As your cart rounds the end of the aisle at Walmart and someone is sailing across your path do you go first, or do you let them go first? Does it depend on who it is? Does that always turn out the way you think it should? Why am I asking these questions? I’ll tell you why. Because there is a certain way you perceive yourself in contrast to other people.
You may believe you are more important than others or you may think of yourself as less important than others, maybe even entirely unimportant. Your self-perception has a major impact on your daily activities and your relationships. Most importantly, it can harm your relationship with God to think of yourself with too much esteem (or entitlement to use a more modern term). Too little esteem can also harm your walk with God.
The Bible warns against both extremes. Romans 12:3 describes an over-inflated ego.
For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.
When you think of yourself more highly than you really ought to, people will tend to distance themselves from you. You start acting like you are entitled to special treatment. When you don’t get it, you are disappointed and resentful. And when you believe you deserve special treatment from God, you and God have a problem.
Likewise, when you think you are worthless, good for nothing, then you are insulting the God who created you. God doesn’t make junk. You are precious in His sight and important to Him but not more important than the person at the end of the isle, whom God also created. Use “sound judgment” when assessing who you are and the value you hold in comparison to others. By grace you are what you are, I Corinthians 15:10.
