Under the influence

Romans 12:3
By the grace given me I say to everyone of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.

This verse is a far cry from the Gospel of Self-Help! The world tells us that you can think your way into something bigger than you really are. Even where there is genuine desire the world is there to make your desires greater than they should be.

This explains why people get in over their heads, they think of themselves more than they ought to and soon find themselves in debt, defeat and depression.

So Paul urges us not to live above our means. That's just plain common sense but its so dificult to adhere to sometimes.

I pose to you a simple question; 2 Corinthians 4:8 talks about how we are hard-pressed on every side, so why would we want to add more pressure on ourselves?

Today's verse helps us by telling us to think of ourselves with sober judgement. In other words, don't be drunk with the things of this world when you are evaluating yourself.

Think of how dangerous drunk driving is, then think of how much more dangerous is steering your life while intoxicated with the things of this world.

We are all under the influence. The question is, under the influence of what?