Be Courageous-Jehovah Is With You - MANY RISKED THEIR LIVES!

The Bible says that Aquila and Priscilla risked their lives for Paul.  (Acts 18:2; Romans 26:3, 4)   They showed courage and did what Jesus commanded:  "I am giving you a new commandment, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, that you also love another." ( John 13:34) The Law of Moses required that a person love others  just as he loved himself.  (Leviticus 19:18)  So why was Jesus' commandment "new"? Because it requires  us to show love by being willing to give our life for others, as he did. Many Christians have shown love by risking their lives to protect their brothers from being hurt or killed by enemies. - Read 1 JOHN 3:16. 

Like Jesus, the first Christian worshipped only Jehovah.   (Matthew 4:8-10)  They refused to burn incense in honor of the Roman emperor.  Daniel P. Mannix wrote in his book Those About to Die that an altar with a fire burning on it was usually kept  in the arena. He said that all a prisoner had to do was sprinkle some incense on the flame and he would be freed. It was explained to the prisoner that he would not be worshipping the emperor.  The prisoner was told that he wold simply be agreeing that the Roman emperor was a god. Even so, very few Christians accepted this offer to escape.

Christian who were put in Nazi concentration camps were given several opportunities to e free again and avoid death. All they had to do was sign a document that said they no longer worshipped Jehovah.  But only a few signed. During a war in Rwanda, Tutsi and Hutu Witnesses risked their lives to protect one another. God's people need courage and faith in situations like these. 

Next time: Be Courageous-Jehovah Is With You - REMEMBER, JEHOVAH IS WITH US!

From the j.w.org publications