Daily Devotion

“In 1928 Chou Chin-yao, a poor thirteen-year-old in Changhua, injured his right knee; the wound ulcerated and he was in danger of losing his leg. Marjorie Landsborough (née Learner), wife of Dr. David Landsborough, offered her own skin, and her husband himself grafted four pieces from her thigh onto the boy's leg, the first skin graft in Taiwan's history. The graft from her body was eventually rejected, but Chou recovered after grafts of his own skin and later gave his life to the church as a pastor. The couple never spoke of it themselves; the story of this "love that gave its own skin" spread only after Chou told it at an evangelistic meeting.”

Love of Skin Foundation (切膚之愛基金會), Changhua · "The Story of the Love of Skin" (切膚之愛事蹟), Love of Skin Foundation website (sgwlf.org.tw); see also Wikipedia, "David Landsborough III"

Scripture

1 John 3:16 This is how we know what love is: He laid down his life for us. We also ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.

Reflection

Love is not an abstract emotion, but a concrete choice and act of giving. 1 John 3:16 further points to the source and ultimate meaning of love—the sacrifice of the Lord Jesus on the cross, which teaches us the true meaning of love. Dr. David Landsborough and his wife, with a love that gave its own skin, turned this faith into tangible sacrifice and spared a poor boy from losing his leg. Today, love may not require dramatic acts of self-sacrifice, but it does require us to step out of our comfort zones in our daily lives. Faced with the weaknesses and needs around us, are we willing to set aside selfishness and, with patient listening, practical support, and selfless concession, live out the true light of the cross?