Cultivate the Spirit of a Lesser One - "A LESSER ONE AMONG YOU IS GREAT"

Humility is essential  to our being content in God's theocratic organization and being supportive of the congregational arrangement. For example, consider Petra, a young woman raised in a family of Witnesses.  Wanting to do things her own way, Petra distance herself from the congregation.   Years later, she started to associate with the congregation once again. She is now happy to be in Jehovah's organization and is eager to support the congregational arrangement.  What has made the difference this time? "For me to feel at home in God's organization," she writes: "the two most important qualities I needed to understand and to cultivate were humility and modesty.'

A humble person has heartfelt gratitude for Jehovah's provisions, including spiritual food. Hence such an individual is  diligent worker of the Bible and an avid reader of the Watchtower and Awake! magazines.  Like many other faithful servants of Jehovah, he may make it a practice to read each new publication before putting it away on a bookshelf in his personal library.  When we manifest humble appreciation by reading and studying our Bible-based  publications, we make spiritual advancement, and Jehovah is able to use us more fully in his service. - HEBREWS 5:13, 14.

He who conducts himself as a lesser on is "great" in another way. Every congregation has qualified men appointed under the guidance  of Jehovah's holy spirit to serve as elders.  They make arrangements  for such spiritual matters as congregation meetings, field service, and shepherding.  When we manifest  the attitude of a lesser one by willingly supporting these  arrangements, we contribute to the joy, peace, and unity of the congregation. (Read Hebrews 13:7, 17.) If you are reading as an elder or a ministerial servant, you are not humbly grateful to Jehovah to Jehovah for entrusting you with such a privilege of service? 

You are behaving as a lesser one is "great," or more valuable to Jehovah's organization, because his humility makes him a good and useful servant of God.  Jesus had to admonish his disciples to behave as lesser ones because some of them were influenced by the prevailing spirit of the day.  "A reasoning entered among them as to who would be the greatest of them," states Luke 9:46.  Might we also begin to reason that we in some way are better than our fellow believers or superior to people in general?  Many in the world  around us are motivated by pride and selfishness.  Let us distance ourselves from the proud by behaving humbly.  When we do so and put Jehovah's will to the fore, we become more  refreshing associates of our brothers and sisters. 

Jesus' admonition to conduct ourselves as lesser ones truly is motivating.  Should we not strive to manifest the spirit of a lesser one in all aspect of life?  Let us give particular attention to three areas.

Next time: Cultivate the Spirit of a Lesser One - STRIVE TO BE A LESSER ONE

From the jw.org publications