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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 (Romans 12:3).

Based on the \u2018Therefore\u2019\u2026 which marks the beginning of Romans 12, many believe this chapter shifts the nature of the letter. Some have made the observation that the first 11 chapters are theology while the rest of the letter is the application. It\u2019s my opinion that theology and application are not so easily divided. Surely chapter 8, which is beloved by so many Christians, is beloved because it resonates with the heart. That chapter holds profound theology and application that cannot be separated from each other.

One thing is sure, the emphasis in this entire letter is the mercy of God poured out in Jesus Christ. One major application is that this stream of mercy is rich and powerful enough to overcome the long-standing division between Jew and Gentile. Since, both Jew and Gentile are now part of this new thing called the church, how does that mercy enable us to live together? That, I think, is the real burden that chapter 12 introduces. Paul wants us to take a good long look at that mercy, so that it saturates our beings like water a sponge. And as a full sponge just leaks water, so he wants the followers of Jesus to just leak mercy.

But where to begin? Well, by offering our bodies as living sacrifices, of course. And since our bodies are controlled by our minds, our minds need renewing. Understand, that Paul is not making a neat modern division between mind, body and soul. The Bible sees us humans as holistic beings. Its better to think of the mind as our control centre, so it\u2019s a good place to start the renewal. Remember, that God is the one who, through his Word and Spirit, is doing the work of transforming us. But since we participate, it is helpful to know what God is up to.

And so, in our verse for today, we are told to think properly about ourselves: \u201cDo not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment.\u201d Arrogant people love to tell you how well educated they are, they focus on how much they have accomplished or acquired, and they can\u2019t hear a story without having to top it. They know more, travel farther, work harder, and play better \u2014 and they are never, ever wrong. As Christians, we are not to act this way. We are not to imply or think that we are better than others. Is this not the issue that divides our world so violently today? Some of us think that we are better than others; more deserving of the world\u2019s resources. Elsewhere, Paul has made it clear that he used to think about himself that way. He used to be all puffed up about his Jewishness; not anymore.

On the other hand, Paul is not telling us to think terrible thoughts about ourselves; as if we are no good for anything. We may be broken but we are God\u2019s great treasure on this earth. We have been given adoption papers that provide us the honour of being called children of God (8:14-17). This is cause for celebration, not self-condemnation. We are to have a balanced, sensible, realistic view of ourselves. In other words, we are to see ourselves as God sees us, not in comparison to others. He sees us as his redeemed instruments of mercy. And that is what we are. We are to become servants in the world, not doormats.

All who believe in Jesus have received God\u2019s mercy. We are sponges full of that mercy, walking through this world pouring out the mercy upon others. This is the sober judgement we ought to have about ourselves: we are God\u2019s instruments of mercy. And we don\u2019t need to worry about running out. God\u2019s mercy knows no limits: as we give, God fills us up again. As Jesus said, \u201cBlessed are the merciful, for they will receive mercy.\u201d

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