What is your Standard? Or, as the definition says, what is your level of quality or attainment? Some people have high standards; they want the best in life. Some standards are too high, which can cause stress and health problems. Have you ever met someone who set their standards so high that they fail to reach them themselves? I have; they put them that high coincidentally because they know they could never reach them. It is a weird backward low self-esteem-influenced action. Often stemming from the notion of "I want to feel better about my failure to reach impossible standards set by people in my life, so I will do the same to you so you can fail." Misery really does love company.
It's good to have standards but make sure it's healthy standards. We set standards in life to help our quality of life, not to cause someone else to feel the same low esteem we felt because someone else bred in us low self-esteem. Standards should not be a stressor but bring peace, joy, and blessings.
Jesus was the HIGHEST Standard and the pinnacle of all thing's humans should be. When we read Jesus saying Follow Me to the disciples, most of us read it as if he was just saying walk with me to the next village or city. However, it's much deeper than that. Jesus was saying follow me to where I walk and how I walk. Follow my actions, My ways, My attitude, My speech, My deeds, etc. His life was an example of how he should live in this world as a believer.
A standard is also something one holds up and looks to as a representation of their beliefs. We endeavor to be like Him every day. Humble, Loving, Caring, Sharing, Gracious, Peaceful, Faithful, Merciful, Patient, Kind. He was the Son of God and, therefore, could command the armies of heaven, yet he decided to travel on foot and eat where he was welcomed. He sat with those less fortunate and made them feel like princes and sup with those shunned by society. He was the ultimate Good that walked across this earth.
You might say there is NO WAY anybody can be that good. You are not entirely wrong, and God knew that which is why He left His Holy Spirit to dwell with us on the earth. His spirit is what helps us live each day as Jesus did. No, you don't always get it right, but He is there to pick you up so that you may start again until you have jumped over every hurdle to become like Jesus. We continue to change and mature daily, embracing more and more of his character as our own. This brings many blessings to the believer.
So, lift your standards and ask the age-old question what would Jesus do?
