I believe with all my heart that every believer ought to have standards to live by. Those standards should align with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Let me be clear: His standards are high and holy. We cannot meet them at the level of God’s standard. However, we can strive daily to live a life pleasing unto Him: to walk with humility, to serve with passion, and to be concerned about our brothers and sisters. We can strive to love the unlovable and to pray for God’s help to do so. These standards are all within our reach. But we cannot do it on our own, for the flesh is weak. The Lord has given us the power through the Holy Spirit to live according to His Way and Will. We must be intentional about living for Christ and be disciplined unto His will by engaging in fasting and praying. We must be willing to forgive. We can do it and we must do it. The scripture lesson for today is Ephesians 4:12.

“Their responsibility is to equip God’s people to do His work and build up the church, the body of Christ.”

In this moving passage, we see our responsibilities as the people of God. The writer of these words begins this chapter speaking of unity in the body. Paul urges believers to keep themselves united in spirit and build themselves up with the spirit of peace. He wants the believers to be mature in the Lord and measure up to the full standard of Christ. When you read this chapter, you will see that the standard is right here in chapter four. We are to measure ourselves according to the complete standard of Christ, and not what we often do, which is measure ourselves according to another’s standard. Most of the times, we rate ourselves higher than others. However, we are called to measure ourselves by the Lord’s standards. This is how we ought to live. We can and must strive daily to live up to the standard of Christ Jesus, our Lord and Savior.