INSIGHT FOR TODAY WITH CHUCK SWINDOLL.
Chuck Swindoll’s ‘Insight for Today’ Daily Devotional is here. Insight for Today provides practical, relevant insight into today’s issues with Biblical principles applied. This devotional will help you connect with God on a daily basis, while also equipping you with a Bible-based approach to transforming your everyday life. Insight for Today” is a daily devotional written by Chuck Swindoll.
The Topic of Chuck Swindoll Daily Devotional 14th January 2023 is “Forgetting Your Own Good Deeds”.
Scripture:  Philippians 3:4–14
4Â though I could have confidence in my own effort if anyone could. Indeed, if others have reason for confidence in their own efforts, I have even more!
5 I was circumcised when I was eight days old. I am a pure-blooded citizen of Israel and a member of the tribe of Benjamin—a real Hebrew if there ever was one! I was a member of the Pharisees, who demand the strictest obedience to the Jewish law.
6Â I was so zealous that I harshly persecuted the church. And as for righteousness, I obeyed the law without fault.
7 I once thought these things were valuable, but now I consider them worthless because of what Christ has done.
8 Yes, everything else is worthless when compared with the infinite value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have discarded everything else, counting it all as garbage, so that I could gain Christ
9 and become one with him. I no longer count on my own righteousness through obeying the law; rather, I become righteous through faith in Christ. For God’s way of making us right with himself depends on faith.
10 I want to know Christ and experience the mighty power that raised him from the dead. I want to suffer with him, sharing in his death,
11 so that one way or another I will experience the resurrection from the dead!
Pressing toward the Goal
12 I don’t mean to say that I have already achieved these things or that I have already reached perfection. But I press on to possess that perfection for which Christ Jesus first possessed me.
13Â No, dear brothers and sisters, I have not achieved it,*Â but I focus on this one thing: Forgetting the past and looking forward to what lies ahead,
14Â I press on to reach the end of the race and receive the heavenly prize for which God, through Christ Jesus, is calling us.
TODAY’S INSIGHT – 14TH JANUARY 2023.
Yesterday, we talked about what it means to “forget” when other people do bad deeds to us. Today, I want to address forgetting when we do good deeds to others.
In other words, once our own good deeds are done, they’re done. Forget them. No need to drop little hints on how thoughtful we were. Just as we refuse to keep score of how people have offended us, we don’t keep score of all we’ve done for them.
Tucked away in the New Testament is a chapter that illustrates this beautifully. The writer, Paul, lists a number of things in his past that could be food for pride.
If anyone else has a mind to put confidence in the flesh, I far more: circumcised the eighth day, of the nation of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the Law, a Pharisee; as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to the righteousness which is in the Law, found blameless. (Philippians 3:4–6)
If you were looking for somebody to give a testimony next Sunday, Paul would be a winner. In fact, if he were not careful, he could turn it into a “braggimony.” These are impressive facts . . . and they are absolutely true. But Paul kept it all in proper perspective:
But whatever things were gain to me, those things I have counted as loss for the sake of Christ. More than that, I count all things to be loss in view of the surpassing value of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them but rubbish so that I may gain Christ, and may be found in Him, not having a righteousness of my own derived from the Law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which comes from God on the basis of faith. (3:7–9)
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. Paul’s following words describe the healthy humility of a servant:
Not that I have already obtained it or have already become perfect, but I press on so that I may lay hold of that for which also I was laid hold of by Christ Jesus. Brethren, I do not regard myself as having laid hold of it yet; but one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and reaching forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (3:12–14)
Basically, Paul said, “I don’t mean to say I am perfect. I haven’t learned all I should even yet, but I keep working toward that day when I will finally be all that Christ saved me for and wants me to be.”
Woven into Paul’s words are these three statements: “I have not arrived . . . I forget what is behind . . . I move on to what is ahead.”
Tomorrow, we’ll begin to unpack those words. But for now, read them again with the goal of forgetting the good deeds you’ve done for others:
“I have not arrived . . . I forget what is behind . . . I move on to what is ahead.”
About Chuck Swindoll Daily Devotional “Today’s Insight”.
Today’s Insight is written by Chucks Swindoll. Chuck Swindoll has devoted his life to the accurate, practical teaching and application of God’s Word and His grace. Since 1988 he has served as the founder and senior pastor-teacher of Stonebriar Community Church in Texas, but his listening audience extends far beyond a local church body. The radio broadcast of this devotional program has aired for more than 35 years. Read more.
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