Get on My Levelنموونە

Setting The Standard

Culture influences everything we do. Culture is, by definition, a way of life. Culture sets the standard for how we live our lives and how we move about in the world. Many times we are stressed, over-committed, uninspired, and pulled in a million directions due to the demands of culture. These demands challenge us to seek higher levels in our profession, our finances, our education, and our lifestyle.

Society is often filling our minds with the idea of “leveling up.” With origins from the gaming world, the term “level up” means “to gain enough points in a game to enable a player to go up to a higher level; gaining more skills or strength.” In the area of self-development, leveling up refers to raising or increasing the quality or status of your life, and to improve so as to make oneself better or as good as others.

Over time, too much exposure to cultural influences can hinder our growth and our ability to reach the level God has set for us. This is not to say that culture is bad. Culture is rich and bountiful. It is inspiring and innovative. Through culture, God allows us the space for creativity and community. Culture is necessary. We cannot live without it. But in this day and age when everyone seems to be responding to cultural expectations, it can be more and more difficult to distinguish the standard God has set for our lives.

Is there a way of life that pleases God but doesn't look like what culture dictates and approves? Leveling up outside of God is unachievable unless we make His standard the center of our lives. If we do life culture's way, we blind ourselves to reaching the level God has set for us.

God’s word is what convicts us to His standard. God’s word is the purest and highest standard for every level we are attempting to reach. It is the source. Be honest with yourself about the standard you follow. If we are not careful to follow God’s standard, He will allow us to live on the level we settle for. He gives us free will and is not obligated to level us up in any area of life unless we are pursuing Him fully and totally.

With this in mind, we must understand that God is saying, “I have a level for your life that the world cannot contain or prescribe.”

We can settle for mediocre standards set by culture and put energy into leveling up the world’s way, or we can trust God for better while activating our faith to prove the power that works within us and influence the world to look more like Him.

It's time to reacquaint ourselves with God’s standard. It’s time to reimagine ourselves looking and living like God’s design. It’s time to remind ourselves that we can level up God’s way.

Spend time meditating on these scriptures:

Proverbs 14:12

Isaiah 55:8-9

1 Peter 1:15-16

2 Corinthians 7:1

Philippians 2:5

Answer these questions and reflect on your answers:

1. What are my standards? Do they align with God’s standards?
2. Is God solely responsible for my level of progress or success?
3. Why is it so difficult for us to distinguish the difference between God's way and culture's way?

Affirm and declare these statements:

God’s word is the standard for my life.

I will influence culture through the life I live in Christ.

I am recommitted to living on God’s level.

Pray in petition to God to pursue His will and way.