Measuring up!

Eph. 4:13
 Till we all come in the unity of he faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ.
  If at the entrance of every church there was a scale or a measuring device, we would all come up short! We have all sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.
   In the church there are standards but these standards are set by the word of God and can only be fulfilled by heeding the word of God! It is Christ and not a single individual that I am striving to measure up to. Jesus is my example, my model and my mirror!
  This world has its own standards, fashions and what they would consider the model in which to become! As the church we are not striving to fit the mold of the world, nor are we striving to fit the mold that the church has even shaped for itself! If there is a mold or a model it is that of Jesus Christ, created in the image of God!
  "Christians" that model the world or even strive just to become like someone else need to re-evaluate its true meaning. By definition to be a Christian is to be Christ-like, or to be little-Christs.
  When we gather together as the church we are not to become spitting images of one another, or judge and compare ourselves with each other! We come together as many members of the one body and bride of Jesus! As the body and bride of Jesus we want to prepare and present ourselves to Him in a way that is pleasing to Him! The difficulty that many people face while trying to serve the Lord is that they are also at the same time trying to please everyone else! What happens then is that we may change many of our outward appearances and make lifestyle changes while our hearts haven't made the journey.
  The bathroom scale is probably the most feared measuring device in the bathroom and yet it is one of the easiest ways to measure your progress! No matter the outcome the scale reads true! We may not always like the results but the scale lets us know where we are at! The bible needs to become the most feared( reverenced, respected) measuring tool in our libraries of books! The bible whether we like the direction it offers or the council it gives, it is the truth! It is the bible that will let us know where we stand in our journey to be like Christ!
  We can all follow others on this journey but our destination is to be like HIM!
I may fail to reach perfection, but I will not fail in reaching for perfection!
  I know that I will never measure up in the eyes of man or of this world but that's acceptable to me because they are not the RULER!