MY UTMOST FOR HIS HIGHEST
Oswald Chambers
May 6 reading
Liberty and the Standards of Jesus
A spiritually-minded
person will never come to you with the demand— “believe this and that”; a
spiritually-minded person will demand that you align your life with the
standards of Jesus. We are not asked to believe the Bible, but to believe the
One whom the Bible reveals (see John 5:39–40). We are called to present liberty for
the conscience of others, not to bring them liberty for their thoughts and
opinions. And if we ourselves are free with the liberty of Christ, others will
be brought into that same liberty—the liberty that comes from realizing the
absolute control and authority of Jesus Christ.
Always measure your life solely by the
standards of Jesus. Submit yourself to His yoke, and His alone; and always be
careful never to place a yoke on others that is not of Jesus Christ. It takes
God a long time to get us to stop thinking that unless everyone sees things
exactly as we do, they must be wrong. That is never God’s view. There is only
one true liberty—the liberty of Jesus at work in our conscience enabling us to
do what is right.
Don’t get impatient with others. Remember
how God dealt with you—with patience and with gentleness. But never water down
the truth of God. Let it have its way and never apologize for it. Jesus said,
“Go … and make disciples …” (Matthew 28:19), not, “Make converts to your own thoughts and opinions.”
