Lessons From "the Disciile Whom Jesus Loved" - LOVE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS

 

John could have stayed with his father and made money working in the family fishing business.  But instead he devoted the remainder of his long life to helping others learn the truth about Jehovah and Jesus. The life John chose was not an easy one.  He suffered persecution, and hear the end of the first century when he was an old man,  he was exiled.  (Acts 3:1; 4:1-3; 5:18; Revelatiuon 1:9)  Even while confined for preaching about Jesus, John proved that he was thinking of others.  For example, while on the island of Patmos, he recorded the revelation that he received and had it sent to the congregations so that they would know what "must shortly take place." (Revelation 1:1) Then, likely after he was released from Patmos, John worte his Gospel account of Jesus' life and ministry.  He also wrote three letters in order to encourage and strengthen his brothers and sisters. How can you imitate John's self-sacrificing life course? 

You can prove that you love people by what you choose to do with your life.  Satan's sytem would have you spend all your time and energy on yourself, trying to make money or to make money or a name for yourself.  Instead, self-sacrificing Kingdom proclaimers all over the world spend as much time as they can preaching the good news and helping people all over the world spend as much time as they can preaching the good news and helping people to draw close to Jehovah. Some are even able to preach and teach full-time. 

Many loyal Christians must work at secular work jobs full-time so that they can support themselves and their famil/ies.  Even so, these faithful publishers support God's organization in any way they can.  For instance, some are able to provide disaster relief, others can work on construction projects, and everyone has the opportunity to donate funds to the worldwide work.  They do these things because they love God and their fellow man.  Each week, we prove that we love our brothers and sisters by attending congregation meetings and participating in them. Although we may be tired, we are present at those meetings. Although we may nervous, we comment. And although we all have problems of our own, we encourage others before or after the meeting.  (Hebrews 10:24, 25)  How grateful we are fo the work done byour fellow publishers!

Next time: Lessons From "the Disciple Whom Jesus Loved" - LOVE YOUR BROTHERS AND SISTERS- Conclusion

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