My colleague asked me to compare
some things for him and when I was done, we looked at the results
together. When my colleague said, “This
doesn’t look too bad, I’ve seen worse.”
I could not believe what he said and I went ballistic. I roared, “Worse is not the standard! Anything compared to worse looks good.” I was not very sympathetic to my poor colleague. Deservedly or not, I continued my verbal
assault for the next 15 minutes.
In a similar vein, Christians are
not asked to compare ourselves to the world or other Christians. Neither are we asked to excuse ourselves, or
tolerate others, because we are merely human.
The standard for the Christian is Jesus, who was not only fully human,
but fully God. He is what God expects us
to shoot for.
It may feel horrific when we fall
miserably short of God’s expectations, but it can get worse if we deny, quench,
and grieve the working of His Spirit.
His Spirit, through His Word and
His people, should remind us of His grace that has been unleashed to us through
Jesus’ death on the cross. It is in Him,
by Him, and through Him that we find our consolation.
It is also through Him, by Him
and in Him that we obtain His power—we have been given the spirit of God;
therefore, we are able to do more than we can imagine or think because it is He
who is at work and will in us.
What could be better than
that? Nothing, except coming face to
face with Him!
