"DOUBLE STANDARDS" Scripture: Proverbs 20:23a
"The Lord detests double standards" (NLT)
I was in line at the bank talking on my cell phone and the teller got really upset with me. I apologized and proceeded to transact my business. A few days later I was in another bank and the person in front of me was on the cell phone holding up the line and I was livid. Shortly afterwards, I was reading my Bible and stumbled up on this verse; "The Lord detests double standards". What?
A double standard is the application of different sets of principles for similar situations. A double standard may take the form of an act being perceived as acceptable by one group of people, but considered unacceptable---taboo---when applied to another group. I grew up in a culture where young men were almost expected to have premarital sex, but girls were expected to remain a virgin. When a young man has multiple women he's a player. When a young woman has multiple men she's called words that I don't want to put in this devotional. These are double standards. Do you quickly judge others but slowly correct yourself? How often do you do the very thing that frustrates you when you see others do it? God wants us to live by the standards that we have for others. T. D. Jakes says that "we have a tendency to want the other person to be a finished product while we give ourselves grace to evolve." Don't lower the standard. Model it. |
