Insight for Today
A Daily Devotional by Pastor Chuck Swindoll

When Actions Matter More than Words

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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."

Cynthia, the children, and I talked this over at length. We decided we'd give it a whirl . . . so in moved Mr. Servant and his wife among our tribe of four kids, a dog, two hamsters, a rabbit, and a three-car garage full of stuff. It wasn't long before we realized those words, "I just want to be a servant," were just words, little more.

Time and again conflicts arose when our requests were met with his resistance. There was hardly an occasion when we would suggest that something be done a certain way without his offering an alternative suggestion. What began as an unselfish-sounding game plan, ultimately resulted in rather heated disagreements, much to our dismay.

Words come easy—but being a person who genuinely and personally gives to others calls for a solid commitment to make certain your life matches your words. Jesus is our most compelling model of the integrity of our words.

Among you it will be different. Whoever wants to be a leader among you must be your servant, and whoever wants to be first among you must be the slave of everyone else. For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.

MARK 10:43–45

Has there ever been a more perfect example of one whose words matched his actions? In fact, the entire New Testament demonstrates how perfectly Jesus did precisely all He had said He had come to do—to serve others and to give His life as a ransom for all of us.

Are you fulfilling in your actions what you have committed to do in your words? Ask the Lord to examine your life today. Be ready! He'll make a genuine servant out of you.