Who's Measuring Stick Are You Using?
Who's measuring stick are you using?
If you are measuring yourself by the world’s standards, you are sure to have judged yourself unkindly. Sometimes we feel that we don’t measure up, that we lack that certain something that it seems that everyone else has. If we only had that look, wore her size, had her connections, or had her qualities we would somehow be all right. Well, I want to bring some reality to you today….God does not require anything more of us than what we are right now in order to be acceptable to Him. Not only acceptable to Him, but cherished by Him. He has called us to be His right now, right here, today. We are exactly the person that He started out to create, and He did it for a specific purpose, and He didn’t mess up! We are covered with Christ’s blood, and we are perfect and acceptable to our Lord and Father!!
The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you, He will quiet you with His love, He will rejoice over you with singing.
Zephaniah 3:17
When you step away from the world’s standards, you are able to see clearly God’s view of you. You don’t need to look far, it’s practically on every page of His Holy Word.
God sees tremendous value in each one of us. When we are in Christ, we are an unstoppable force for His kingdom…just by being who He made us to be!
Now, if you are anything like me, I can start the day with a clear understanding of who I am in Christ, and yet by the end of the day, I can feel totally worthless. What happened? Well, in short, when I look to myself and my own works to be “good enough”, I will fall short every time. The only good in me is of Christ, and without Him all of my best efforts are as filthy rags (Isaiah 64:6). Only when we fully grasp how totally worthless we are without Christ, will we be able to fully accept how acceptable we are to God with Christ! I know it sounds funny, it certainly goes against the self-talk of our day and age. And yet, it is so freeing. Knowing exactly who we are in Christ can be the most freeing thing you and I will ever experience.
When we begin to use the world’s measuring stick, we will never measure up. However, when we use God’s measuring stick, as He sees us through the blood of Christ, we can’t go wrong. We are the chosen, beloved, cherished daughters of the Almighty King! And, we measure up!
Questions to ponder:
1. What do you think? Have you seen a difference in your life between when you are judging yourself by the world’s standards as opposed to Christ’s?
2. Can you think of a circumstance or an area of your life where you have tried to measure up on your own? What has been the result?
In Him......Joy
Come visit me....
photo courtesy of flickr
Labels: Insecurities, Joys Articles
posted by Joy @ SAH Missionary @ 6:30 AM
10 Comments:
This hits me right where I live. Thanks for the encouragement to get my self-worth from Christ!
Joy - amen! I need to throw away that measuring stick of the world's and replace with God's.
Amen! Joy, this is my FAVORITE verse of scripture! I am helping my girls to memorize it. My hope is that when they grow up with a clear understanding of who they are IN CHRIST, they will NOT use the world's measuring stick. Oh, how I have struggled myself with it!
Great post!
Blessings,
Tracy
Oh my how I relate to this!!! I had an experience recently where someone made me feel like I was not measureing up to Gods standards....I really struggled and cried out to God "Havent I sacrificed enough for you? Am I not good enough??" Since then My God has POURED out his love on me, ministering through friends and through Internet Cafe, reminding me he loves me for me.....and this walk its a marathon not a sprint!! I wrote about it in my blog if ya wanna check it out, first read "Real, Deep, Always" Then "Okay God I hear you" If not, please know that The Lord spoke to me through you today!! THX!!
The world's standards are constantly changing and I know I couldn't or wouldn't want to live up to most of them! God's remain constant. Cindi
jchoppes[at]hotmail[dot]com
I'd LOVE to know where you hide the camera....you MUST be watching me! I have those days...I'm hoping that 40 will change all of that!!:)
You are so right in what you say..."When I look to myself and my own works to be "good enough" I fall short every time!" I've FINALLY realized that!
Using God's measuring stick, here on out....thank you for the birthday message that was written JUST FOR ME!!
What a blessing you are JOY!
hugs!
lori
Amen to this sweetie.
That is so true about which we are measuring about; I've noticed a difference that when I lived my life by "God's Measuring Stick", I literally do feel a stronger sense of calm, peace, less worry and fear and yet when I find myself thinking of and trying to do what the world may think of me...wow...it's like throwing a Mentos Mint into a bottle of soda...*Whoosh* Lol.
Philippians 4:11-13 Not that I speak in regard to need, for I have learned in whatever state I am, to be content: 12 I know how to be abased, and I know how to abound. Everywhere and in all things I have learned both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need. 13 I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.
This is so great of a post to start off the weekend.
Thank you for this reminder and how true it is.
Last year God asked me to give Him my "ruler".....the one I used to hold myself to a standard. So I did.
I haven't been the same since. The more I understand who I am to Him the less I care about what anyone else thinks...cause what He thinks is all that matters to me.
Thanks for sharing your heart.
Julie
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