Standards

A standard is an established norm, requirement, or model used as a reference for quality, measurement, or behavior, often set by authority, customs, or individuals. It acts as a baseline for comparison and implies a widely accepted or average level of quality.

Bottom line, a standard is something we use to judge.

Largely, standards are prevalent in work places, religious organizations, cultures and subcultures, and within ourselves.

Lately, I have been having a difficult time with standards. I have been trying to live up to someone else's standards and it is not working. I mean, I can for a certain amount of time and then it just doesn't work anymore.

I found myself saying, "I can't live up to these standards." And that is because my own personal standards were not the same. My eyes were then opened to how many different sets of standards we come under in our daily lives.

Work standards. Family standards. Religious standards. Cultural standards. Educational standards. My own standards. And so many more.

I can barely live up to my own standards (recovering perfectionist here), how on earth do I believe I can live up to anyone else's standards.

And then begins the downward spiral. When I can't live up to these standards, I feel "lesser than". Even if I know I've tried my hardest, I want to be loved and in my emotional world, that seems connected to standards. I've noticed that when you can live by someone else's standards, they are quicker to accept you. This may not be a right way to live, but often it seems easier.

There is less strife with people when you can live up to their standards.

There is a problem with this though. If they are not in line with your own standards, you will not be able to maintain this long term.

Part of the definition of standard was that it is a baseline for comparison, used to judge.

Comparison will always leave us in a difficult internal state. If we live up to the standards and others don't, we are in danger of becoming prideful and arrogant. If we don't live up to the standards we can feel defeated and insignificant. Neither of these is correct.

How do we deal with this?

It comes down to the truth that the ONLY true standard of measurement is God's standard.

If I measure myself against God's standard, and I measure you against God's standard, we will look the same. We may falter in different areas, but neither of us will measure up.

When you view God's standard as infinitely pure and true, no matter how much of the standard we might be able to attain it is infinitesimally small compared to the whole.

At first thought this seems extremely depressing. We will never measure up to God and therefore it must mean that He considers us as "lesser than".

And that, my friends, is not true.

You see, God knew that there was no way we could ever live up to His standard. That was the whole reason Jesus came and died for us.

Jesus lived purely and perfectly in God's standard. And He did it for us. When He died on the cross, He filled in the gap with His blood. When we accept and apply the blood of Jesus to our lives, we are considered righteous and holy because of Jesus. God sees us as He sees His Son.

That is hard to accept, but true. We no longer live under the Law, but under grace.

I still want to do my best to live according to God's standards because God is love and His standard is love. And because I have Jesus and the Holy Spirit, I can heal and move closer and closer to living in that love - toward myself and toward others.

But there doesn't need to be anymore striving to reach the standards. I am not trying to "do everything right" so I can win the approval and acceptance of God.

When I realize God's is the only standard that matters and I am under His grace, it actually frees me to try to live according to that standard more and more. Because then, it is no longer a measurement by which I am being judged.

It simply becomes a way I choose to live my life.

If God's standard is the only true standard, then I can stop trying to live up to everyone else's. Now, I may still be considered "lesser" in their eyes, but I can put that to the side. That may make me sad for a moment, but I can stand on the fact that God's measure of me is the only one that counts.

I am accepted and loved in Him.

That is the standard that matters.