Cleansed As A People For Fine Works
"Who may ascend into the mountain of Jehovah, and who may rise up in his holy place?" King David of ancient Israel raised that question regarding worship that is acceptable to Jehovah. He then provided the answer: "Anyone innocent in his hands and clean in heart, who has not carried My soul to sheer worthlessness, nor taken an oath deceitfully." (Psalm 24:3, 4) To be acceptable to Jehovah, who is the very embodiment of holiness, one must be clean and holy. Earlier, Jehovah reminded the congregation of Israel: "You must sanctify yourselves and you must prove yourselves holy, because I am holy." -Leviticus 11:44, 45: 19:2.

Centuries later, the apostle Paul wrote to fellow Christians in the decandent city of Corinth: " Since we have these promises, beloved ones, let us cleanse ourselves of every defilement of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in God's fear." (2Corinthians 7:1) This once again makes the point that to have a relationship with God and to receive his promised blessings, one must be clean and free from physical and spiritual defilement and corruption. Likewise, in writing about worship that is acceptable to God, the disciple James stated: " The form of worship that is clean and undelfiled from the standpoint of our God and Father is this: to look after orphans and widows in their tribulation, and to keep oneself without spot from the world." -James 1:27.

Since being clean, holy and undefiled are such important factors in true worship, anyone desiring to gain God's approval should be seriously concerned with measuring up in this area. Because People today have widely differing standards and concepts regarding cleanness, however, we need to understand and abide by what Jehovah considers clean and acceptable. We need to find out what God requires of his worshippers in this regard and what he has done to help them to become and remain clean and accceptable to him. - Psalm 119:9; Daniel 12:10.

We Are Responsible
Trying to pin the entire blame for our misconduct on our genes simply does not work. Rather than helping us to solve or overcome our problems notes Psychology Today, doing so "may be teaching us a helpesness that is at the root of many of our problems. Instead of reducing the incidence of these problems, this seems to have fueled their growth."

It is true that we must contend with major adverse forces, including our own sinful tendencies and Satan's efforts to distract us in one way or another. But we are surely not helpless. True Christgians have powerful allies-Jehovah, Jesus Christ, God's holy spirit, his Word the Bible, and the Christian congregation.- 1Timothy 6:11,12; 1John 2:1.

Before the nation of Israel entered the Promised Land, Moses reminded the people of their responsibility before God, saying: "I have put life and death before you, the blessing and the malediction; and you must choose life in order that you may keep alive, you and your offspring, by loving Jehovah your God, by listening to his voice and by sticking to him." (Deuteronomy 30:19, Likewise today, each responsible individual is obliged to make a personal decision about serving God and meeting his requirements . The choice is yours. - Galatians 6:7,8.