The Grands Letter

Dear, Dear Grands,

Romans 12:3, “For through the grace given to me I say to every man

among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think;

but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each

a measure of faith.”

There’s a story told of a young man who was scheduled to preach in a church.

He was seated by an old preacher and strode confidently to the pulpit

when his time came. But his confidence was misplaced and he stumbled

and fumbled and forgot a lot of what he intended to say. Humiliated, he

dropped his head as he left the rostrum and slumped in the seat by the older

preacher. “Son,” the older man said, “if you’d gone up in the way you

came down, you’d have come down the way you went up.” Paul’s writings

are often hard to understand, but they are packed full of practical instructions.

We need to be careful not to be overconfident about any of our God-given

abilities. At the same time, we need to be confident that through the LORD

we can do whatever it is He calls us to do. My pastor used to say, “We’re

‘not to think more highly of (ourselves) than (we) ought to think,’ but we

are to think that highly.” There’s a balance between “I can do that!” and

“I can’t do that.” Notice in the verse how faith plays the vital role.

Love you all! Go do it!

Nana & Dado III

Gene L. Jeffries, Th.D.

Springdale, Arkansas