Maintaining standards

“Differing weights and differing measures – the Lord detests them both.” Proverbs 20:10
The story is told of a baker and butcher who used to do business with one another. As time went by, the baker noticed that the butcher was giving him smaller and smaller cuts of meat, for the same price. One day he challenged the butcher about it: ‘If I ask for a pound of meat, I expect to get a pound of meat.’ The butcher replied, ‘Well, all I do is take the pound of bread that you give me, and weigh out the same amount of meat to give to you.’
In the law of Moses, God stipulated that people should have one set of weights and measures to buy and sell with. “Do not have two differing weights in your bag – one heavy, one light. Do not have two differing measures in your house – one large, one small. You must have accurate and honest weights and measures, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. For the Lord your God detests anyone who does these things, anyone who deals dishonestly” (Deut. 25:13-16). By using a light set of measures to sell with, and a heavy set of measures to buy with, people were taking advantage of other people. While today we have measurement standards that largely take care of this, the principle still applies today: Be honest in your business dealings, and don’t try to rip other people off.
Another aspect that applies to all of us is in spiritual principles. Have you noticed how we seem to have one standard of morality that we apply to ourselves, and another standard – usually higher – that we apply to other people? Jesus tells us, “with the measure you use, it will be measured to you” (Matt. 7:2) – speaking of judging other people. It is good to have standards, but we must be sure that we are living up to them ourselves.