Living by the standard's of this world...

By the meekness and gentleness of Christ, I appeal to you - I Paul, who am "timid" when face to face with you, but "bold" when away!  I beg you that when I come I may not have to be as bold as I expect to be toward some people who think that we live by the standards of this world.

2 Corinthians 10:1-2

Have you seen this verse before?  Have you considered it?  I'm thinking of the last part of it.  To put it in context, Paul is writing the Corinthians, and is nearly at the end of his letter, telling them he is planning to come back to Corinth a third time.  But it's not all good news.  He's coming back because he's heard of things that are happening in the church in Corinth that are not good things.

And we can see in this passage that one of the things is that the people in the church, at least some people, are living by the standards of this world, and not the standards of the church.

There should be different standards.  We, as followers of Christ, seek to imitate Christ.  He is our standard.  That's a much higher standard than the world.

If we can be successful in living to that standard, we will be different.  We will stand out.  We will have something unique that those living to the standard of the world will want.  We will have the power of God.

Unfortunately, we don't always do too good at living to that standard.  Is it because it's too hard?  Is it because we don't see the value?  Is it because we have lost our first love?  Is it because our faith is weak?

Whatever it is, we can do better.  We can be people of faith.  We can cling to Jesus our Master.  We can follow His example.  We can live His life.  We can experience His peace.  We can be comfort and compassion and love in the world around us.  Not in ourselves, but in Christ.

Don't live by the standards of this world.  There is something so much better within your grasp.