Mind Your Standards

Ezekiel 7:27
The king will mourn,
the prince will be clothed with despair,
and the hands of the people of the land will tremble.
I will deal with them according to their conduct,
and by their own standards I will judge them.
“‘Then they will know that I am the LORD. ’”

Standards are expectations we wish to achieve. It is good to set high standards for ourselves and pursue them. When we set high standards and pursue them, excellence always follows us. Standards should be achievable so that we are not discouraged along the way by unachievable standards. Many people who give up on themselves, set unachievable standards and failed to attain any of their goals. Therefore mind your standards.

We shouldn’t also set too low goals. When standards are too low, they will not inspire us to work hard or pursue them. When standards are too low, we procrastinate and plan to easily deal with them next time. Eventually, we do not do them or we do them in a lousy manner. Too low standards are uninspiring and can not drive us with the desired energy for great achievements. Many people are bored in life because their standards are too low. Therefore mind your standards.

Ezekiel chapter seven is a gloomy chapter. In this chapter, God declares that the end of everything has come. In this chapter, God promises to punish everybody in the crowd of people for their sins. God promises doom and gloom. God promises to revenge against evildoers. God promises that nobody will escape punishment. God promises in this chapter that, the punishment will be so severe that no one will be saved whether rich or poor. Money and valuable things will be thrown in the streets since it will not save people when God’s wrath is unleashed. The silence of God now may seem to condone evil, but it is not condoning, it is patience waiting for repentance before doom comes.

As God declares that the end will come when He will punish evil and sin, we need to examine ourselves if we will survive that soon-coming end. Will we be found on God’s side or deserving punishment? However what captures our mind today in this passage about the coming end and punishment, is in the last verse, the text of our consideration today. God says that He will deal with people according to their conduct and will punish people using their own standards. If your own standards will be used to punish you, you need to mind your standards.

When we deal with other people who make mistakes, we set very high standards. We expect very high standards that cannot be easily achieved. Because of expecting too high standards, we frustrate people, because they can’t achieve the standards we set for them. God has promised to use those standards against us too. Therefore mind the standards you set for others.

We set very high standards for others because deep within us we want them to fail so that we look better than them. That is why it is easy for spectators to make statements that suggest that they are better than those who are playing. Observers feel better than actors because the standards are too high. Given the same opportunity those spectators and observers wouldn’t do half the work they are condemning. We set standards we ourselves wouldn’t achieve. God promises to expose us by setting the same standards for us. Mind your standards.

Leaders are human like us. Leaders are tempted like us. Leaders get tired like us. Leaders have personal issues like us. Leaders are as forgetful like us. Leaders can change their minds like us. But we set too high standards and make leadership a pain instead of a joy in serving God. We condemn leaders for mistakes we too could make. We expose leaders and embarrass them for mistakes we too make. We like bashing leaders in meetings, in the media, social media and we expose and share their failures faster and all over than we ever shared their achievements. God has promised us, that He will use on us the same standards that we have set for our leaders. Therefore mind your standards.

Do you realize all stories you share to many groups about church leaders have been their scandals and failures and nothing good about them? Do you realize you become hyperactive when a leader fails and their failure is a subject of discussion? During the discussion, you project yourself as better than the leader and you can never do the wrong they did, really? God has promised that these standards will be used on you. Therefore mind your standards.

We are not encouraging leaders to do wrong. We are encouraging a realistic redemptive spirit that seeks to save and not destroy. The standards you set for the leaders, will be used on you by God who knows all your details. A leader’s sex scandal is a terrible sin, but would you survive God’s scrutiny if your own standards were used on you? If God exposed your motives, thoughts, and secret actions while home and away? Mind your standards.

What standards do you set for your spouse? Are you making life impossible for your spouse by setting unachievable standards? You are ever criticizing and never praising? God warns you today, that He will use the same standards on you and you won’t like it. What standards are you setting for your workers? Are you making working hours hell on earth? Is the workplace a toxic environment because of you? Are you never satisfied with what the people under you are doing? Be careful, God will use the same standards on you.

What standards have you set for the relatives who depend on you? What standards have you set for domestic workers? Can you clean as you expect them to clean? Can you be on time as you expect them to be? What standards have you set for neighbors on cleanliness, noise, and use of common amenities? What standards have you set for your friends? God will use the standards you use to condemn others as a measurement for your own judgment. Therefore mind your standards.

We should be tolerant and understanding. We should be patient with each other. We should be forgiving. We should give each other another chance and another chance every time wrong is committed. We should make life bearable for each other. We should not remind each other of wrongdoing. While we do not condone evil, we forgive and help each other overcome weaknesses. Our standards should be redemptive and not frustrating and destructive. In the name of Jesus, mind the standards that you set for others. Mind your standards.

Help me LORD, help me not to set too high standards for myself that eventually discourage me from achieving anything. Help me not to set too low standards that leave me uninspired in all I do. Caution me and remind me as I set standards for others, that those same standards will be used against me. Make me realistic, forgiving, and redemptive in my standards for others, in Jesus’ name, Amen!