When a
high school student tried using a thermometer to measure a table, his teacher
was dumbfounded. In 15 years of teaching, Dave had seen many sad and shocking
situations. But even he was amazed that a student could make it to high school
without knowing the difference between a ruler and a thermometer.
When a
friend told me this story, my heart broke for that student and others like him
who have fallen so far behind in their education. They can’t move forward
because they haven’t yet learned basic lessons of everyday life.
But then
a sobering thought came to me: Don’t we sometimes do the same thing when we use
wrong spiritual measuring devices? For example, do we assume that churches with
the most resources are the most blessed by God? And do we ever think that
popular preachers are more godly than those with few followers?
The
proper measure of our spiritual condition is the quality of our lives, which is
measured by such attributes as lowliness, gentleness, and longsuffering (Eph. 4:2).
“Bearing with one another in love” (v.2) is a good indication that we are
moving toward God’s goal for us: “the measure of . . . the fullness of Christ”
(v.13).
Our love
for God can be measured by our love for others. (RBC)
