Live in harmony with one another. Do not be haughty, but associate with the lowly. Never be wise in your own sight. (ESV)

Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. (NIV) 

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! (NLT)

Dive Deeper:

In reading through the latter half of Romans 12:16, often titled the “Marks of the True Christian”, I found it interesting that almost all of the attributes revolve around how we treat people. Maybe this is to say that being a Christian is less about fixating inward and instead having an outward and upward facing posture. The more we think about Christ and the people around us, the less time we have to fall into sin and the habits we seek to fix. And this is true humility, not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less often, as C.S. Lewis says. We see the idea of focusing up and out all over scripture. Maybe most clearly we find this idea in Matthew 22:37-40: 

And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” 

When you fix your eyes on Christ and those around you, you walk in obedience to the rest of God’s commands. Having this idea in the back of our minds is important as we look closer into this verse. By first looking to Christ, we see others how He sees them—we see how He walked among us, seeking to serve rather than be served. To imitate Jesus well, pride and conceit will be the massive barriers to overcome on the path of humility, gentleness, and harmony with others. Pride and conceit places yourself high enough above others to where you would even consider labeling someone as lowly. If we remind ourselves that Jesus—the man with the highest status that ever walked the face of the earth—associated himself with the lowest of society, we will remember that we are the lowly. There is no difference between us and our neighbor. And even with all the authority and power and majesty that Jesus has, He Himself says that He is gentle and lowly. 

Living humbly and gently isn’t a path of weakness, powerlessness, or joylessness. But it actually is the path that brings the most life and freedom! How many hours do we spend trying to impart our will over others or worrying about how we appear to our neighbor. Self-forgetfulness is better! It frees you of yourself and allows you to live in the good and perfect design that God intended. We are made to glorify our King, not ourselves. So when time is spent on ourselves, we feel that something is off—it isn’t as gratifying as we think it should be. The happiest people I know are the ones that in conversation spend more time asking questions than talking about themselves. They’re the ones who love serving others rather than themselves. They are humble and gentle in spirit. These attributes are compelling—you want to be around these people. 

So, how much better off would the world be if each of us lived out this verse in our workplace, our homes, and our communities? Live in harmony, don’t be proud, don’t distinguish yourself above others, and don’t think you know it all. We can’t control how others live and behave, but we can begin living like this ourselves. It starts by looking up to the One who came down to us. 

Written by Keaton Hewitt 

Challenge:

In your conversations with your significant other, your family, your coworkers, and your friends this week, be mindful of how much of the conversation is focused on you. What does this reveal to you?