The saints at Corinth had their share of spiritual weaknesses.  They suffered from pride, a lack of love for each other, promoting division (due to their exaltation of man) and a willingness to tolerate sin.  Fortunately, after receiving a needed rebuke by Paul, by way of the epistle of 1 Corinthians, many of the saints repented (2 Corinthians 7:8-9).

Unfortunately, not all the saints at Corinth had a change of heart.  There were still those who allowed Satan to set up a stronghold in their minds (2 Corinthians 10:4-6), leading them to continue in sin, some of whom were even disguising themselves as apostles of Christ (2 Corinthians 11:13).

Of all the weaknesses that these brethren had, one would almost certainly go unnoticed by many, but not by Paul.  

2 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)
¹²  Not that we dare to classify or compare ourselves with some of those who are commending themselves. But when they measure themselves by one another and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

We see first that they continued to be plagued by pride.  Anytime we make a habit of commending ourselves, we have a problem.  Paul once said, “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself” (Galatians 6:3). 

Why were these brethren so quick to commend themselves?  The easy answer is that they were simply arrogant, but look more closely at what Paul says here.  These saints made the classic mistake of measuring and comparing themselves by and with one another.  That almost always leads to disaster spiritually because it causes one to live below God’s standard of righteousness.

Even the best and most spiritual among us are spiritually poor.  Paul paints a picture of us that we all must come to terms with if we are to avoid making the mistake of measuring each other by one another.  

Romans 3:9-12 (ESV)
⁹  What then? Are we Jews any better off? No, not at all. For we have already charged that all, both Jews and Greeks, are under sin, ¹⁰  as it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; ¹¹  no one understands; no one seeks for God. ¹²  All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.”

Paul is showing that none of us are good enough without Christ.  We all fall short of the glory of God (Romans 3:23).  Why, then, would we want to use one another as a standard of righteousness by which to compare and measure ourselves?  That is a very bad idea.  What we must do is measure ourselves by the Word of God.

John 12:48 (ESV)
⁴⁸  The one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge; the word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day.

It is easy to look good in our own eyes when the standard we are measuring ourselves by is sinful man.  That might make us feel good about ourselves, but it will not help us make it to heaven.  Let us measure ourselves by God’s Word and then make any corrections in our lives that it guides us to make.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things