A little boy announced, "I'm like Goliath. I'm 9 feet tall." "What makes you say that?" asked his mother. The child replied, "Well, I made a ruler and measured myself with it, and I am 9 feet tall!"

Many people fail to see their need of salvation because they measure themselves by a faulty standard. By looking at their peers and comparing their behavior with others who have done worse than they have, they come to the conclusion that they are not so bad after all. But such feelings of pride are demolished when people compare themselves with a perfect standard of righteousness.

How do we measure up in God's sight? When the prophet Isaiah saw the Lord in all His glory, he exclaimed, "Woe is me, for I am undone! Because I am a man of unclean lips, . . . for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts" (Isaiah 6:5). According to Romans 3:23, we all have sinned and fall short of God's glory. That's why everyone needs to be forgiven.

If you're measuring your morality against that of others, you are using the wrong standard of measurement. But if you recognize how far you fall short in the sight of God, reach out in faith to Jesus today and receive His gift of forgiveness.  — Richard De Haan