“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