Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read Mark 10:43–45
Quite a while ago, a young man expressed an interest in living in our home and being discipled in the context of our family. He assured me time and again, “I really want to help any way you or your wife may need me. My only reason for doing this is to serve. I just want to be a servant, Chuck.”
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1–3
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:
Read 2 Corinthians 8:1–3
When the Apostle Paul his way through Europe, specifically the region of ancient Macedonia, he shared with those believers the financial need of the Jerusalem church. Macedonia was already an economically depressed area. Macedonia was to Paul what Bangladesh would be to the US. It would be like encouraging the poorest people of Appalachia to respond to those who are hurting in the ghetto of Harlem. “You people under this bridge...give to those people on welfare!” would be a strange appeal today.
Read Romans 12:10
Part of humility is having a preset mentality that determines thoughts like this:
“I care about those around me.”
“Why do I have to be first? Today I’m going to help someone else win.”
“It’s my sincere desire to curb my competitive tendencies and turn that energy into encouraging at least one other person.”
Read Romans 12:3
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!”
Lots of philosophies are floating around, and most of them are downright confusing. Interestingly, those that are clear enough to be understood usually end up focusing full attention on the individual. Consider a few of them:
Education says, “Be resourceful; expand yourself!”
Read Philippians 2:3–5
I remember reading of Leonard Bernstein, the late, legendary conductor of the New York Philharmonic, giving an insightful answer in an informal interview. Following a televised performance, one admirer asked: “Mr. Bernstein, what is the most difficult instrument to play?”
With quick wit and without even a thought he replied:
“Second fiddle. I can get plenty of first violinists, but to find one who plays second violin with as much enthusiasm...now that’s a problem. And yet if no one plays second, we have no harmony.”
Read Genesis 3:7
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. What a splendid setting! Beautiful beyond description, a perfect, pollution-free atmosphere, luxurious foliage, fragrant flowers, crystal-clear water—that Garden would make Tahiti look like a pigsty by comparison.
Read Matthew 20:26–28
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. Some were old and worn, but a few were obviously new. Being selfish, I wanted Curt and me to get the new ones, so I whispered in his ear:
“Curt, start moving over to the left.”
“Why?”
“Just do as I say, Son. The two canoes on the end are new. Let’s get ‘em.”
Read Ecclesiastes 12:6–7
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? You know what I mean: trimming off the fat of lazy thinking and taking a lean, hard look at your remaining years.
Read 1 Peter 5:5–7
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.
Curiously, however, most people admit they never realize what they truly desire in their pursuit of success: contentment, fulfilment, satisfaction, and relief. On the contrary, the roads that are supposed to lead to success are not only rocky; they’re maddening.
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