Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

It's hard for me to read Paul's words without wincing: "Five times I received from the Jews thirty-nine lashes. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned, three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent in the deep."

Elie Wiesel gives readers a tragic perspective on the horror of the holocaust. Wiesel's book, Night, will grab you and not let you go. In terse, tightly packed sentences, he describes those scenes and his own confusion.

Funny, we seldom think that a great apostle like Paul ever suffered from insomnia, but he did. He couldn't sleep sometimes because of acute deprivations, like hunger, cold, and exposure.

It is an inescapable fact. If you get serious about being shaped into Christ's image, you'll have to learn to cope with the consequences of being a servant of God. Those who serve will suffer.

If you enjoy watching and playing the game of football (I certainly do), you have observed a curious activity called a "spike." It's rather unusual. A team fights its way toward the goal line yard by yard.

In yesterday's post, we were introduced to four common struggles all servants of God deal with. Really, they're consequences. In 2 Corinthians 4:8–9 we read them: afflicted, perplexed, persecuted, struck down.

We Christians have received a priceless treasure (the glorious gospel) in a very frail and perishable container (our weak bodies). There is a reason. So nobody will have any question about the source of power.

Greathearted, loving, caring, sacrificial servants of the living God have known ill treatment down through the centuries. The consequence of serving is no new phenomenon. It goes a long way back in time.

As you serve people in ministry, you will give, forgive, forget, release your own will, obey God to the maximum, and wash dirty feet with an attitude of gentleness and humility.

We Americans like things to be logical and fair. We not only like that, we operate our lives on that basis. Logic and fairness are big guns in our society. Meaning this: if I do what is right, good will come to me.

Reading the words of our Savior, we need to realize the tremendous emphasis He put on obedience. As I think about appropriating Christ's model and commands, three specifics seem important enough to mention.

For a moment, let's pretend you work for me. In fact, you are my executive assistant in a company that is growing rapidly. I'm the owner and I'm interested in expanding overseas.

Jesus said a strong thing to Peter when He spoke these words: "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me" (John 13:8). Our Lord's rebuke introduces a convicting observation.

Being a super high-achiever, I must confess I find it difficult to receive from others. Really difficult. I’m usually on the giving end, not the receiving. My pride fights hard to stay intact when receiving generosity.

As Jesus prepared to wash His disciples' feet, He never said, "Men, I am now going to demonstrate servanthood—watch my humility." No way. That kind of obvious pride was the trademark of the Pharisees.

The gentle and humble lifestyle of the Savior is nowhere more evident than in the account of John 13, where He washed the feet of His friends, the disciples. In that event, He left us some timeless principles we dare not ignore.

I've been involved in a serious study of Scripture for more than fifty years of my life, and in all that time I have found only one place where Jesus Christ—in His own words—describes His own "inner man."

A familiar essay anonymously written many years ago says this about Jesus Christ: "Nineteen long centuries have come and gone and today he is the centerpiece of the human race and the leader of the column of progress."

During my days in seminary, I formed a habit that helped me immensely throughout life. I had my artistic sister, Luci, print a simple, three-word question on a small rectangular card I placed on the wall.

In recent posts, I have written about God's servants feeling used and unappreciated, experiencing undeserved disrespect and resentment, and having hidden greed—a desire to be rewarded.