And He died for all, that those who live should not from now on live for themselves, but for Him who died for them and rose again.

— 2 Corinthians 5:15

General William Booth, the founder of the Salvation Army, wrote a telegram when he was on his death bed and had it sent worldwide to every officer in the Salvation Army. It consisted of just one word: “Others.”

After I mentioned the telegram in a sermon, a young lady came up to me several weeks later and said, “You know, when you preached about Booth’s telegram, I decided right then and there that I was going to make that day “Others’ Day.”

“Good idea,” I thought. She said, “And so I tried to focus throughout all of that day on the needs and wants of other people.  “I was so blessed by the end of the day that I decided to make it ‘Others’ Week.'” Then she said, “By the end of the week, I was so filled with joy that I couldn’t believe it. It was the happiest week of my life.”

I am convinced that one reason so many people are lonely is because they are so self-centered. If they would only turn their eyes outward and consider that the world desperately needs comfort, they would find that they wouldn’t be lonely at all. They wouldn’t be rejected at all if they really showed the love of Christ to others. The key to Christian service is being focused on “Others.”

Question to ponder:
What could you do today to make it “Others’ Day”?