We have two main forms of standards of life, God’s standards and worldly standards. God’s standard comes with rewards and punishments. God said to Adam in Genesis 2: 16-17, you may freely eat of every tree of the garden; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall die. God’s standard for our lives demands wise discretion and knowledge.
The journey of life is a slippery road and it takes only grace to journey through successfully. Ephesians 2: 8 says for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God. What then is God’s standard of life for which he has availed his grace? God wants us to know his standards so we do not miss our providential way after life. What are the other standards of life?
We must listen to Jesus
God spoke at the baptism of Jesus in Matthew 17:5; Mark 9: 7, this is my Son, the Beloved, with him I am well pleased; listen to him! This is God’s endorsement of Jesus as to his authority in both heaven and earth. The voice specifically was about Jesus with unconditional approval.
Upon this divine certification, Jesus said in Matthew 28: 18, all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. He also said in Matthew 10: 38 whoever does not take up the cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Read also Matthew 16: 24; Mark 8: 34; Luke 9: 23. Worthiness is God’s approved standard for life is listening to and obeying what Jesus says without the option to pick and choose.
We must be faithful until death
Jesus said in Revelation 2: 10, be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. Jesus is always faithful so we must be examples of him and the Father. Jesus also has a crown as reward for those who will endure to the end.
Paul alluded to this in 2 Timothy 4: 7, I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. God’s standard is for us to finish the race, not merely starting. 1 Corinthians 9: 24 says do you not know that in a race of competing runners only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may win it. We must be faithful to God through Christ Jesus until death.
We must befriend only Jesus
James 4: 4 says friendship with the world is enmity with God. God’s standard for our lives does not demand flirtatious or promiscuous life. We cannot serve two masters or God and mammon at the same time, Matthew 6: 24; Luke 16: 13. The world has its own principles which differ from God’s principles.
The two principles oppose each other and we must not confuse or combine the two. Jesus said in Luke 9: 62, no one who puts a hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God. We must focus on the cross of Christ Jesus as the standard without counting our lives of any value, Acts 20: 24.
We must devote to prayers
Jesus told of a parable about the need to pray always in Luke 18: 1 pray always and not to lose heart. This was the parable of the judge and the widow. Prayer is for confession and surrender to God, making a petition with perseverance, and thanking God for his goodness.
1 Thessalonians 5: 17 says pray without ceasing. Prayer empties us and allows the Holy Spirit to fill us because in confession, we are clothed in the righteousness of Jesus through his blood. Jesus always started his day with prayer for divine strength and enablement for perfection, 2 Corinthians 12: 9. God’s standard is maintained through prayer.
We must study God’s word
Joshua 1: 8 says this book of the law shall not depart out of your mouth; you shall meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to act in accordance with all that is written in it. For then you shall make your way prosperous, and then you shall be successful.
The way to divine approved prosperity and success is by reading, meditating, and confessing his word. The word enables us to know God better and thereby walk meaningfully with him. The word which is God himself according to John 1: 1 enables his presence to be with us and to satisfy our needs by his grace. This standard must not be compromised.
We must show love
Out of love, God sent his only Son, Christ Jesus, to the world to die for our sins through which we shall be restored to him. His love was and still is unconditional to both believers and non-believers. Jesus said the greatest of the commandment is love, Matthew 22: 36-40. Paul also said so in 1Corinthians 13: 13.
Jesus said in John 13: 34 love one another and emphasized it in John 15: 12, 17. The apostles reiterated the principle of love in Romans 12: 10; 13: 8; Hebrews 10: 24; 1 Peter 3: 8; 4: 8; 1 John 3: 14, 16, 23; 1 John 4: 7, 11, 12. Love is a principle of selfless devotion to God and man without condition in accordance with God’s nature and exemplified through Christ Jesus. God’s love must always lead.
Living God’s standard for life
None of God’s standards are temporary but permanent until death. It must come from the heart where God dwells within us. God will reward us for keeping to his standard for life. Under the sun, the reward is not for the swift nor the strong nor for the wise nor for the rich nor the intelligent nor the skillful but for the resilient until death, Ecclesiastes 9: 11.
The crown awaits only those who will maintain their purity and righteousness until the end of life, James 1: 2. God’s standards do not change so we must change in order to meet the standard by which we will be judged without favour. Hebrews 10: 31 wrote, it is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. What standard have we chosen?
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, it is only by your grace that we may satisfy your standards for life. graft us in you so that we may forever feed on your purity in your blood by the Holy Spirit. Grow our love for you and let your love always lead us in all circumstances. Heal our weaknesses in your precious blood and give us your grace to live aright because of your blood, save our souls today in your holy name, Amen!!
