We all have a standard by which we accept or reject certain things in our lives. Whether it is receiving adequate service and/or food quality at a restaurant, acceptable accommodations at a hotel, or just the treatment you receive from people you are in a relationship with. More specifically, communicating to someone what type of behavior is acceptable or not is the key to maintaining a healthy relationship. Relationships face challenges when one person’s behavior, conduct, or actions do not meet the approval or standard of the other person. The relationship becomes unhealthy when the person is unwilling to change their unacceptable behavior, even after it is brought to their attention.
In like manner, God has a standard by which we can enter in and maintain a healthy spiritual relationship with Him. His standard is the Word of God. Although we may be familiar with the Scriptures, the worst thing we can do is deceive ourselves into thinking that we are meeting God’s “relationship” standard, and we are not. Here are two examples in the Scriptures that illustrate this point. Matthew 7:21-23 describes professed believers who had a desire to enter into the kingdom of heaven but were not measuring up to God’s standard of “doing” His will. In their eyes, they felt as if they met the criteria for heaven by their outward actions of prophesying, casting out devils, and accomplishing many wonderful works in the name of Jesus. However, they fell into the deceptive trap of using personal success as the measuring rod of whether or not they were in right fellowship with God. Their focus was primarily on functioning for Christ, but somewhere along the way, they lost their fellowship with Christ, which is maintained by a clean heart and a right Spirit and not by religious works alone. Jesus responded to this zealous group by saying, “. . . I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.” – Matthew 7:23. WOW! What a shocking revelation! What we do for God or offer to God will be in vain if our heart and fellowship are not right with God. A heart acceptable to God can only be accomplished by thoroughly and consistently examining, cleansing, and humbly submitting our hearts to God’s Holy Word. A right Spirit consists of receiving the Holy Ghost and maintaining it by living a life of holiness, separated from the World and consecrated to God.
The second illustration is found in Revelation 3:14-17, in which the Laodicean church was blinded by its own success and accomplishments. These people were in sore need of self-examination, but they had a hard time seeing their faults. Why? They had become proud of their works and had begun to measure themselves by their own standards, i.e., self-righteousness, and not by the standard of God’s Word. They became so wrapped up in building themselves up with works that they could not see themselves as they really were. As a result, they become lukewarm in their fellowship with God. Externally, they saw themselves as being rich and prospering, but internally, they were spiritually poor, spiritually blind, and deceived. Another harsh reality check!
By these biblical examples, we learn that successful works alone are not God’s standard for maintaining a healthy spiritual relationship with Him. But by seeking God’s Word daily to examine and cleanse our hearts, God will reveal to you what is acceptable to Him and help you correct what isn’t. Contrarily, if you deceive yourself now by relying on your own standard of work and accomplishments, you will be disappointed later. And later may end up being too late.
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