Made up your mind yet? Ok, here's the answer: all three hats are shorter than they are wide! Hard to believe? If you doubt it, get out a ruler and measure them. It's just a trick of our eyes that makes them look taller than they are.
Actually, we are all experts at fooling ourselves. Most of us think we are pretty good people. We can all point to someone who is worse than we are, and we can look back at improvements we have made in our lives or things we have done to make someone else's life better. But when it comes to measuring up to God's standards we all fall short. What is God's standard, you ask? In Matthew chapter five Jesus defines a moral standard far higher than anyone in that day had imagined. It includes our attitudes and private thoughts as well as our actions. Then He concludes the chapter with the words Be perfect.
Some people argue that He didn't mean absolute moral perfection, but only meant that we should do our best. But the context of the verse gives the standard we need to measure up to: Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect. You can't get much plainer than that.
So what hope is there for any of us? The Bible clearly states that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. But it goes on to explain that Jesus took our sins on Himself and offers us His righteousness . . . absolute moral perfection!!!