Benchmarks

Benchmarks

"Hold to the standard of sound words that you have heard from
me and do so with the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus."
II Timothy 1:13

In the field of education, the word benchmark is tossed around quite often, usually referring to a standard of achievement that must be attained in the subject matter being taught. In Michigan, the benchmarks for various subjects, from Science and Math to History and English, have been established by the State Department of Education to help ensure that individual schools "measure up" in their practices and their performance.

But if benchmarks are to be found anywhere, shouldn't it be in the church and in the lives of believers. Benchmarks, standards of excellence, standards to live by and to measure up to, are found throughout the Bible but it's time for a re-evaluation to make sure that those standards are still in place and being adhered to:

* Forgiveness - We have been called to forgive as we have been forgiven. For a Christian to hold on to anything that another has done is just plain wrong. The benchmark is "forgive and forget". The standard is to understand that we all are sinners saved by grace, that we all have issues we are dealing with, and that we are all in need of forgiveness. The prison of unforgiveness, for the one who refuses to forgive another, is somewhere none of us want to be found.

* Holiness - Christians are supposed to be different! Believers are to be different in the way they speak, in the choices they make, in the way they conduct themselves in business, in what they allow in their homes, and in the honesty and integrity with which they conduct their lives. Keeping our word should be a benchmark for others to follow, the excellence of our work ethic should be a standard against which others are measured, and our speech should be the criterion by which sound words are judged.

* Love - The Bible establishes clear benchmarks for how we are to treat others with I Corinthians 13 teaching us that "love is patient, loves does not envy, it is not rude, it is not easily angered, love never gives up on others, and keeps no record of wrongs". If every believer lived up to just those six benchmarks, think of the impact we would have on those around us. We wouldn't just talk about being different, we would live it and display it to the world.

Let's each take the tough step of seeking to discover the benchmarks that the Lord is desiring us to live by, writing them down so we can purposefully live up to them, and making them the measuring line by which we judge ourselves. The goal is excellence; let's use the benchmarks God has given us in His Word to get there!

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church