“Better than” standard

[The Glory Unveiled]

The Pharisee stood by himself and prayed: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other people—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. ( Luke 18:11 NIV)

The habit of thinking ourselves better than others on the merit of a standard we created ourselves is a negative one. People measure their righteousness and godliness by how others live their lives. And if they feel they are doing “better than” those other people, they are okay with themselves. Or if they think they are doing better than they used to do, then they are good. But we or other people are not the standard of righteousness or life. Jesus is. In God’s eyes, there is no comparative standard. His standard is absolute. In our anchor text, we see a Pharisee praying to God and comparing himself with a tax collector. The Pharisee was trying to present himself to God as better than someone he thought was worse than himself. Meanwhile, he didn’t use God’s standard of measurement for the comparison. And because he was doing well in his own eyes, he was arrogant. But then, the ways of God are not our ways and His thoughts are not like ours. He does not operate with the “better than” standard. He works with the “as Christ” standard. So that anything and everything that falls short of Christ, no matter how brilliant it is, falls below the standard of God. Don’t measure yourself by the standard of being better than others or than you used to be. Measure yourself by the standard of God, asking for grace to look like His Son, Jesus Christ.

Prayer_Bead: Father, thank you for your standard for all of humanity. Help me to live by them. In Jesus’ name.

Wisdom_Quote: The standard of God is Jesus Christ.

#GNews: Unveiling the glory of God.