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I want to start with a statement that may sound startling: Salvation not only saves your soul, it should shift your standards. The scriptures reveal that salvation offers us more than just rescue from sin—it offers us a revelation of ourselves. When we get saved, God not only shows us Him; God also shows us us.
This revelation of who we are in Christ should lead to the elevation of the standards we have in life. New creatures in Christ should have new standards. Your standards aren't rules, but your spiritual standards are a reflection of whether or not you actually believe what God says about you.
He says you're the head, not the tail. Your standards reveal if you believe it. He says you're above only, not beneath. Your standards reveal if you believe it. He says you are chosen and beloved. Your standards reveal if you believe it.
Standards are not your goals—they're the ground. Standards aren't the ceiling; they're the floor. Standards aren't the most we want; standards are the least we will allow.
In many instances, individuals don't reach their God-given goals, not because their goals are too high, but because their standards are too low. When standards are low, self-sabotage will always be high. Your standards are the object of spiritual warfare. Satan is after your standard.
The word "spiritual warfare" is regularly used in church but rarely explained. To understand what I mean, I need to share with you the principle of biblical interpretation called the law of first mention. This principle suggests that the first time something is mentioned in the Bible sets the precedence for how that concept should be understood throughout the rest of scripture.
The first instance we see of spiritual warfare in scripture is in Genesis chapter 3 with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. This teaches us something critical: Spiritual warfare doesn't begin with demonic possession. Spiritual warfare begins with satanic suggestion.
In the Garden of Eden, Satan made a suggestion, and Adam and Eve succumbed to that suggestion. They sabotaged their spiritual success because they succumbed to a satanic suggestion. The suggestion always precedes the oppression, and the oppression always precedes the possession.
Some things the saints are blaming on demons—the truth is, that wasn't a demon. That was your decision. The devil was involved, but he made a suggestion and you made a decision. It's in the text.
In Genesis 3, you see a clear pattern:
Genesis 3 reveals not only that Satan engages in spiritual warfare, but how he engages in it. Satan weaponized a relationship to orchestrate self-sabotage.
Did Adam get the fruit from Satan? No. He got it from Eve. The devil knows people won't lay down their standard for him, but they might lay down their standard for someone they love. Satan will use people to get others to compromise a standard they would not lay down any other way.
He tried this tactic with the first Adam, and it worked. But he tried it with the second Adam—Jesus—and it didn't work.
What he did successfully with the first Adam, he tried to do with the second Adam.
Let's look at Matthew 16:21-23. Jesus asks His disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" Then He asks the critical question: "Who do you say that I am?"
This is important. He knows what people say, but He needs to know what they say. At chapter 16, after everything they've been through, they should be clear about who He is. The importance of getting to a point where you recognize the danger of being connected with people who don't know who you are.
Peter responds, "You are Christ, the son of the living God." Jesus tells him, "Flesh and blood didn't reveal that to you. My Father who's in heaven had to reveal that to you."
It takes God to help you understand me. It takes God to help you see me.
But then something shifts. Jesus begins to explain to His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things, be killed, and on the third day be raised to life. Peter takes Him aside and rebukes Him: "Never, Lord, this shall never happen to you."
And Jesus responds, "Get behind me, Satan."
Now, that seems harsh. Peter was just saying he doesn't want Jesus to die. But Jesus isn't calling Peter a devil; He's calling out Satan. He sees Satan trying to weaponize this relationship. Peter has good intentions, but Satan is using that relationship to try to get Jesus to abandon His assignment.
Jesus loved Peter, but He wouldn't allow his love to make him so loyal that he compromised a spiritual standard.
Why does loving you have to kill me? That's not love. That's toxic loyalty.
Love is not the same as loyalty when that loyalty requires you to compromise truth. When loyalty leads you away from God, it's not biblical—it's toxic.
Toxic loyalty is when your commitment to someone else overrides your commitment to God. It's when saying yes to people becomes more important than saying yes to purpose. Love without boundaries becomes manipulation.
"I can't believe you wouldn't do that for me." "I can't believe you asked me." "You say if you love me, you would do it. I say if you love me, you wouldn't ask me to."
Cultural niceness is a behavior rooted in societal expectations of politeness, agreeableness, and conflict avoidance. It prioritizes keeping the peace over telling the truth. It manages appearances over pursuing authenticity. It makes people feel comfortable at the expense of personal conviction and spiritual integrity.
Kingdom kindness, on the other hand, is the fruit of the spirit rooted in love and truth and in the character of Christ. It's compassionate but not compromising. It's tender but truthful. It seeks the highest good for others, even when it requires courageous conversations and uncomfortable confrontations. Kingdom kindness is not in love with being liked.
The church's distortion of biblical love has made us reckless with our hearts. We've been taught to give unlimited access to people regardless of their fruit and to endlessly extend trust without evidence of trustworthiness. We call that Christlike love. But Jesus himself, while loving everyone, did not entrust himself to everyone.
Jesus cared for Peter. But He didn't let that care become a cage that stopped Him from carrying out His purpose.
Some of us love really hard. You're generous with your heart. And that's great—for everybody but us. Your care for people will cause you to unconsciously end up in a cage because you care for them so much you assume a line of responsibility that only God is responsible for.
"Peter, I love you, but I have to go to the Father. But I trust God. The same one who's taking care of me, I trust Him to take care of you. I can't let my care become a cage."
The enemy will use good things in bad ways. Your good heart has been responsible for you living through some bad times. That's the warfare. But today, the Holy Spirit is speaking: I need you to shift those standards.
You can't shift the standard until you close the door on that season. There are some wounds God has to deal with. If not, the pain of the past will keep you in prison to a season that keeps your standards at a place that's less than God's best for you.
You can't shift until you heal.
Your good heart has caused you some bad pain. It doesn't mean people were evil. It just means they were imperfect—some unequipped to handle a heart like yours. Whatever you don't understand, you end up abusing.
You've been stuffing that pain in the closet of your soul. God is saying: At some point, we've got to clean that out. If you don't, it's going to make you less generous. But generosity is your calling. Your good heart is your asset. The devil wants to take that asset.
I don't want you to be less generous. I want you to be more wise. Don't be less generous. Don't let the devil use pain to shape you into somebody different than who God's called you to be.
Listen to what Paul told believers at Ephesus: What you make happen for another man or woman, God will make happen for you. He didn't say they would make it happen for you. When you're good to people, you don't obligate people. God obligates Himself. He says, "I'mma make it happen for you. You got a harvest coming. That harvest is who you've been to others."
