12 We do not dare to classify or compare ourselves with some who commend themselves. When they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are not wise. 13 We, however, will not boast beyond proper limits, but will confine our boasting to the sphere of service God himself has assigned to us, a sphere that also includes you. 2 Corinthians 10:12-13 NIV
How do you measure up? Not against your standards or your friends’ standards but against the standards of God? With a world saturated in reality tv, many individuals are comparing their lives to the lives of individuals on the shows and feeling as though they measure up well. Others measure with tape measures, scales, bank balances, social networking friends, video game levels, or good deeds. It’s easy to measure up well when we measure ourselves by our standards like the early Christians in 2 Corinthians 10:12-13. After all, we all know people that we would not emulate. They do things that are far worse than we do, they don’t raise their children as well as we do, they don’t treat their parents as well as we do, they don’t provide for their future as well as we do, they don’t work as hard as we do, etc. All of this changes when we stand against God’s measure and look at our lives based upon His standard. At some point, we must discard the distractions of a reality tv society which is quick to provide its standard and stand against the measuring stick of God. At that point, we face the awesome tasks of faith, obedience, transparency, honesty, love, gentleness, kindness, compassion, and giving. The real measure of God is an opportunity to experience life abundantly and looks so different from the reality portrayed by the media. To understand how this is alive in our culture just as it was 2000 years ago, try to go for a single day without comparing yourself to anyone. That means you can’t say, “Can you believe that she wore that?” because you are using your standard to compare against hers. It’s amazing how many times per day that I find myself derailed from God’s good intention for my life because I’m stuck comparing myself to the wrong standards. This blog will continue to explore the idea of measuring up against God’s standard, and I hope that you will join me as I continually strive to measure up to his calling for my life.
Oh Lord, you are an awesome and mighty God. I am humbled when I look at my life under your standard and tremble when I think about you measuring me against that standard. I am human full of human limitations, and I love you. May I seek Your face each day without the distractions of how I measure up by the world’s standards. May I not find complacency or pride by erroneously comparing my life to my standards but humility and repentance when comparing my life against Your standard. Please grant Your richest blessings upon the readers of this blog and Your wisdom to the writer. In Jesus’ gracious name I pray, Amen and Amen.
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