Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

I think we need to sign a mental declaration of independence. Let's put our names on the line, pledging ourselves with firm resolve, much like those brave men did on July 4, 1776, in Philadelphia when they signed the Declaration of Independence.

Someone once wrote, "Sow a thought, reap an act. Sow an act, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap your character. Sow your character, reap your destiny." Standing tall when tested takes courage—constant, relentless, never-give-up courage!

What do we mean by accountability? In the simplest terms, it is answering the hard questions. Accountability includes opening one's life to a few carefully selected, trusted, loyal confidants who speak the truth.

God offers instruction, but then it's our move. We must accept His instruction and apply it to our lives. Then, and only then, can we expect to cash in on the benefits of His instruction.

Almost every week I come into contact with people who have been misled, thinking that success depends solely upon talent or brilliance or education. But the list doesn't end there.

Can you remember a recent "gray slush" day? Of course you can. So can I. The laws of fairness and justice were displaced by a couple of Murphy's Laws. Your dream dissolved into a nightmare.

If we hope to demonstrate the level of excellence modeled by Jesus Christ, then we'll have to come to terms with the kingdom we are going to serve: the eternal kingdom our Lord represented and told us to seek (Matt. 6:23) or the temporal kingdom of today.

I need to be very candid with you. If you are a "Sunday Christian," you will not stand alone when outnumbered. Apart from a personal and vital faith in Jesus Christ, it is impossible to wage a winning effort against the system called "the world."

One of the great American myths is that we are all a bunch of rugged individualists. We would like to think that, but it simply is not true. There are some exceptions, of course, but for the majority it is not that way at all.

The psalmist lists several benefits to prod our thinking. As we reflect on God's gifts to us, it's helpful to be specific. Do you have eyesight? It's a gift. Do you have a good mind? It's a gift

I know, I know—"life is serious business." If I hear that one more time, I think I'll gag. I fully realize that too much humor can become offensive. I recognize that it can be taken to such an extreme that it is inappropriate.

When Jesus tells us to "seek first the kingdom of God," the very word "seek" implies a strong-minded pursuit. J. B. Phillips paraphrases the idea with "set your heart on." The Amplified Bible says, "Aim at and strive after."

Life is so short. We really don't have many years. And to spend them doing dumb stuff seems like such a waste. I was intrigued several years ago when reading about some ghost towns littered across the plains of Nevada.

Monotony and mediocrity mesh like teeth in gears. One spawns the other, leaving us yawning, bored, and adrift. In referring to monotony, I do not have in mind a lack of activity as much as a lack of purpose.

There is an important dimension to hanging tough that you dare not miss. It is the thing that keeps you going. I call it a dream. I don't mean those things we experience at night while we're asleep.

I'm sure it comes as no surprise to most of us that we act out precisely what we take in. In other words, we become what we think.

God is a God of freshness and change. But wait, before I leave that thought, let me make something very clear: God Himself isn't changing, nor is His Son. He "is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). Isn't that a great thought?

People of excellence are those who see through the clutching greed of our times—people who have declared their undivided allegiance to Christ's message, people who have humbled themselves to Christ's sovereign authority.

Vision—the one essential ingredient for being an original in a day of copies—gets lost, overwhelmed by the odds. Too bad! We start focusing on the trouble. Then we start comparing the odds. The result is predictable: We become intimidated and wind up defeated.

Are you open to change? People who make a difference can be stretched, pulled, pushed, and changed. You heard it from me: traditionalism is an old dragon, bad about squeezing the very life out of its victims.