The Welfare of Others

The Welfare of Others

“I have no one else like him, who takes
a genuine interest in your welfare.”
                       Philippians 2:20

The story is one familiar to most Christians: Paul and Silas were in jail, having been severely beaten for delivering a slave girl from a demonic spirit. Around midnight they were praying and singing hymns to God when an earthquake struck. The shaking from the earthquake was so violent that it caused the prison doors to fly open and everyone’s chains to fall off. Now I don’t know too many people who, at that moment of seemingly being set free, wouldn’t have encouraged Paul and Silas to run for the hills. Yet, despite their wounds, and despite the open doors, that is not at all what those two godly men did.

Years later, Paul wrote back to the believers in the city where those events occurred and commended the character of young Timothy, pointing out traits that made Timothy stand out from the crowd of believers in his day. Paul wrote, “I have no one else who takes a genuine interest in your welfare. For everyone looks out for his own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.” Maybe living in a “me first” generation as we do is not so original after all. But, hopefully, there are still Timothy’s to be found in the church, men and women who will put others’ needs before their own.

But I want to get back to what happened that day in the jail when the earthquake struck because Paul had lived out the very traits he was noting in Timothy’s life. Taking advantage of the open doors in the jail that night would have meant the certain death of the jailer whose responsibility it was to guard them. Misinterpreting the open doors as a sign to flee would have had disastrous results for not just the jailer but his entire family. No, Paul and Silas were found sitting in their cell, and the result was that the jailer and his entire family became believers that night.  The choice to “not seek their own good but the good of many” bore incredible fruit not only that night for that family but it resulted in a strong church being raised up in that city.

Putting the welfare of others first so goes against the grain of our society that it has to become a trait we purposefully embrace. Certainly the Lord demonstrated it for us on the cross, when He gave up His life for ours.  And Paul and Silas provided another stirring example in their response to cell doors flying open and chains falling off. Now it’s our turn. Let’s each look for opportunities to help others through life, even in situations where our own interests have to take a back seat to those of others.

God Bless
Pastor Joe
Gateway Church