The Standards Of Life

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By
The Man Who Saw God Face To Face
Raphael Okechukwu Nweze


Meaning Of Standard Of Life
         Standards of life are those things by which people determine who is successful in life or not. It is a list of our personal expectations and what the society expects from every one of us.
         Usually, people regard the rich and wealthy personalities as the successful and prosperous ones. But it is not so. In spirit, the rich and wealthy are the worst set of human beings, because they trust more in their riches than they trust in God. Also, they do not have time for God, because they are always pre-occupied with their business engagements, always interested in earthly treasures and honours.
         It is good to be rich and wealthy. God promised to make His people rich and prosperous. However, the wise saints do not pride themselves with their money and wealth. They use their riches as God’s provisions for the good of mankind and in service to the society.

Types Of Standards Of Life
         Two types of standards of life are worldly standards and spiritual standards.
         The worldly standards are the human expectations of every one, according to man’s limited understanding.
         The spiritual standards are the real purposes of life, for which humanity were sent to the world.

The Worldly Standards
         In every society, everybody is expected to work hard and achieve success in life. The successful ones are known by the following:
  1. Being a grown up and mature.

  2. Educational attainment, at least being a literate, who can read and write.

  3. Successful career or prosperous business.

  4. Marriage and family setup with children.

  5. Having a private house.

  6. A network of friends, organizations or connections.

  7. Death at a very good old age.
The Spiritual Standards Of Life
         The true standards of life are:
  1. Knowledge of Truth and abiding in the Truth. This is faith.

  2. Living a righteous life.

  3. Maintaining holiness in everyday life and environment.

  4. Steady spiritual science and practice.

  5. Steady spiritual growth.

  6. Selflessness, by performing one’s duties as service offering rendered to God.

  7. Selflessness, rendered without expecting rewards, thanks, praises, force or persuasion.

  8. Overcoming the world by:
  9. This is the highest and best attainment possible for everybody. That is why Jesus often said, “The Father and I are one.” The problem in the world is that people are not making the right efforts. Instead, they are busy claiming their respective religions as the best. Claiming to be something or somebody is not enough, just as many today claim to be born again, without knowing the meaning of being born again. And majority are not really born again.
Misplaced Priorities
         The problem with humanity is that majority are spiritually blind. They do things out of ignorance and thereby stumble and blunder and cause more problems in their personal lives and in the lives of other people. Hence, what humanity call civilization is like the parable of people who moved from light into darkness, and do not know again how to come out of the darkness. For example, by the development activities of mankind:
  1. Several species of plant have died off or ceased to exist.

  2. Many animals have become extinct, no longer in existence.

  3. Currently, the entire world is experiencing climate change, which is becoming worse and unbearable.

  4. Noise pollution has persistently kept people away from the spiritual path of life.

  5. Generally, pollutions have corrupted our lands, waters and environments.

  6. General moral decadence, spiritual depravity, family crisis and marriage failure. All are indications that man has strayed from the path of well being: the path of Truth, Righteousness and Holiness.