Article Library

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By Pastor Chuck Swindoll

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Love One Another

“It’s easy to love God. God’s perfect. God’s just. God’s full of grace. God’s good. God’s just. Faithful. It’s hard to love one another because we’re not faithful, and we’re not just, and we are envious, and we do lose our temper. And there are times that we just downright blow it, even with those we just told a few days ago how much we love them. You see, it would have been so easy for Jesus to say, ‘Now that I’ve washed your feet, I want you to (what?) wash My feet.’ But He doesn’t say that. We’d stand in line to wash Jesus’ feet. But who wants to wash Peter’s feet after what he said the other day? ‘A new commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you, that you love one another.’”

Love is Our Identifying Badge

“Francis Schaeffer years ago wrote a book called The Mark of the Christian. I love that little book. Mine’s dog-eared. He calls love our identifying badge. It’s not the book we carry around. It’s not a bumper sticker that says, ‘I’m not perfect, just forgiven.’ That’s not our identifying mark. It isn’t an ichthus imprinted on the front of our Bibles. It isn’t a crucifix around our neck. It isn’t even a bracelet that has WWJD on it. Those are not our identifying marks. It is love. It is loving those who are hard to love. It is loving those outside the circle of our Christmas group. It is loving our fellow classmates. It is faculty loving students who aren’t that bright on occasion and aren’t that gracious on occasion and are super bright on occasion. It’s loving them. It’s loving them regardless.”

Called to Freedom and Love

“Galatians, chapter 5, verse 13 makes an announcement and then gives us a warning. ‘It was to freedom you were called.’ This magnificent letter that emancipates us from the legalism of the law announces again our freedom. It was to freedom you were called and no one loves that freedom more than I do. No one preaches that grace stronger than I do. And I need the reminder of verse 13. ‘You were called to freedom, brethren; only do not turn your freedom into an opportunity for the flesh, but (here again, let the mark show through) through love serve one another.’”

1 Corinthians 13 Kind of Love

“All of this learning, all of these skills, all of your gifts, all of the opportunity, all of this splendid ministry that’s in front of you . . . nothing if it isn’t bathed in love, marked by love, filled with love.”

Gratitude for God’s Great Love

“Thank You, Father, for loving us. Thank You for sending Your Son because You love us. Thank You for allowing His death to cause You to look past our sin and to see us as one of Your own. Thank You for coming to our rescue. Thank You that this Christmas season we have the opportunity to do that for others. Help us to take time to say it and to demonstrate it.”

Additional Resources

First, sign up for our Chuck’s Insights on Ministry email where we bring you his best thoughts on preaching, leadership, and ministry each week. By signing up, you’ll instantly receive a one-page checklist with 20 preaching insights from Chuck. See this page’s sidebar.

Second, check out our new Preach The Word articles and video series on YouTube where we’re teaching Chuck’s best insights on this important calling.

Third, listen to Chuck’s messages to those in ministry through our Seminary Chapels page. For decades, he offered students at Dallas Theological Seminary his best thoughts on church leadership and ministry. Now, we have put them at your fingertips. Also, you can find them through this YouTube playlist we created for you.

Fourth, if you don’t own a copy of Chuck’s book on preaching, Saying It Well, we highly recommend you add it to your library. It’s his preaching memoir that is also like a practical preaching manual. You won’t be able to put it down.

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