Something I just realized today, and if you already knew this, please don’t spoil it for me, I need to learn it the hard way, if we hang around people who are not as good as we are at something, we begin to think we are better than they are. Before I go off and confuse myself or someone else, let me give an example.

In high school, I was able to choose some of my classes, and those I had to take, I could select the level of difficulty on some of them. Each year, I had some type of advanced class. Honors English, Biology, something like that. That sounds real good, maybe, but there were higher classes available (Advanced Placement). I purposely did not take the higher classes because I did not know whether I could handle them, and I figured I could look better on paper with the plain old Honors classes. Now, here is what you need to know (please don’t think I’m bragging, that comes in later): I allowed myself one B a year (math usually), I graduated 5th out of 185, and had a perfect GPA. I most likely could have handled the advanced placement classes. Because of my fear, and ego, I didn’t try. Since I was in the “easier” classes, I did better than some of the others. Now comes the point that I alluded to earlier. Because I did well in those classes, and others had trouble, I had a real good opportunity to look down on them. This was a rare occurrence then because God used my own shortcomings to keep my attitude in check.

Now that I am later in life, that superior attitude is a bigger threat, and I find it causing more internal conflict now. Since I don’t hang around people who have the same skills that I have on a regular basis, it becomes very easy for me to get that “I’m better than you are” attitude. Obviously, this is wrong, I don’t need to tell you that. This is mainly just a warning about a situation that you might or might not have thought of.

In Matthew 28:19-20, Jesus sends us out to share the gospel with all people. Jesus also told His followers that He came for the sick, not the healthy. Now, if He is sending us, those people we’re going to must be sicker than we are. Whether they are or not is not the issue, how we think of it is. If we start to think that we are better because we already know Jesus, we become like the Pharisees He warned His disciples about. We cannot think that we are better than anyone. Since we have to hang around others who may not be in as good as shape as we are, we must be careful to not let the feeling of superiority take hold.