HELPING PEOPLE TO DRAW CLOSE TO JEHOVAH

Building Love for God and Christ

For faith to endure, it must be based on a personal relationship with Jehovah God through Jesus Christ.  As imperfect humans, we can attain such a peaceful relationship with God only through his Son.  (Romans 5:10)  Remember that Jesus said:  "No one comes to the Father except through me."   To help others build faith, "no man can lay any other foundation than what is laid, which is Jesus Christ."  What does this involve? -John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 3:11.

 Building on Christ as the foundation means teaching in such a way that the Bible student develops a deep love for Jesus through full knowledge of His role as Redeemer, Head of the congregation, loving High Priest, and reigning King.  (Daniel 7:13, 14; Matthew 20:28; Colossians  1:18-20; Hebrews 4:14-16) It means making Jesus so real to them that he virtually dwells  in their hearts.   Our prayer for them should be like Paul's petition in  behalf of Christians in Ephesus.  He wrote:  "I bend my knees to the Father, . . . to the end that he may grant you . . .to have the Christ dwell  through your faith in your hearts with love; that you may be rooted and established on the foundation." -Ephesians 3:14-17.

If we build in such a manner that love for Christ develops in the hearts of our students, this will logically result in building love for Jehovah God.  Jesus' love, feeling, and compassion are a faithful reflection of Jehovah's qualities.  (Matthew 11:28-30; Mark 6:30-34; John 15:13, 14; Colossians 1:15; Hebrews 1:3)  So as people get to know and love Jesus, they will come to know and love Jehovah.  (1 John 4:14, 16, 19) We need to teach Bible  students that Jehovah is behind all that Christ has done for mankind and that we therefore owe Him thanks, praise and worship as the "God of our salvation." -Psalm 68:19, 20; Isaiah 12:2-5; John 3:16; 5:19.

As God's fellow workers, let us help people to draw close to him and his Son, helping them to develop love and faith in their hearts.  Jehovah will thus become real to them.  (John 7:28)  Through Christ,  they will be able to establish an intimate relationship with God, and they will love him and stick to him.  They will set no time limit on their loving service, exercising faith that Jehovah's wonderful promises will be fulfilled in due time.  (Lamentations 3:24-26; Hebrews 11:6)  While helping others to develop faith, hope and love, however, we must build our own faith so that it is like a sturdy ship capable of weathering severe storms.  This will be considered in the following article.

Next time: ANCHORED BY  HOPE, IMPELLED BY LOVE

Watchtower, 2000