MEASURING OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS BY THE LORD’S STANDARDS

BIBLE PASSAGE:
“For I tell you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the 
Pharisees and the teachers of the law, you will certainly not enter 
the kingdom of heaven.”  
(Matthew 5:20)

MEDITATION:
In a decadent society the will to believe, to resist, to contend, 
to fight, to struggle, usually fades away. 
In place of this will to resist, there is the desire to conform, 
to drift, to follow, to yield, and to give up. 

This is what happened in Rome, but it also applies to us today. 
The same conditions that prevailed in Rome prevail in our society. 
Before Rome fell, her standards were abandoned, the family disintegrated,
divorce prevailed, immorality was rampant, and faith was at a low ebb. 

Edward Gibbon (English historian in the 1700’s) 
made some interesting observations about the fall of the Roman Empire.
He listed the following as “the five marks of the Roman decaying culture”:
1.  Concern with displaying affluence instead of building wealth.
2.  Obsession with sex and perversions of sex.
3.  Art becomes freakish and sensationalistic instead of creative and original.
4.  Widening disparity between very rich and very poor.
5.  Increased demand to live off the state.
 
He also talked about the dangers of 
“bestowing more liberal applause on destroyers than benefactors”.

Here are a couple of other interesting quotes from Gibbon:
“We improve ourselves by victory over our self; 
there must be contests, and you must win.”
“The history of empires is the history of human misery.”

One of his quotes regarding religion rings true today:
“There was much talk of religion, but few practiced it”.
However it could be modified as follows:
“There is much talk about faith, 
but there is a decline in the numbers of those who practice it”.

ACTION:
Although Edward Gibbon has given us some food for thought, the Lord remains 
our Leader and Savior, and it is His instructions that we obey.
We measure ourselves to His standards, and not to those society has imposed.

Mankind thinks it is clever enough to modify God’s instructions 
to fit its own lifestyle and desires, but God’s laws remain firm 
and unchangeable, regardless of man’s efforts to change them.

The Bible tells us that ‘living righteous’ 
is what separates followers of Christ 
from those who talk about righteousness, 
but fail to incorporate it into their lives.

Pray,
“Heavenly Father, I pray that I will be worthy to wear the name of 
Christian, and that my life will be a reflection and confirmation of 
my faith.”

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