overestimate ourself, or you can call it bragging -- this is a person who tells you how smart he is, how much he is done, how strong he is, how rich he will be when he gets his big break; this person is a legend in their own mind.

“This person always gives the reason for all their bragging is if I don't believe in myself who will.”

There's also another form of bragging which is also caught lying...

There was a famous Professor at a train station where he met a man who came up to you I said Professor I am just a janitor for the house of the Lord. let me carry your bag I am nobody and you are a man with great gifts, The professor said to him you know what I think you're right. now that may sound humble but in reality what this man really wanted what's for the Professor to say no no you really are a great person and doing great work that man isn't and humble person he's a liar because he's looking for someone to tell him how great he is.

A second way is a person who does the opposite of overestimating, best self depreciate. these are people who are self-conscious about talking about themself as if tell no one. you have these people all the time that walks around it says that they're nobodies. which is also a bad way of thinking about yourself, it shows your lack of faith in God.

“ if God chose to come to Earth in human form to be persecuted beaten tortured killed because he loves you so much, why would you think he would have gone through all that for nobody.

But Paul tells us how to correctly think of ourselves, he says to think of yourselves with sober judgment… this means not overestimate yourself or not to depreciate yourself.

But Paul tells us how to correctly think of ourselves he says to think of yourselves with sober judgment… this means not overestimate yourself or not to depreciate yourself.

So then the question becomes how do we think of yourself with sober judgment? Two have judgment is to have sound judgment. not to be misinterpreted as having strong faith causes sound judgment but having our judgment set to the right standard.

See there's a lot of times that wash standards are set wrongly… when I say set wrong a lot of time our standards are set based on the world’s standards which leads to wrongly thinking or we compared our worth two others.

see what Paul is asking believers to do is not to measure their self according to man and this world but that each believer is the set of standard of faith bye-bye which he measures got to self and that standard is Christ.

II. Thinking Rightly About Fellow Believers (vv. 4, 5)

We move from thinking rightly about ourselves, to thinking right about fellow believers.

Romans 12:4–5 ESV

4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.

there's a keyword in here and it is “ just” because it links verse 4 and 3 together, when we start to think right about ourselves with Christ as the standard we are able to rightly think about other believers in the body of Christ.

There are three things I want to point out quickly in Vs 4 and 5,

first, we will see Unity, vs25 stresses the point that we are all members of one body. you can make a case of that being weird or mysterious how is it that we're all so different but yet and still we are all apart of one body, but it is real. This is not a suggestion or an illustration that we all should live or try to live as a close-knit community, it describes our reality that if you trust in Christ for your salvation that you are a part of his body. we share the same nature.

2 Peter 1:4 ESV

4 by which he has granted to us his precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire.

John 15:5 LEB

5 “I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me and I in him—this one bears much fruit, for apart from me you are not able to do anything.

our Unity is the subject of Christ”s prayers to the father, He is our high priest.

2. we see diversity... these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body.

Diversity is not uniformity it is the mark of God's handiwork. diversity is everywhere it is a part of God's plan, and more than any other place is shows and the Christian Community. In the Christian Community, we have the first man that grew up with different parents, in different environments oh, different experiences. not only have they experienced things differently before but even after joining the Christian Community, they have been endowed by God with a great variety of spiritual gifts as well. And Yet because of all that diversity, bacon all cooperate for the good of the whole.

God’s glory is revealed in the diversity of his people. This means that as we measure ourselves by Christ’s standard we will be ourselves. Being in Christ’s Body will maximize our uniqueness if we allow such.

Of course, we must also be careful to allow others to be themselves. It is always a danger signal when members of a Christian organization or a church begin to all dress and act like the leader—combing their hair like him, standing like him, talking like him. When the Spirit of God is free to work in a church, there is diversity.

3. Finally, we must not stress this truth of diversity without grasping the balancing truth of our mutuality: “each member belongs to all the others” (v. 5b).

this is a beatiful thing , Each of us belongs to and needs the others. The church is no place for lone rangers. If your life seems stuck even though you read your Bible and pray, it may be that you are neglecting getting together with other believers and are depriving yourself of the exchange necessary for spiritual growth (cf. the significance of “together with all the saints” in Ephesians 3:18).

How beautiful this all is. Those who think rightly about themselves, measuring themselves by the standard which God has given them in their faith, discern the one body and recognize that they do not exist for themselves. As a result, they are free to develop and use their gifts

III. Thinking Rightly About Our Gifts (vv. 6–8)

We have different gifts, according to the grace given us. If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith. If it is serving, let him serve; if it is teaching, let him teach; if it is encouraging, let him encourage; if it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously; if it is leadership, let him govern diligently; if it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully. (vv. 6–8)

In thinking rightly about our gifts, we must consider a few simple truths: 1) We all have gifts. No Christian is left out. You may not have one of those specifically mentioned here (though you probably do), but you do have at least one spiritual gift. 2) This list is not exhaustive. First Corinthians 12:27, 28 lists several others. Some tabulate fifteen gifts listed in Scripture, others nineteen. I personally think that the Scriptural lists do not purport to be exhaustive. 3) Gifts are not to be utilized as a “Christian Zodiac.” “There’s a Leo, there’s a Pisces, there’s an administrator, there’s a teacher, there’s an Aquarius.” Such pigeon-holing can be spiritually stifling, especially when matched with an inaccurate understanding of the gifts. Many who have fallen to this type of thinking stumble by the wayside when they fail to measure up to false expectations. Instead, we must understand that spiritual “gifts” or “graces,” as verse 6 calls them, are personally administered by the Holy Spirit in varying degrees and styles and should be simply, soberly, and unostentatiously exercised by the Spirit.

Paul tell us how to use seven of these graces. Verse 6b says, “If a man’s gift is prophesying, let him use it in proportion to his faith.” The gift of prophecy is sometimes predictive, but not necessarily or primarily. This gift is normally the communication of revealed truth in a manner that convicts and builds up its hearers. Oftentimes one who has this gift will have penetrating things to say about specific problems in society or life. One is to do this “in proportion to his faith” looking, as we saw in verse 3, to Christ as his standard or measure.

Next Paul says, “If it is serving, let him serve” (v. 7a).“Serving” is the same word from which we derive the word deacon, and it refers to the variety of services that deacons and deaconesses perform in the Church. The one who serves is to exercise his gift to the fullest—giving himself wholeheartedly to the work, just as Philip and his friends did in Acts 6.

Next is the grace of teaching: “If it is teaching, let him teach” (v. 7b). Teaching differs from prophecy in that it instructs the mind, whereas prophecy is addressed more to the heart and will. Teaching is more concerned with knowledge, prophecy with revelation. The teacher is to apply his all to the task. Dr. Barnhouse asks some piercing questions of those who have this calling:

Have I listened to His voice? Have I laid my own reason in the dust before Him in order to take it again, enlightened by Him, for use in my work? Have I been spiritually alert and dependent upon the Holy Spirit? Have I gone again and again to the Word of God to refresh my own soul before speaking to others? Have I tried to live what I preach? Have I acknowledged my sins when the Lord showed them to me, and repented of them? Have I recognized moment by moment my utter dependence upon the Lord? Have I been lazy? Have I been diligent? Have I insulted the Lord by feeding His sheep with ill-prepared food?

These are sobering questions—the kind we should ask ourselves in respect to all our gifts.

Then there is the grace of exhortation: “If it is encouraging, let him encourage” (v. 8a). The root idea is “to come alongside and encourage.” I see this exemplified every time my church has a roller skating party, and the parents put their little ones on skates for the first time. Mom and Dad skate with their child, holding on to his or her hands, sometimes with the child’s feet on the ground and sometimes in the air. But all the time the parents are alongside encouraging. Exhortation can take many forms—warning, advice, counsel, encouragement. It is a wonderful gift, and we are to place it at Christ’s feet and be willing to be worn out in its use.

Next is the grace of giving: “If it is contributing to the needs of others, let him give generously” (v. 8b). “Generously” should be translated “with simplicity.” This refers to our motive in giving. Those who have this gift are to exercise it without ulterior motives or hidden purposes, simply out of love. This is where Ananias and Sapphira failed. When we give, it is to be simply to the glory of God and to meet the needs of brothers and sisters in Christ in the world. A pastor under whom I served for years had a man in his congregation who gave only once a year—$10 which he placed in the pastor’s hand saying, “This is for the church.” He wanted to make sure he got credit for his generous gift!

Then there is the grace of leadership: “If it is leadership, let him govern diligently” (v. 8c). Those who exercise spiritual leadership in the church, whether pastors or elders or deacons or committee leaders, are not to “wing it.” Leaders should not become casual and careless but should see their abilities as divinely granted gifts and their charges as from God.

Lastly, there is the grace of showing mercy: “If it is showing mercy, let him do it cheerfully” (v. 8d). This gift takes many forms—aiding the poor, working with the mentally handicapped, tending the ill. But whatever the function, it must be done with cheer. The English word hilarious originated from the Greek word translated “cheerfully.” There is no room for a hangdog expression in the Church. Someone has written, “If you come with sympathy to sorrow, bring God’s sunlight in your face.”

Seven beautiful graces, are they not? Perfumes for the Body of Christ. If Paul’s advice were followed, think how healthy the Church would be. Perhaps God is speaking to you about your gifts. Remember, the Church did not give you your gifts—God did. They are his. Use them for his glory!

How is our thinking today?

Are we thinking rightly about ourselves according to the standard we have learned in knowing Christ? Or are we thinking too highly of ourselves—comparing ourselves with others so we look good? If so, we need to look to Christ. “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:3).

Are we thinking rightly about other believers? Is the Body a reality to us? Its unity? Its diversity? Its mutuality?

Finally, how is our thinking about the gifts the Holy Spirit has given to us? Are we using them? If not, why not?

Romans 12:3–8 ESV

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. 4 For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, 5 so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another. 6 Having gifts that differ according to the grace given to us, let us use them: if prophecy, in proportion to our faith; 7 if service, in our serving; the one who teaches, in his teaching; 8 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.