Romans 12:3 I’m speaking to you out of deep gratitude for all that God has given me, and especially as I have responsibilities in relation to you. Living then, as every one of you does, in pure grace, it’s important that you not misinterpret yourselves as people who are bringing this goodness to God. No, God brings it all to you. The only accurate way to understand ourselves is by what God is and by what he does for us, not by what we are and what we do for him.  MSG

The Apostle Paul taught the believers in Romans 12:3 not to think of themselves more highly than they ought to, but rather think of themselves with sober judgment, according to the faith they had been granted by God. This verse can be summarized with only one short phrase: be humble. Paul also exhorted Christians to value others above themselves and to put others first.

Sober judgment requires humility, so we do not esteem ourselves higher than we should. Sober also means wakeful, which tells us we should be conscious not to boast, not to take pride in our accomplishments, and not to seek higher places or privileges.  

Jesus Christ is the greatest example of humility. Philippians 2:7–8 (NIV) portrays Jesus as the epitome of humility, for it states that Christ Jesus, “being in nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death on a cross”. What a way to demonstrate that Christ did not cling to His deity, but decided to be humble all the way to the cross! If Jesus did not make use of His authority and power, neither should we.

12:3-8 Pride is a sin in us by nature; we need to be cautioned and armed against it (Bible Hub). We must learn to be humble, to put others first, and to place their interests ahead of ours. This is, however, contrary to our sinful nature. We were born with a selfish and prideful nature, one that needs to be crucified. Every struggle we experience with another person must be faced with humility. We must face injustice with humility, but also with the assurance that he who is humble will be exalted.

But how can we overcome our own prideful nature? First, we must acknowledge and find those instances when we get angry. Anger is a sure indicator of being unwilling to yield our rights and not putting others first. Second, we need to ask the Holy Spirit to alert us and to convict us of sin. We can also ask a close family member to alert us as well. Then, we must arm our thoughts with the Word of God. Use Bible verses as visible reminders of how much our pride will get in God’s way. Let us decide not to stand in God’s way. We could hinder His purposes. This occurs because we do not recognize the importance of humility in Christian life. Learning to be humble is the greatest task we must understand.

Martin Luther King Jr. famously said, “Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic.” This complementarity between power and love is essential for justice and correcting everything that stands against love