Why Do I Have Standards?

As you have probably figured out by now, I grew up in a Christian home. Ever since I was a little girl, my parents taught me all about the Bible and how God says that I should live. They taught me to set up standards in my life. Standards for dress...for music...for movies...you name it! Of course, when I was little, I didn't really understand why, I just did what I was told.  But as I grew older, they sat down with me and showed me, from the Bible, what God says about standards. They taught me to not just believe what they say, but to prove it from the Bible. After I proved it for myself, I realized that standards are so vital and important in the Christian's life.

 When we were missionaries, we traveled around to different churches trying to raise support. I met a lot of pastor's kids and missionary kids. These families had standards just like my family and it was amazing to see other young people serving the Lord. A couple of days ago, I got to thinking about my friends that I haven't seen in a really long time. Sadly, many have lost their standards and aren't even living for the Lord. And I'm talking about pastor's kids! I'm talking about kids that served in the ministry and know better! In fact, yesterday, I was looking at instagram and I saw a post by a preacher with his family on vacation. So like anyone would do, I looked at his vacation pictures and the beautiful photos of waterfalls and mountains. But then I came to one picture of his wife and daughters that made me stop...I noticed that their standards for dress had dropped and I was shocked! This was one of my favorite preachers and when I saw that he let some standards drop for his family, I was really disappointed. He lost a little respect in my eyes. 

When I look around, I see so many Christians that simply either don't know or don't care about what God says about standards in their lives. So many of those people hear the word "standards" and automatically cringe or roll their eyes. I've even heard some people say, "I dont need standards, because it's not the outside that matters, it's the inside." Well, I hate to burst your bubble, but that is completely not true. As I heard a preacher say recently, "If the outside doesn't matter, then go take all of the labels off of your cans in your pantry and then try to cook dinner tonight" (that would be one interesting and probably disgusting dinner). 

The outside does indeed matter! Yes, God looks on our heart and He knows whether we truly love and serve Him or not. He knows what our true intentions are. But as Christians, the world doesn't look at our heart...they look at our outside. If we listened to the world's music, dressed like the world, and acted exactly like the world, then do you really expect the world to listen to what you have to say about Jesus and how Jesus can change your life? I don't think so. Our lives need to stand out for God.

Here's a couple things for you to consider.....
- Does the music you listen to sound just like the world's music? Then what's the difference between Godly music and the world's music? Just because it has the word "Christian" in it, doesn't make it right.
- How many cuss words or wicked scenes does a movie have to have to make it wrong? (Let me just give you the answer to this one...it only takes one cuss word or one wicked scene to make a movie wrong)
- Have you ever been in a store and saw a lady dressed modestly in a skirt and modest top? When you saw her, you probably stopped and thought, "She must go to church somewhere." Well...why wouldn't you want to have that testimony? The world can take one look at your clothing and know who you belong to. 

So many people look at standards as something that holds you back from what you want to do, kind of like chains. Well, I was listening to a message the other day, and the preacher gave this example of standards and I thought it was brilliant! He said that,

       
      "You can look at standards the same way you look at locks on houses. We lock the house, not to make life miserable on the inside, but to keep us safe from the bad that would enter in to destroy our home and way of living. This way you can sleep in peace." 

That's what standards are....protection!

The standards in my life are like being free from bondage! I set up boundaries in my life, to keep me from making mistakes and falling into sin. Dont get me wrong....I struggle with sin just like anyone else, but I can't imagine all that I would be involved in if I let my standards drop and started living like the world.

As you can probably tell, I am very passionate about having Biblical standards in my life. My plan for this blog, is to share what the Lord has laid on my heart and I know that He wanted me to share with you the importance of having standards. We want to be different from the world, not just like it. And to be different, we have to have Biblical standards.