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More Highly

              For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the faith God has distributed to each of you. (Romans 12:3)

                The Woke community agrees with Scripture on this point. We should not think more highly of ourselves than we should. Of course, they go on to claim that no matter how moderate our impression of ourselves is, as white people, it’s too high. They hold that their opinion of themselves is exactly as it should be, granting them the right and authority to dictate to everyone on the subject. Of course, they aren’t the only ones. They’re just the current “Victorians.”

                There are others who see not thinking of ourselves more highly than  as thinking of ourselves as the epitome of worthlessness and failure. Instead of Mount Everest (or Olympus Mons) we claim the Mariana Trench. In some cases, we think we’re humble. In other cases, we hate ourselves, possibly due to some form of perfectionism. Being a worm is no better than being a 21st Century Victorian.

                To be blunt, I’m not sure there’s that much difference between wormism, Victorianism, wokism, racism, and transgenderism. Add whatever other -isms or ideologies you wish. In each case, the victim or adherent (depending on your perspective) is failing to see him/herself as he/she is. In other words, they are not using sober judgment.

                So, what might constitute sober judgment?

Created in the image of God

Saved by the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ

Beloved of God

Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses

Given the gift of the Holy Spirit

Crafted in our mothers’ wombs

Child of the King

One of the sheep of His pasture

                I’m sure there are others we could find in Scripture. Feel free to add them. But these are the things we need to be telling ourselves when we’re tempted to think too highly or too lowly about ourselves. 

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