Measuring Up: Owning Your Purpose in a World That’s Off the Mark

Ever tried to measure something with a tape measure that’s been bent, twisted, or—let’s be real—snapped in half? Frustrating, right? No matter how hard you try, the numbers don’t line up, the marks don’t make sense, and the whole thing is just... off. Welcome to today’s world.

We live in a time where the tape measure of truth, purpose, and hope has been stretched, manipulated, and sometimes tossed aside altogether. And yet, we’re still expected to measure up. To what, exactly? That part seems to change by the day. One moment, success is defined by how much you grind. The next, it’s about inner peace (but only if it looks aesthetic on Instagram). And somewhere in between, we’re just trying to keep our faith intact while navigating the chaos.

What Are You Measuring By?

Here’s the problem: A distorted measuring tool will always give you the wrong results. If you’re measuring your worth by societal standards, good luck—those change more than the weather. If you’re measuring your impact by likes and shares, brace yourself for disappointment. But if you’re measuring by something eternal, something unshakable—now we’re talking.

God has given each of us a unique measure—a specific calling, a divine assignment. But instead of owning it, we keep comparing our purpose to someone else’s. It’s like measuring a six-foot wall with a tape measure that only extends to four feet and wondering why you feel inadequate. Spoiler: You were never meant to fit into their measure.

Taking Ownership of Your Purpose

Owning your purpose means trusting the measure God gave you—not the one social media, your job, or even your family tries to hand you. It means recognizing that the tape measure of your life was crafted specifically for your assignment. Stop shortchanging yourself because someone else’s measure looks different.

And let’s be real: Some of us have been measuring our purpose with a broken tape measure for years. We keep looking back at past mistakes, missed opportunities, or the opinions of people who don’t even have a blueprint for their own lives. Why are you letting a rusty, outdated measuring tool determine the value of your purpose?

Hope: The Ultimate Reset Button

The good news? There’s always room to reset. God’s tape measure isn’t broken, bent, or misleading. His measure is precise, intentional, and full of grace. It doesn’t shift with the trends, and it doesn’t require the approval of others. Hope isn’t found in scrambling to meet someone else’s expectations—it’s found in aligning with what God already declared about you.

Maybe it’s time to stop borrowing someone else’s tape measure and start using the one made for you. Maybe it’s time to stop assuming you’re falling short when, in reality, you were never meant to fit within their limited scale. And maybe—just maybe—it’s time to restore hope by trusting that God’s measure is the only one that truly matters.

So, the question isn’t, “Are you measuring up?” The real question is, “Are you measuring by the right standard?”