“Through love serve one another.” Galatians 5:13 NKJV

In 1881, shortly after Booker T. Washington became head of the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama that trained schoolteachers, he was walking past the house of a wealthy family. Assuming that Washington was one of the yard workers her husband had hired, the woman of the house asked him if he would chop some wood for her. Professor Washington smiled, nodded, took off his coat, and chopped the wood. When he carried the armload of wood into the woman’s kitchen, a servant girl recognized him and rushed to her mistress to tell her of his identity. The next morning the woman appeared in Washington’s office. Apologizing profusely, she said repeatedly, “I did not know it was you I put to work.” Washington replied with generosity, “It’s entirely alright, madam. I like to work, and I’m delighted to do favours for my friends.” The woman was so taken with his manner and his willingness to forgive that she gave generous gifts to the institute. She also persuaded many of her wealthy friends and acquaintances to do likewise. In the end, Washington raised as much money for the institute from this one act of chopping wood as he did from many other fundraising events. The Bible says, “Through love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this: ‘You shall love your neighbour as yourself’” (vv. 13-14 NKJV). What can we learn from Booker T. Washington? Two things: (1) Every seed of kindness you sow brings an eventual harvest of blessing into your life. (2) The way to get ahead in life is to love and to serve others.

The Word for You Today is authored by Bob and Debby Gass and published under licence from Celebration Enterprises, Inc. Copyright © 2024