“For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” (Galatians 6:3)

Paul issues this warning as part of his closing commands to the Galatians, urging them to serve one another and bear one another’s burdens. He confronts the pride that disguises itself as maturity and sustains itself through constant comparison. It is an immaturity that contradicts the image of Christ. This kind of self-regard is not spiritual strength. 

The self-deception Paul refers to forms when a man builds his identity on imagined worth or worldly comparisons instead of God’s word. He sees himself as spiritually superior, yet Paul says he is nothing. The person is delusional. Apart from grace, man has no worth. Anyone who treats himself as the standard of truth upholds a lie and not revelation. God sees through it. This inflated image is an offense to Christ. It burdens the church instead of building it, and hinders those who need restoration.

Mature believers see themselves in light of their union with Christ. They boast in the Lord, not in the flesh. They are full of the Spirit, and not full of themselves. So they appear confident, but serve others without resentment or entitlement. They remember that they are nothing in themselves but complete in Jesus. That is the mind of Christ.