Standards

    There is a natural fear within us that we are not perfect; that we are failures; that we are inadequate. The truth is, we're not perfect, we do fail, and sometimes we don't measure up. We have a standard in our minds of what a mother, wife, or father should be. We compare ourselves to the polished appearance of others while forgetting that, behind closed doors, they are struggling with the same insecurities as us. Have we forgotten what standard we are to measure up to? Have we also forgotten who is doing the measuring? When we stand against the ruler of the world, we may or may not make the cut. If we do, we get an ego boost. If we don't, we keep trying until we eventually give into defeat. We make society our judge, and they are harsh. We become overwhelmed with pleasing others that we neglect to please the only one that matters: the one who created us. You see, when we stand next to God, we cannot measure up to his holiness. We cannot be good enough. His standard is far beyond the worlds. His standard is perfection, which we can never reach. Knowing this, we can react one of two ways: we can hang our head and walk away realizing that we cannot reach that high standard, so why try; or we can allow that fact to humble us and draw us to fall on the grace of God which empowers us to walk in His Spirit and not our own, relying on Him to cover our pathetic inadequacies and deem us worthy for He is the one true and perfect judge. Once the scales fall from our mortal eyes and we see clearly the God who spoke us into existence, a zealous love beckons us to accept the free, yet costly gift of redemption offered by the only one with the authority to make us pure enough to make the cut. Jesus Christ, God in the flesh, shed his blood, endured the pain, so that we could stop this rat-race that we are born into and rather be born again into freedom through him. This gift lies before you. It cost Jesus everything. He stands at your door, holding this costly, free gift of sustaining grace and freedom from the bondage of sin and death. He already paid for it. Will you make his sacrifice for you in vain? No, you didn't ask him to do it. His love for you compelled him to it. How will you respond to this amazing, unrestrained, immortal love?