Sermonette: Comparing

#286Bs

Given 22-Apr-97; 15 minutes

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While heavily motivated by peer pressure to indulge in sex, illicit drugs, and other immorality, youth feel their transgressions are not as bad as "most kids." When we compare ourselves with others instead of God's standards, we can justify any sordid behavior. If we judge others for the same behavior we practice, it is inexcusable and despicable. God's standard of truth is the only standard against which we can evaluate our own behavior. The Corinthians apparently had a perennial problem of comparing themselves among themselves, developing a kind of pecking order of righteous behavior. When we compare ourselves to others, our standards, far inferior to God's, begin to erode and deteriorate, resulting in no change and no growth. All of us have grown up in a different set of circumstances, all lacking in something. In sports, if we compete against someone with equal skills, we never reach a higher level of performance. If we live according to the prompts of God's Holy Spirit, we will always be seeking a higher standard—God's standard.




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