The Standard

Welcome EVERYBODY! I am ready to get into this topic so here is my question, “Do you have a standard or has someone changed your standard?”

Before I gave my life fully to Christ, I didn’t think to set any boundaries for myself, except for the fact that my Mother always told me NOT to have sex with anyone. She explained to me the consequences, so I always kept that in the back of my mind. I had this idea that if I obeyed my parents then I would keep myself from harm.

Every morning my Father would memorize scripture with me and after a while it became ritualistic for me instead of a way to live right. As I grew up, I began to create friendships with people who did not have the same standard that I did growing up. Most of my friends moved to the beat of their own drum and over time I would follow them.

Hey! I was out numbered. It was either them or me constantly fighting with my Mother’s voice inside of my head and she wasn’t there! I now became introduced to a new standard or norm and when someone’s voice is louder than yours, it gets harder to hear yourself.

It first started off as skipping class for a day, then it became, “Let’s not go at all!” There were times I knew some guys were not good for me slide because who wants to be alone right?  I grew up in a household where I never heard a cuss word fly out of my parent’s mouths, but the more I hung around the people I chose, I began to talk just like them. I became desensitized in the way I was raised and soon began saying things like, “It’s not that bad. Who cares?”

Matthew 6:24 says, “No one can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.”

In today’s society, if we can all be honest, there are NO standards. As the culture changes, so do we. Things that were once unacceptable, have become acceptable. The believer is SILENT and the WORLD is talking over the Believer. If the Believer speaks out against anything contrary to the Bible, we are looked down upon and have been rendered an outcast.

Romans 12:2 says, “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.”

I began to ask myself, “When are we going to allow God to be our standard? When are we going to stand up and decide that the ways of this world have failed us and we need JESUS to save us!”

John 15:19 says, “The world would love you as one of its own if you belonged to it, but you are no longer part of the world. I chose you to come out of the world, so it hates you.”

This world will never LOVE us because, we were never meant to belong to it. We ARE CHOSEN and as long as we listen to our feelings and give into our fleshly desires, we will NOT have a standard. We will allow those who do not know God, to influence our decisions, policies, music, lifestyle, and thought processes. We were never meant to create our own standards because our feelings are subjected to change. This is why the BIBLE has given us clear instructions on how to live this life. These instructions were never meant to become ritualistic or to enslave us, but to give us true FREEDOM which comes from Christ.

By His divine power, God has given us everything we need for living a godly life. We have received all of this by coming to know him, the one who called us to himself by means of his marvelous glory and excellence (2nd Peter 1:3).

As a young girl, I believed what my parents said was gospel, but when I heard something that satisfied my flesh, I changed my standard. Though it is not ideal to distance ourselves from our parents rule, it was necessary for me to experience life to gain my own personal understanding of a Godly standard. I learned that our flesh doesn’t want to live right. Let me say that again. OUR FLESH DOES NOT WANT TO LIVE RIGHT.

The FLESH wants what it wants and it will go at no cost to get it. It will convince you it’s ok to have sex outside of marriage. It will convince you to lie, cheat, and steal. It will convince you to gossip. It will convince you that coexisting is ok. It will convince you that this outfit is ok to wear, knowing the type of attention you will receive. It will tell you to keep your mouth closed and live in fear of what people think about you! The list goes on and on.

The truth is we don’t want the Bible to govern us because the TRUTH hurts. The TRUTH causes us to feel convicted and then to change. The truth is the ONLY thing that will MAKE us free (John 8:32).

Don’t you realize what could happen if the Believers stood up and fought against the enemy. The enemy would be so mad if we came together. This is why he does his best to attack us so we will live in condemnation and not open up our mouths.

Genesis 1: 28 says, “Then God blessed them and said, “Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it. Reign over the fish in the sea, the birds in the sky, and all the animals that scurry along the ground.” We were made in the likeness and image of Jesus Christ, so we can have dominion over everything in the earth.

We were never meant to sit in the back, while the world creates a new norm. We are called to a dying world that needs Jesus. So, I am sorry! I will call myself a CHRIST FOLLOWER. I will not dumb it down for anyone. I will walk in love because, Christ loved a wretched soul like mine. I will meet people where they are at and present them a new way to live because Christ freed me! I will not sit and be quiet and allow the evils of this world to influence my decision making any longer.

Christ is my STANDARD, NO matter what the world has to say or think about it. If you had the formula to make someone well, would you keep it to yourself?

Decide today WHO you will serve! Don’t let people, who are here today and gone tomorrow, influence you. God will NEVER change. His WORD has lasted from generation to generation. Let’s make GOD big today and let Him rule us again! HE IS THE STANDARD.

I love you all, but Christ loves you more!

📷