"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 measure of faith God has given you" (Romans 12:3 NIV).
Sometimes we over estimate ourselves. At other times we under estimate ourselves. Paul instructs us to be balanced in our evaluation of who we are and the strengths (gifts) we have. We need to understand ourselves (how we are wired), but must do so carefully. I like how The Message reads: "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."
When it comes to our spiritual gifts that God has given us, we must remember that to be effective they must be used interdependently, not independently. Again, Paul wrote: "Just as each of us has one body with many members, and these members do not all have the same function, so in Christ we who are many form one body, and each member belongs to all the others. We have different gifts, according to the grace given us" (Romans 12:4-6 NIV).
What good is our toe if it is not attached to our body? What good would our thumb be if it were not attached to the hand? And what good is a hand if it is cut off and lying on the ground somewhere. So also our gifts. They are useless if not connected with the rest of the body of Christ (church).
Paul goes on to list some spiritual gifts in this passage in Romans 12. They are: prophesying, serving, teaching, encouraging, giving, leadership, and mercy.
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