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This message from Apostle Paul may very well have offended some to whom it was directed, but we must take it as a warning in our lives, particularly as it pertains to our spiritual life. Those that would have been offended, would have been those who had already became self righteous by looking around at those close to them in their daily life, and judging themselves by themselves to be better. God through Solomon, in Proverbs 20:6, wrote “Most men will proclaim every one his own goodness: But a faithful man who can find?”

It is a trap to compare ourselves with a self righteous group, and to measure ourselves amongst ourselves. We see proof of this with a good local sportsman, who may consider himself and even be declared by other local people as the best. When he goes to compete in a regional scene or world scene, suddenly he is not even in the race. What a disappointment if he set himself up as the best, in his mind.

The farmer who breeds a top animal and takes out championship prizes at his local show, when he exhibits country wide, can often be very disappointed when he starts to measure his animal against a broader range. Suddenly his animal is not up to the standard.

Apostle Paul writes that God has provided for us a measure that we measure ourselves with, and this measure is the life and teachings of our Lord Jesus. If we take up this measure in all honesty, we begin to see we are no where up to standard.

If we look further into the world, behind the main events, and see the effort made by others to perform the workings of Christ, suddenly we see also the mistake in only measuring ourselves by ourselves. Job, when he reflected on this with an open heart, came to the conclusion in Job 9:20, “If I justify myself, mine own mouth shall condemn me: If I say I am perfect, it shall also prove me perverse.”

Let us take time to find all the details of this measure that God has given, Christ. So we can begin to be honest in our measuring. As we do this we will soon come to the conclusion that we dare not make ourselves of the number, but come to the realization as written by Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians 8:9, “For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich.”

It is the only way we will be numbered by God. By the Grace of Christ.