Seeking the Good of Others
"Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of
others." - 1 Corinthians 10:24
Dr. Eleanor Chestnut arrived in China in 1893. She was a
missionary doctor serving under the American Presbyterian
missions board. She built a hospital, using her own money to
buy bricks and mortar. The need for her services was so
great that she performed surgery in her bathroom until the
building was completed.
One operation involved the amputation of a laborer's leg. Complications arose, and skin grafts were needed. A few days later, another doctor asked Chestnut why she was limping. "Oh, it's nothing," was her terse reply. Finally, a nurse revealed that the skin graft for the patient came from Dr. Chestnut's own leg. She performed the operation giving herself only local anesthetic to remove her skin.
During the Boxer Rebellion of 1905, Dr. Chestnut and four other missionaries were arrested. As she was being led to prison, she saw a little boy bruised and bleeding. Immediately she broke away from her captors, and kneeling down she bound up the youngster's wound. A few hours afterward she was executed.
Fifty years passed, and people in China still talked
about the foreign doctor whose loving concern for others
made them think of Jesus.
The perfect example of seeking the good of others is Jesus
Christ. Selfless His entire life, He gave His life so we may
come to the Father. Today in prayer, thank the Lord for His
selfless life and pray that you will seek the good of
others.
"If our faith does not touch people with love it's selfish,
a blessing only to us." - Mary Taylor Previte
God's Word: "Each of you should look not only to your own
interests, but also to the interests of others." -
Philippians 2:4
By Peter Kennedy, Copyright 2003, Devotional E-Mail
DEVOTIONS IN 1 CORINTHIANS
pkennedy@devotional.com