HIGHER STANDARDS
(Live Above The Indecent Standards of The World)
Friday, 23 October
TO THE BIBLE: 2 Corinthians 6:17
“Therefore ‘come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you.’”
The competition preparation continued, but Friday brought a different kind of pressure one that had nothing to do with the questions on the page.
A group chat Kemi had been loosely part of started circulating content that crossed lines she had once ignored more easily: jokes that degraded, posts that normalised what should have felt off, casual speech that treated purity and respect as old-fashioned. Some students laughed along. A few said nothing. The atmosphere treated it all as normal.
Kemi felt the pull of familiarity for a moment the quiet suggestion that she was overthinking it. Then she shut it down.
At lunch Tobi noticed her silence as she scrolled, then locked her phone.
“You’re deleting something,” he said.
“I’m separating,” Kemi replied. “Marine biologists say fish in polluted water adapt until they no longer recognise the contamination. Only when they are placed in clean water do they realise the difference. That’s what happens when you stay around certain standards long enough they start to feel normal even while they degrade you. I refuse that.”
She looked at him directly.
“As a Christian I have a higher life with higher standards. God’s Word teaches moderation, not excess. There should be decency in my speech, my content, my way of life. The Bible says come out from among them and be separate. That means be different. I have a different culture and a different mindset the mindset of the righteous. I was sanctified by the Spirit. He separated me and declared me holy. I’m not supposed to let the world drag me into ungodly behaviours. If my standards sink to theirs, I lose the ability to win them.”
Tobi was quiet for a moment. “So you’re raising the line, not lowering it to fit in.”
“Exactly,” Kemi said. “My standards have to be higher. I copy the Master think like Him, act like Him, talk like Him. There’s a decency that goes with the Spirit of God, and it must be evident in me. Everything about me should edify others and bring glory to the Lord. I’m the light in a dark and perverted world. Light doesn’t blend with the pollution. It stands out from it.”
That afternoon she did a practical self-check. She reviewed her recent online activity and removed anything pictures, saved videos, lingering group memberships that no longer matched the character she was walking in. It was not dramatic. It was deliberate.
Later, when a classmate tried to pull her back into the same chat with a “don’t be so serious,” she answered calmly:
“I’m not being serious for show. I have higher standards. And I’m keeping them.”
On the way home Tobi glanced at her.
“You’re not just preparing for a competition anymore. You’re guarding the kind of person you’re becoming while you do it.”
Kemi nodded. “Because excellence without purity is incomplete. Prosperity without separation is unstable. I refuse to adapt to pollution. My standards are higher—and they stay higher.”
The competition still required focus. The days still held noise. But the line she would not cross had been redrawn clearly.
She was different.
And she was staying that way.
GO DEEPER
Romans 13:13-14 NIV; 1 Corinthians 14:40; Matthew 5:16
ACT
Time for a thorough self-check! This week, review your online/social media activities and do away with any material (pictures, videos, songs, comments, etc.) that’s inconsistent with your godly character.
