Recently I went bowling with a group of people. A group where my 100 score (out of a possible 300) looked rather good. None of us were regular bowlers, so compared to them, I was on top.
Had I been with some "real" bowlers... I'm sure my opinion of my abilities would have been much different.
It's easy to think more highly of ourselves if we are a "big fish in a small pond."
The same could be said of our Christian witness. How are we living out our faith?
If we compare ourselves to what we see in the world, we can easily begin to get an inflated opinion of who we are. After all we don't ________ (fill in the blank,) so we come out rather well in comparison.
That is one of the reasons it is good to examine ourselves, not in comparison to the world, or to anyone else for that matter. But to examine ourselves in light of scripture.
Reading Galatians today.
"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. Those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires. Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit." Gal 5:22-25 (NIV)
I don't know about you, but when I "score" myself according to these verses, I realize I still have far to go.
