The Principle Of Evaluation: Assess Your Situation

The Principle of Evaluation: Assess Your Situation
by Rick Warren


“Do not think of your self more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.” Romans 12:3 (NIV)
"Do you believe you can change? Do you believe things can be different in your life?"

You can’t get to where you need to be until you first know where you are. That’s why, if you want to change anything in your life, Romans 12 says you need to humbly assess or evaluate your current state.

Now the reason I say humbly is because we don’t want to admit what’s not working in our lives. We don’t want to admit we’re in a hole or things aren’t working out. We don’t like to admit we need to change. We want to pretend we have it all together. That’s the barrier of pride.

Humility is the ingredient for change that will counter our pride. We have to start by admitting we don’t have it all together.

What are you pretending is not a problem in your life? Is it a problem in your marriage? An addiction? A problem with your body? Whatever it is, you need to start with an honest evaluation of yourself.

Change also takes faith. Do you believe you can change? Do you believe things can be different in your life? Ask yourself how much faith you will need in order to make the changes you want in your life. Is it more than you have right now? That’s evaluating the measure of your faith.

I want you to grow in your faith because without faith it is impossible to please God. I want you to grow in the measure of your faith, and I want you to set goals that are so big they force you to grow in faith.

Where will you get this faith to grow? Romans 10:13 says, “Faith comes from hearing the Word of God” (NIV). In other words, if you read the Bible more, then your faith will grow, then your trust in God will deepen, and then you will change.