Romans 12:3-8

I love to sing.  I wanted to sing so badly, I sometimes pressured others to sing with me.  I knew I was not good enough to sing along, but I thought that with a good duet partner it was acceptable.  I did not realize that I sang so badly that they did not want to sing with me.  Being autistic, I did not recognize the nonverbal clues they were giving me.  For me to understand, they would have had to be very blunt and plainspoken.  Because they were too nice to speak the truth clearly, I never realized just how bad my singing was, that is until I heard a recording; I was 59 years old at the time.  I would like to think that my failure to recognize the truth was not because I ignored it.  However, in reality, making a sober judgment about ourselves is hard to do.  That is why bad singers continue to sing, poor preachers continue to preach and unqualified teachers continue to teach.

A Christian has the Holy Spirit to help them.  However, sober judgment will cause us to realize that the Holy Spirit does not change reality.  The Holy Spirit helps us to reach our full potential, but He does not make us qualified to do everything we want to do.  The Holy Spirit helps us to do the things that are right for us to do.  It would not be right for the church if everyone wanted to do everything.  It is also not right when someone wants to do nothing.  We all should think soberly/seriously about our strengths and our weaknesses.  We should search out what it is and where it is God wants us to work for his kingdom.  We should not do just those tasks that we find glorifying or enjoyable.  We should search out God’s will for our life and do those things that He finds good and pleasing.  Righteousness is not limited to our relationship with God; we must be right with the truth about ourselves.