Romans 12:16– Being disposed and not prudent with self

…being mutually disposed to one another, not being disposed to that which is high but being led away to the humble. Do not come to pass for prudent with yourselves.

As in verse 3, Paul also plays three times in this verse with the word for ‘disposition’ (Gr. phroneo): mindful, sensible and willful. First of all, the importance of sharing the same disposition. unity. That goes deeper than just holding the same views. Unity is an attitude of love for the truth. Where that love is shared one will find each other, as there is only one truth. This is in contrast to the lie that is constantly mutating.

Another aspect of disposition is that one does not cherish higher ambitions than the capacities that God allots. In other words: that one wants to pretend to be more learned, richer, more skilled, etc. than one is. The good alternative is to join the humble. Whether Paul is thinking of humble people or things is hard to say, but it does indicate an attitude of simplicity. A mark of the true.

Quirkiness is at odds with all of this. That is a mentality in which the ‘I’ comes to the fore in stubbornness and egocentrism. Then people consider themselves very important. There is no greater misunderstanding…

Delen: