Standards are, and always have been, a part of life. Sometimes we like them. Sometimes we don't. Sometimes we love them, and other times we loathe them.
Standards are often spoken to the hearts of teenage and older girls guys in the world of dating. "Don't lower your standards just to be with someone!" How many of us heard that one? To ease a sense of loneliness we find ourselves with a significant other that doesn't treat us with significance. We know what we want, but since we don't have it available, we date someone for body warmth. It's a little different when you're picking out an afternoon snack. "Gee, I really would like some chips. Oh, we don't have any. I guess popcorn will do." It's an okay time to lower our standards. Perhaps it would be different though if a diabetic chooses cake over strawberries, but that's a whole new set of standards. And that's just it. We have standards for every part of our lives. I was cleaning my floors yesterday and I thought of my mother. We had a dog. I loved her dearly. She shed. A lot. Always. Her hair was a nice yellow that showed up on black. Our hardwood floors were a blond as well. The carpeting upstairs was gray. The one room downstairs with carpeting was "the stain hider" of all carpeting, but not for dog hair. My mother cleaned the floors in a way that suggested we did not own a dog. If it weren't for the barking and intense desire to say hello and lick your face, our dog would have gone unnoticed by cleaning standards. The way my mother cleaned was instilled in her from her mother. Is there an actual standard of cleanliness within a home? I bet different people would give different answers. I'm sure Martha Stewart would have an answer. Does it matter? In the level of cleanliness, yes I would say there is a standard that matters. Filth and disease should not be available to your children or guests. For dating, absolutely. You don't want to be taken advantage of for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. What about education? We hear about standardized testing all the time. Depending on where you live, you might appreciate them. Depending on your career, you might despise them. The point of standardized tests is to appropriately figure out if the test taker is ready for the next lump of material. In Massachusetts I took the MCAS. It was new while I was in middle school. I took it as an eighth and tenth grader. I loved it. As a poor test taker, I enjoyed seeing that I could master material on a standardized test. I felt more prepared for the SAT. The MCAS were given in fourth, eighth and tenth grades. It helped to track students' progress. Whether or not they still do that testing, I don't know. I know the state department wanted to see how kids were doing. Down here in South Carolina, testing is far worse. From third grade on, students have beginning of year testing, bench marks throughout the year, and end of year testing. I can't fathom the amount of class time is spent with students sitting in front of a screen taking a test that decides if they know the material or not. And we wonder why anxiety levels are up in kids?! The point of the tests have been skewed. The amount of tests has increased. The ability for teachers to teach material for life versus a test has been dropped. The standard is now the bad guy. How horrible is that? Too many people have negative mindsets about standards because of how others manipulate the standards to meet their needs. Isn't this what has happened to God and the Bible? God said the standard for heaven was perfection. He said to follow Jesus. Admit your sin. Believe in your heart. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord(Romans 10). You will be saved. But we have decided to blame our sins on our surroundings and pass the buck. We believe in our minds, but our hearts are too precious to give away. We confess that Jesus was a phenomenal teacher, worker of miracles, and all around good guy, but Lord? That's tough. God gave us black and white on many issues and we have turned them into a gray glob of goop. He set the standard for us. Yet we choose to make our own because we just plain don't like them. We don't like that his standard has convicted us. We don't like that his standard doesn't allow for the stupid stuff we want to do, say, watch, listen to, be a part of, etc. What's worse is that there are manipulators of the standards. God said you have to be perfect, since I can't be perfect, I might as well enjoy sin. God said I just need to apologize so I can go out and be stupid on Saturday night, ask forgiveness on Sunday, and enjoy his forgiveness. God said so.... Can you fill in the blank? Over the past few years I have had to ease up on the manipulation big time. God said to honor your mother and father and have a long life. You are not honoring me, therefore you're going to die early. Okay, I didn't phrase it like that, but that was the gist. With a TON of guilt added on to that. Parents, pastors, speakers, writers, and countless others have turned people from the will of God because they can manipulate his standards to make us despise that standard. I think one that I have gone back and forth with is "Love the sinner, hate the sin." I don't know if the intentions were right and the phrasing having holes or if it was meant to cause disturbance. Because we are to do both of those. Without a doubt. Sometimes though, it gets thrown into awkward situations and conversations. The root of it should be in Scripture "Your kindness leads to repentance." In actuality, we love all. We don't love sin. But if we can show God's kindness, we will truly be loving the person because it is his kindness (not ours) that leads the sinner to repentance. Yeah, manipulation is in that one. Standards are not bad. Standards say that little Timmy can move on to the fourth grade because he has mastered addition, subtraction, multiplication, and more. Standards keep my home from being covered in paper clippings on the floor. Standards keep people from being with someone that will only bring their worst to a relationship. Standards keep Christians from acting out. Don't hate the standards. Run to them. Meet them. Exceed them.
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May 2023
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