Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

In comparison to Jesus Christ and all the things He has made possible—His forgiveness, His love, His righteousness—everything else we may be or accomplish diminishes in significance.

COULD WE REVISIT those words Paul wrote? “I have not achieved it . . . forgetting the past . . . looking forward to what lies ahead.” Paul's openness is best described with one word: vulnerability.

THOSE WHO REFUSE to get bogged down in and anchored to the past are those who pursue the objectives of the future. People who do this are never petty.

TRUTH BE TOLD, it’s God’s forgiveness of us that makes it possible for us to forgive others. Jesus Christ paid in full the penalty for our sin.

LATE ONE SPRING AARON, a seminary student, was asking God for a position at a church or at a Christian organization. When nothing happened, Aaron took a job driving a bus in a dangerous section of Chicago.

A FULL YEAR BEFORE THE apostle Paul wrote to people who comprised the Corinthian church, they had begun a project. No doubt they got started with a burst of enthusiasm, the thrill of a fresh beginning.

I'LL NEVER FORGET SOMETHING I heard on the radio several years ago. A woman in West Palm Beach, Florida, died alone at the age of seventy-one. The coroner's report was tragic. "Cause of death: malnutrition."

Following Christ as His disciple is a costly, unselfish decision. It calls for a radical examination of our self-centered life. Whew! That's one of those easy things to say but awfully tough to carry out.

QUITE A WHILE AGO, a young man expressed an interest in living in our home and being discipled in the context of our family.

THE CHRISTIANS IN THE Macedonian churches were servants who gave without any concern about receiving the credit for their generosity. But Paul reveals something else remarkable about the nature of their gift:

WHEN THE APOSTLE PAUL MADE his way through Europe, specifically the region of ancient Macedonia, he shared with those believers the financial need of the Jerusalem church.

PART OF HUMILITY IS HAVING a preset mentality that determines thoughts like this: "I care about those around me."

I LIKE THE TONGUE-IN-CHEEK definition of philosophers one of my seminary professors would occasionally use. It's classic: "Philosophers are people who talk about something they don't understand and then make you think it's your fault!"

I REMEMBER READING OF Leonard Bernstein, the late, legendary conductor of the New York Philharmonic, giving an insightful answer in an informal interview.

TO FULLY UNDERSTAND the battle against "self" we must go back, way back, to that ancient scene pictured for us in the second and third chapters of Genesis: the Garden of Eden.

I'LL NEVER FORGET A TRIP I took with my older son to shoot the rapids on the Rogue River in Oregon. While our group was receiving instructions from the guide, I began to study the canoes.

IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE you took stock of where you are going, hasn't it? And how about an evaluation of the kids? Or your marriage? Or your own future?

MAYBE WE SHOULD CONFESS that one reason we find it so hard to set selfishness aside and adopt the spirit of a servant is that we're driven by dreams of success. We want to be winners.

THOSE FOUR WORDS stood out in bold print. They appeared as if they were forming an enormous monument, each letter seemingly chiseled out of granite.

Paul's words offer a bracing tonic for our age of duplicity. Honesty has a beautiful and refreshing simplicity about it . . . as do followers of Christ who embrace such Spirit-empowered virtues.