Higher Standards: By Vahe Sargsyan

Most people live by standards. The question is—whose?

We admire excellence when we see it. A Ferrari doesn’t happen by accident. It is built with precision, discipline, and an unrelenting pursuit of perfection. Every detail matters. Compare that to a basic factory-assembled car—mass-produced, built cheaply, and designed for utility. Both have standards, but one reaches far higher.

The same is true of moral life. Everyone lives by some code—spoken or unspoken—but the Christian is called to a higher standard.
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Double Standards, Double Lives

Jesus said plainly:
“Do not judge, or you too will be judged.
For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.
Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?”
(Matthew 7:1–3)

We often fall into this very trap. In one moment, we judge others by God’s law; in the next, we excuse ourselves when that same law becomes inconvenient. We hold others to the commandments but give ourselves permission to ignore them “just this once.”

That’s not Christianity—it’s hypocrisy in disguise. A divided soul can’t produce wholeness. Christ didn’t call us to be halfway saints; He called us to be holy. “Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48)

St. Basil the Great once wrote, “The Christian ought to be superior to the standard of conduct observed by the multitude.”

In other words, we are not measured against the world’s expectations but against heaven’s. God’s law is not flexible based on our convenience—it’s absolute, and it calls us to consistency of life.
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The Standard of Christ

Christian morality is not about comparison with others—it is measured against Christ Himself.

He showed us how to think, speak, and live by the highest possible standard. His perfection is not meant to discourage us, but to inspire us to strive upward—to love truthfully, forgive freely, and act justly even when no one is watching.

St. Clement of Alexandria expressed this beautifully:
“He who follows the Word will become like God, for the Word is the image of the Father, and the perfect man is the image of the Word.”

The goal, then, is not to appear moral, but to be transformed—to become more like Christ Himself, who is both our model and our measure.
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The Work of Moral Excellence

Just as artisans spend years mastering their craft, so the Christian must train the soul. Prayer, repentance, and obedience are the tools of that workshop.

We don’t become holy by chance any more than a Ferrari is assembled by accident. Discipline and grace work together. Every act of honesty, patience, and love—especially when difficult—raises the standard of the soul.

God is not impressed by appearances, but by integrity. A believer with one standard—the standard of Christ—will stand firm even when the culture shifts and compromises.
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A Final Word

We are not called to be average. We are called to be holy. The world may be content with cheap imitations of virtue, but the follower of Christ must live by heaven’s standard.

Let your faith be finely built—crafted through repentance, refined by truth, powered by grace. For the Master Himself has set the bar:

“Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.”

And when tempted to live by double standards, remember His warning:

“For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”