We read in the Bible of great men who were really nice to others. They were unselfish—they thought of what was best for others rather than themselves. Can you name some of these men?

One of them is Abraham. When the wickedness of the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah was so very bad, God saw the need to destroy those cities. Why? Wickedness, sin, evil, all hurt people. So, when crimes and really evil things were being done there, God wanted to stop the suffering. If the Sodom and Gomorrah would keep going the way they were, many more people would be hurt. But before destroying the city, God had a talk with His friend, Abraham. Abraham asked God to not destroy the city if there would be only ten righteous people in it.

That was really nice of Abraham. Why? Those cities were not very far from where he lived, so maybe those bad people might later become a danger to him, too. But Abraham’s main thought was not for his own safety; it was to save those people if possible. Since there were not even ten righteous ones there, God had to destroy the cities. But we see that Abraham cared about the people just like God did. Many more cities today are not destroyed only because God, just like in the days of Abraham, truly cares about the people in them.

What about Moses? He was so very patient with people who seemed to be so unthankful and were complaining all the time. But once when they were behaving very badly, God was ready to destroy them because they really deserved it. But Moses asked God to spare them and blot his own name out of the book of life—and save them instead of himself. Just think! If that had happened, the bad people would be saved and Moses would not be! But this faithful man had so much love, he was willing to die to save others who did not deserve it.

How about Jonathan? He was the son of a king, so normally he would be the one to get the throne after his father would die. But he knew in his heart that God had chosen David to become the king, not him. Jonathan did not get mad or jealous. He protected David so well, he was even willing to die for his friend. What a great man!

John the Baptist is another unselfish man. He preached about Jesus’ coming, but when the time came for people to follow Jesus, John the Baptist stepped out of the way. He knew Jesus was now to be the One everyone was to watch and listen to, not himself anymore.

Of course, these men all learned this kindness through the Spirit of Jesus. Some people might be willing to give their life for a good person, but Jesus—the Son of God—gave His pure, holy life to save sinners such as we are.

Are we ready to be unselfish like these were? They had real peace and love in their hearts and the Lord Jesus will greatly reward all His followers in eternity. Let us always be thankful for this!—BHM.