Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

Three suggestions come to mind as I think about living with the risks of grace and putting all this into balanced living. First, guard against extremes if you want to enjoy the freedom grace provides. Try your best to keep balanced, then enjoy it. No reason to feel guilty.

Because of grace we have been freed from sin, from its slavery, its bondage in our attitude, in our urges, and in our actions. But having been freed and now living by grace, we can actually go too far, set aside all self-control, and take our liberty to such an extreme that we again serve sin.

If I choose not to risk, if I go the "safe" route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four points come to my mind, all of which are popular these days.

If I choose not to risk, if I go the "safe" route and determine not to promote either salvation by grace or a lifestyle of grace, what are the alternatives? Four points come to my mind, all of which are popular these days.

Is grace risky? You bet your life it is. I am well aware that this issue of grace is indeed controversial; especially when I am calling for a new awakening to the freedom Christians have in Christ. A few will take what I write about grace and go crazy with it.

For the next few moments, graze slowly over this paragraph of truth recorded by Paul in the letter to the Ephesians. Take your time. Don't hurry.

Most people I know look forward to payday. You do too, right? For a week, or perhaps a two-week period, you give time and effort to your job. When payday arrives, you receive a hard-earned, well-deserved paycheck.

My plea is that we not limit grace to Christ. We, too, can learn to be just as gracious as He. And since we can, we must, not only in our words and in great acts of compassion and understanding but in small ways as well.

We use grace to describe many things in life: a well-coordinated athlete or dancer; good manners and being considerate of others; beautiful, well-chosen words; consideration and care for other people; various expressions of kindness and mercy.

What exactly is grace? And is it limited to Jesus' life and ministry? You may be surprised to know that Jesus never used the word itself. He just taught it and, equally important, He lived it. Furthermore, the Bible never gives us a one-statement definition.

Candidly, I know of nothing that has the power to change us from within like the freedom that comes through grace. It's so amazing it will change not only our hearts but also our faces. And goodness knows, some of us are overdue for a face change!

This day—this very moment—millions are living their lives in shame, fear, and intimidation who should be free, productive individuals. The tragedy is they think it is the way they should be. They have never known the truth that could set them free.

How could Joseph forgive his brothers who had mistreated him so badly? We saw it yesterday: plain and simple, he left all vengeance to the Lord. To use our terms, Joseph rested and relaxed, trusting in His God.

Throughout the past few devotionals, we've concentrated our attention on the value of allowing our bodies sufficient time to rest. As important as that is, there is another rest that is equally important—resting our minds.

"I like that, Dad." I remember those words. It's like they were said to me yesterday. Actually, they take me all the way back to the late 1970s. In '71, Cynthia and I moved our family (four children, ages 1 through 10) . . . to rapidly growing Orange County in Southern California.

Before time began, God had in His mind's eye a masterpiece—a beautiful picture of grace that His beloved Son, the second person of the Trinity, would illustrate with His life.

Christmas comes each year to draw people in from the cold. Like tiny frightened sparrows, shivering in the winter cold, many live their lives on the barren branches of heartbreak, disappointment, and loneliness, lost in thoughts of shame, self-pity, guilt, or failure.

Thanks to Moses's father-in-law, Jethro, the great leader was able to confront a long-standing habit, which was wearing him down. Working so hard that you never have a break will wear anyone down, as we saw in a previous devotional.

Most likely this year, you've already poured a lot of energy and effort into changing unhealthy habits. Because we're all creatures of habit, we find ourselves having to face the hard truth that many of those habits we have formed were not good for us.

Solomon left us many statements about the value of joy in his book of Proverbs. Yesterday we read: "A joyful heart is good medicine, / But a broken spirit dries up the bones" (Proverbs 17:22). Take a quick look at a couple more.