Thinking Right

by Charles R. Swindoll

So then,[a] my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath; for the wrath of man does not produce the righteousness of God.Therefore lay aside all filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness the implanted word, which is able to save your souls. But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. 23 For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man observing his natural face in a mirror; for he observes himself, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he was. But he who looks into the perfect law of liberty and continues in it, and is not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this one will be blessed in what he does. James 1:19-25

Wouldn't you love to live courageously in spite of the odds? Doesn't it sound exciting to be divinely powerful in day-to-day living? Aren't you anxious to become authentic in a day of copy-cat styles and horrendous peer pressure? Of course!

It all begins in the mind. Thinking right always precedes acting right. That is why I emphasize the importance of the renewed mind. It is really impossible to grasp the concept of serving others---or to carry it out with joy, without fear---until our minds are freed from the world's mold and transformed by the Lord's power.

Now some so-called religious leaders and gurus exploit others by calling them to "servanthood" in order to control them and use them for their own purposes. I feel the need to warn you against becoming a victim of some strong personality who wishes to "use" you. How easy it is to encourage servanthood so others might serve us. That is not the way our Master walked and neither should we.

Servanthood starts in the mind. With a simple prayer of three words:

"Change me, Lord."

Lord, make me a servant who asks of you and of others, what can I do for you?


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