via Who’s standards are you governed by?

Do you keep comparing your life to others? Why? Do you think if you succeed with man’s standards that you gain acceptance? Too many people are comparing their job, title, car, bank account, home and family to other people around them; in an attempt to be accepted or approved of by society.  Yet, in 2 Corinthians 10:12 it reminds us not to compare ourselves to others as it is not wise. Then if you go over to Luke 16:15 we are told that what is highly esteemed among men is hated in the sight of God.

A day is coming that every one of us will give an account of ourselves to God. (Romans 14:12) With that being said, what account will you have to give if you are striving to meet society’s standards instead of upholding God’s standards?  Look, I get it. It is easy to get wrapped up in what society thinks is acceptable. Yet, anytime we go along with what society deems acceptable; then God’s word gets pushed aside and placed on a lower standard, while man’s standards become a sought after challenge that must be met; in order to “feel” accomplished or accepted by others…

God’s standards and man’s standards are measured quite differently.  God always was, is and will be;  which means God is not a God of time,  even though he is an on time God. (Hebrews 13:8 )  To where man is governed by time. Time to man is money made or money lost which is power held or powerless… God expects us to live by His standards and uphold righteous living. Man’s standards often toss morals aside so people can live as they want too without rules, restrictions or having to hear the word, “no”. ( Sometimes no is exactly what we need to hear.)  Man’s standards promote people to reason by emotions, in order to justify the reason as to why they did something… Yet, God tells us to hold our thoughts captive for a time to discern where that thought came from and to cast down imaginations that go against his word. ( 2 Corinthians 10:5)

If you notice, we have more people openly offended than we ever have in times past. Certain comments are no longer deemed acceptable, due to hurt feelings.  Which means we are walking on eggshells as to not offend; as offending someone may lead to a trip to court… I was brought up to use my manners and part of using them was to respond with “Yes Ma’am and Yes sir”, but now that is considered rude and hurtful because I assumed someone’s gender… Prayer offends in public squares which is why God has been removed from Government and schools to prevent offending someone…  (Well, I am offended He was removed.)  In our colleges we are offered nap areas, coloring areas, therapy dogs,  snacks and safe areas to talk about our hurt feelings or to reduce our stress levels… In my opinion, this is teaching young people to hold an entitled mentality and to expect something as if it were owed to them, instead of working hard for it like the rest of us did… (When I’m stressed, I pray and I let it go because the Lord will care for my needs.) Why are we teaching our young people to circumvent their way out of responsibility?

Whenever we trade God’s standards for man’s ; we start seeing things fall apart.  We can see this going on right now. Marriages and homes are broken, children are being raised more by society because parents are  too busy to be involved in their children’s activities, until authorities are involved… People begin living under clouds of despair because they place more weight on their emotions,  than on logic. Logic tells us change the cycle if you want a different outcome…

Children need to see someone in authority in order to better understand what is acceptable to do or not do. We as adults need that as well, and a standard of living, submitting to a higher deity than ourselves. We don’t answer to man according to scripture, then why do we try to meet man’s standards?  Does man’s approval determine your moral compass? See, because anything built up apart from God will in time come crashing down… This includes our home, marriage, family, finances, relationships and any self esteem or confidence we may have left…( The very things that made you feel accepted can be gone at any given moment… Remember, man is governed by the God of this world found in John 10:10 who is out to steal, kill and destroy.)

Sometimes, we become our worst stumbling block when we trade God’s standards for man’s… Those of you  who avoided simple instructions may have made life more complicated than it had to be… It is not to late to live under God’s rule instead of man’s…

Blessings my friends,

Robin Worgull

via There’s no comparison:

Are you comparing your life to the life of other’s?  Lord knows I have a few times… It is something we tend to do trying to make sense out of our situations. Almost, like we are looking for a profound reason for the struggle itself… Why? Maybe we think coping might be easier if a profound reason were attached. Sometimes we complicate our situation even further when we begin comparing ourselves to others. We either tear ourselves down or tear someone else down…

Our eyes may see similar circumstances but our perspective regarding the situation itself may differ greatly. This means, we can take two people with the same situation but find it affected them differently. ( One handled it with ease while the other struggled.) One might ask the questions… ” How can the same situation affect two people differently? How can one’s outlook or perspective be so opposite from the other?”   To answer these questions we must look from a different angle as to why this happens…

Each of us hold a unique upbringing. Our young eyes were exposed to a variety  of things going on in the environment we were brought up in… That environment   held experiences that shaped our way of thinking. Those experiences also helped develop our beliefs in the areas of ourselves, others and how things should be or should not be.  It shaped our morals carried, but also shaped our character.  Some of us are sensitive and some of us are bold.  Some of us are self confident and others of us hold no confidence.

Each of us took our own reality or way of thinking from our childhood. Our reality is how we perceive what our eyes are seeing.

We tend to respond to circumstances  not for how they actually are;  but rather more on how we are. ( Meaning are we okay emotionally, physically and spiritually or do we still carry unresolved pain from our past?) See, we tend to form judgments about situations according to our own beliefs which were formed by our past experiences… These experiences shaped our perspective on life. Our perspective or way of thinking determines how we respond to situations.

It isn’t until we are faced with a situation that we truly realize what perspective we actually hold on life. Some of us have become disabled by the mere thought of a struggle let alone actually enduring one. While others are fearless , making life look easy. Some can take a hit in life and come back stronger;  while others take a hit and refuse to get back in the game… Those of you reading who feel defeated through life time and time again, my encouragement is to claim truths in your thinking. Truths that are found in Philippians 4:8.  ( Things that are true, honest,just,pure, lovely, of good report or hold virtue.)   This is so important,  simply because Proverbs 23:7 reminds us that the way we think… is how we are.

Blessings,

Robin Worgull