Written by Chuck Swindoll, these encouraging devotional thoughts are published seven days per week.
Read 2 Corinthians 5:17
All of us have practiced certain areas of wrong from our youth. It is a pattern of life that comes “second nature” to us. As a result, it strongly resists change. We gloss over our resistance with the varnish of excuses:
“Well, nobody’s perfect.”
“I’ll never be any different; that’s just the way I am.”
“I was born this way—nothing can be done about it.”
“You can’t teach an old dog new tricks.”
Jeremiah tells us why such excuses come easily:
Read Psalm 103:8–12
It happens to all of us. Teachers as well as students. Cops as well as criminals. Parents as well as kids. The diligent as well as the lazy. Not even presidents are immune. Or corporation heads who earn six-figure salaries.
What am I talking about? Making mistakes, that’s what. Doing the wrong thing, usually with the best of motives. And it happens with remarkable regularity.
Read Romans 5:8
Whoever is soft on depravity should watch Schindler’s List.
It’s not for the fainthearted, I should warn you. It is a raw, harsh, shocking exposé of unbridled prejudice, the kind of anti-Semitic brutality spawned in hellish hate among the Nazis prior to and during World War II.
How could such hatred fill the minds of those wearing swastikas? How could they walk back into their barracks or offices or homes wearing blood-splattered uniforms and forget what just happened?
Read 1 Peter 5:1, 5
Ours is fast becoming a success-saturated society. The telltale signs are everywhere. Check the magazine racks at airports, hotels, and drugstores. Click on the webinars and podcasts. Seminars by the hundreds are held every year, offering ideas, motivation, techniques, and mainly promises of prosperity. Books by the dozens and scores of audio and videotapes promoting the dream are published on an annual basis.
Read Romans 2:1–2, 4
“My treat!”
Nice words to hear, huh? They have flowed into my ears from any number of places—yours, too.
Treats are neat. Spontaneous. Unexpected. Pleasant moments that communicate: “You are special...loved, appreciated, affirmed, deserving,” and a half a dozen other warm fuzzies we need to hear but seldom hand out. Normally, they don’t come on holidays, birthdays, or anniversaries, but rather during the run-of-the-mill, no-big-deal times in our lives.
Read Proverbs 15:32–33
In a world where everyone is out to serve self, it’s refreshing to read these ancient words from the pen of one of the most powerful men who ever lived: Solomon.
If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding. Fear of the LORD teaches wisdom; humility precedes honor. (Proverbs 15:32-33)
In different words, Jesus says virtually the same thing:
Read Hebrews 12:14–15
There is no torment like the inner torment of an unforgiving spirit. Without question, it is one of the most miserable attitudes to experience in life.
Read Philippians 1:6
Persistence is a costly investment, no question about it. But the dividends are so much greater than the original outlay that you’ll almost forget the price. And if the final benefits are significant, you’ll wonder why you ever hesitated to begin with.
Read Hosea 1:2
When Hosea married a prostitute, respect for him dropped to zero. “Small wonder he is listed first among the minor prophets,” some may sneer today. “He must have been a real loser.”
Read 1 Peter 5:5–8
Ours is a day of superficiality. If you can fake it, you’re often admired as being clever, not criticized for being phony. Mediocrity can mark the ministry just as overtly as it marks many of those who work for the government and are employed in industry. I’ve also noticed that staying longer in the same place can only perpetuate the problem. People tend to let seniority excuse the erosion of excellence.
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