We have two main forms of standards for life, God’s standards and worldly standards, light against darkness, righteousness against sin, and redemption against rejection. Each has its principles by which it is ruled. We have the privilege of choice out of the two. They must not be confused.
Privilege has accountability to the giver but right is inherent. Wrongful exercise of privilege has consequences. All our presumed rights are rather privileges before God to whom we are ultimately accountable based on God’s standard for our lives. What then is God’s standard for our lives?
Make God first always
Jesus said in Matthew 6: 33 strive first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. To strive is to put in the effort beyond our normal strength. That enhanced effort must be towards satisfying God.
We satisfy God in righteousness which we cannot attain without grace. When we have by grace done the needful, then God intervenes to satisfy our need which is “these things”. Any reverse order is questionable. God wants our priorities to be right from the start.
Worship in spirit and truth
Jesus said in John 4: 24 God is Spirit, and those who worship him must worship in spirit and truth. “God is Spirit” means God is invisible to the eye yet he exists. It also means he is not like an ordinary spirit. His nature is what we must possess in worship.
Worship is the outpouring of pure reverence for God in acknowledgement of unmerited or undeserved grace. Worship in spirit means that purity of reverence which is acceptable to only God not man. Worship in truth means reverence which is transparent to God’s Spirit from our hearts. We miss the standard for life if our worship falls short.
Glorify God with your body
Paul said in 1 Corinthians 6: 15-20, do you not know that your bodies are members of Christ?… Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, which you have from God, and that you are not your own?… therefore glorify God in your body.
God says our bodies belong to him and not ours hence we must engage them with respect as shall glorify him. The thought of ownership is the key because it reverberates with accountability. Everything we do with our bodies affects Jesus who knows no sin. God’s standard is that we must not desecrate our bodies which are temples of the Holy Spirit.
Be perfect as God is perfect
Jesus said in Matthew 5: 48 be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. God’s standard for life is perfection in spirit which translates into the physical. God demands perfection because he is perfect and by his nature in us, we are also to be perfect to reflect his presence in us.
It is God’s Spirit in us which will enable us to attain perfection if we submit to him. If we do not look up to Christ Jesus, we will fall short of God’s standard for life. Christ Jesus is the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, Hebrews 12: 2. Mediocrity or ordinariness in purity does not qualify for God’s standard for us.
Take the yoke of Christ Jesus
Jesus said in Matthew 11: 29-30, take my yoke upon you, and learn from me; for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. God’s standard for life is the yoke of Christ Jesus for which Jesus cited examples are gentleness and humility.
The heart distinguishes his source of gentleness and humbleness from worldly hypocrisy. Jesus’ yoke gives peace to our troubled souls and makes us meek and ready for God’s uplifting. We cannot meet the standard without being gentle (forgiving) and humble (obedient) to Christ. The standard is to be like Christ Jesus.
Walk the true way of life
Jesus said in John 14: 6, I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. The standard for life is to accept Jesus as the only way, the only truth, and the only life giver through his righteousness. Jesus shows the way because he is the truth of God.
The way of God is straight. John the Baptist said in John 1: 23 make straight the way of the Lord. Those who depart from the way of Christ Jesus, 2 Peter 2: 15 said,… have gone astray and following… the wages of doing wrong. God’s standard is always to do right and it is only through Christ Jesus that we can see the Father. God hates shady characters.
Have we met the standards?
We can measure our compliance by how satisfied God is with us. This depends on the degree of our relationship with God through Christ Jesus. A closer walk with Jesus will give us the grace to achieve the standards. Paul said in Galatians 2: 16, no one will be justified by the works of the law.
Paul again said in Ephesians 2: 5, 8 for by grace you have been saved through faith, and this is not your doing, it is the gift of God. Without grace, we cannot meet this high standard. Let the grace of God through Christ Jesus be our help in his holy name.
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus, thank you that you always reveal your standard for life unto us so we may not perish but have eternal life in you. Please walk us through this life of sin and woe by your Holy Spirit so we may worship you in spirit and in truth. Save us from the wrath to come and hide us in your blood. We ask this through your holy name, Amen!!
