"Mommy, I'm nine feet tall!" When Mommy asked her little boy why he thought so, he replied, "I measured myself." "What did you use to measure yourself?" she asked. "A yardstick," was the response. "And where did you get the yardstick?" The little boy proudly announced, "I made it myself!"
There is some humor, but a lot of truth in this little story. The truth is that most of us measure our looks, performance, abilities and character by our own standards. By those self-made standards we can make ourselves look pretty good, at least in our own eyes. And alongside a lesser specimen, we might look great.
God is aware of our self-deception. Paul spoke of some preachers who were less than they claimed: "For we dare not make ourselves of the number, or compare ourselves with some that commend themselves: but they measuring themselves by themselves, and comparing themselves among themselves, are not wise" (II Corinthians 10:12). We could possibly compare favorably with some, but it is not wise to make the comparisons.
The fact is that God is the Judge and sets the standard for our measurement. He says, "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God" (Romans 3:23). Does it matter how far short? If you are jumping a creek and miss the far bank by five feet or five inches, you get your feet wet. We all come short of the glory of God. Again, God says, "As it is written, There is none righteous, no not one: There is none that understandeth, there is none that seeketh after God" (Romans 3:10, 11). Since we all suffer the same shortfall, our favorable comparisons profit us nothing. For to be less righteous than God demands for His approval is to be hopelessly lost.
But God, the righteous Standard and Judge, has made a most gracious provision in Jesus Christ: "For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him" (II Corinthians 5:21). That provision is the atoning death of His Son Who bore our sins in His own body on the cross, thus paying our penalty for coming short. By trusting Christ as your own personal Savior your sins are washed away, God's righteousness is imparted to you, and you measure up to God's standard.
Are you still trying to find a preacher or a deacon who is not as good as you are? Are you proud that you are not as bad as a crooked politician or a dishonest car salesman? Or do you have to look to a violent criminal for an inferior comparison? Forget all of that. God is the Standard and God is the Judge. God has made provision for you to be righteous. Now how do you measure up?