Day by Day - Dec. 22, 2009

No hypocrisy, no competition. Wouldn't that be refreshing to live such a life? It all comes to those with a "renewed mind" . . . those who determine they are going to allow the Spirit of God to invade all those walls and towers, capturing the guards that have kept Him at arm's length all these years.

I can't recall the precise date when these truths began to fall into place, but I distinctly remember how I began to change deep within. My fierce tendency to compete with others started to diminish. My insecure need to win—always win—also started to fade. Less and less was I interested in comparing myself with other speakers and pastors. This growing, healthy independence freed me to be me, not a mixture of what I thought others expected me to be.

And now my heart really goes out to others when I see in them that misery-making "comparison syndrome" that held me in its grip for so many years. Not until you start thinking biblically will this independent identity begin to take shape.

It is when God is in control of the servant mind that we can realize as never before that life's greatest joy is to give His love away to those poor souls who are still stuck in the rut of comparative living.

The more you give, the more you'll get!

Excerpted from Day by Day with Charles Swindoll, Copyright © 2000 by Charles R. Swindoll, Inc. (Thomas Nelson Publishers). All rights reserved worldwide. Used by permission.