You Can Successfully Fight Negative Feelings - WHAT CAUSED PAUL TO HAVE NEGATIVE FEELINGS -Conclusion

 A thorn in the flesh. Paul compared something that was causing him much distress to "a thorn in the flesh. (2 Corinthians 12:7) The apostle did not mention the cause, but the word picture he suggests something-whether it was a problem, an emotional problem, or something else-that pained him. 

His imperfections. Paul struggled with his imperfections. (Read Romans 7:18, 19.) Although he wanted to do what was right, his imperfect flesh undermined his determination to do so. He admitted that there was a constant battle between his fleshly inclinations and the desire to do what was right. Yet, Paul worked very hard to improve. (1 Corinthians 9:27) How frustrated he must have been whenever his bad traits resurfaced.

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You Can Successfully Fight Negative Feelings - WHAT CAUSED PAUL TO HAVE NEGATIVE FEELINGS

    Things that he did in the past. Before becoming a Christian, Paul, earlier known as Saul, did things that he would later regret. For example, he watched with approval as faithful Stephen was stoned to death. (Acts 7:58; 8:1) Also, Saul took the lead in viciously persecuting Christians. - ACTS 8:3; 26:9-11. 

After he became a Christian, the apostle Paul was at times troubled by his past. His previous actions as a relentless persecutor of Christians may have bothered him even more as the years went by. For example, when he wrote his first letter to the Corinthians in about 55 C.E., he said: "I am not worthy of being called an apostle, because I persecuted the congregation of God." (1 Corinthians 15:9) Some five years later, in his letter to the Ephesians, he described himself as being "less than all the least of the holy ones." (Ephesians 3:8) When writing to Timothy, Paul referred himself as being formerly "a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insolent man." (1 Timothy 1:13) Can you imagine how Paul must have felt when he visited a congregation and met those he had persecuted? 

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You Can Successfully Fight Negative Feelings

 "Miserable man that I am!" - ROMANS 7:24.

WHAT come to your mind when you think of the apostle Paul? Do you think of a courageous missionary, a skilled teacher, or a prolific Bible writer? Those descriptions are certain accurate. Yet, Paul was also a man of deep emotions. Like many of us, he at times battled negative feelings. 

Read Romans 7:21-24.  In his letter to the Romans, Paul expressed feeling that many of us can relate to. Even though he was a faithful Christian, he had an inner struggle-a battle between his earnest desire to do God's will and his inclination to act on wrong desires. I addition to his inner conflict, Paul at times struggled with negative feelings about his past an about a persistent problem he was facing.

Despite his inner struggle, Paul did not allow his negative feelings to dominate his thinking. In this article, we will consider the following questions: What caused Paul at times to feel "miserable"? How did he deal with negative feelings? And how can we successfully fight our own negative feeligns?

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" - CONTINUE TO SATISFY YOUR SPIRITUAL NEED

Our 2026 yeartext states: "Happy are those conscious of their spiritual need." That is true today more than ever. Why? Because we are surrounded by unhappy people who deny that they have such a need or try to satisfy that need in their own way through false religion or human philosophy. We must avoid letting their attitude influence. How? By nourishing ourselves with the new personality, and by seeking shelter in the protection that Jehovah supplies. 

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" - LIKE DAVID-REMAIN SPIRITUALLY WELL-SHELTERED - Conclusion

 When David obeyed Jehovah, he was protected from the harm that comes to those who sin willfully. (Compare Proverbs 5:1, 2,) By contrast, when David ignored God's standards, Jehovah did not shelter him from the consequences of his actions. (Samuel 12:9, 10) What about the times when David suffered through no fault of his own? David poured out his heart to Jehovah in prayer, and Jehovah eased David's anxiety by reassuring him that He loved him dearly and would care for him. - PSALM 23:1-6. 

We can imitate David by seeking Jehovah's counsel when we make decisions. We also recognize that we may at times suffer hardship, not because Jehovah has failed to shepherd us, but because we have made poor decisions. (Galatians 6:7, 8) And when we face trials through no fault of our own, we pour our heart out to Jehovah in prayer, trusting that he will guard our hearts and thoughts. - PHILIPPIANS 4:6, 7. 

Next time: Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" -CONTINUE TO SATISFY YOUR SPIRITUAL NEED

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" -LIKE DAVID-REMAIN SPIRITUALLY WELL-SHELTERED

 To be truly happy, we need more than spiritual food and spiritual clothing. We also need spiritual shelter. What is that, and how can we be sure to remain under its protection? 

King David spoke about the spiritual shelter that Jehovah provides.  (Read Psalm 25:7) Jehovah protects his people from anyone and anything that could permanently harm their faith in him. How Jehovah shelters his servants from external threats? He promises that no weapon formed against them will have any success. (Psalm34:7; Isaiah 54:17) Although Satan and his agents are powerful, they are not able to cause us any lasting harm. Even if they take our life, Jehovah will give it back to us in the resurrection. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57; Revelation 21:3, 4) Jehovah also helps us to cope with internal anxieties that have the potential to cause us lasting harm. (Proverbs 12:25; Matthew 6:27-29) And our loving Father provides us with a spiritual family of brothers and sisters who support us and with elders who shepherd us. (Isaiah 32:1, 2) When we meet together, we often reminded of specific ways we can take advantage of Jehovah's protection. - HEBREWS 10:24, 25.

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need " -LIKE PAUL-REMAIN SPIRITUAL WELL-CLOTHED - Conclusion

 Paul was able to strip off his negative traits and then in clothing himself with the personality because he did not rely on his own strength. (Philippians 4:13) Like Peter, Pauli depended on "the strength that God supplies."  (1 Peter 4:11) Still, Paul at times felt like failure. But when he was discouraged, he thought of the good things his heavenly Father had done for him, and that strengthened his resolve to keep on trying. - ROMANS 7:21-25.

We can imitate Paul by recognizing that no matter how long we have been serving Jehovah, we need to keep working at stripping off the old personality and putting on the new personality-the spiritual clothing that God supplies. If we have setback-such as losing our temper or speaking unkindly to someone-we do not need to view ourselves as a failure. Instead, we should keep pursuing our goal of transforming the way we think and act. (Romans 12:1, 2; Ephesians 4:24) As wed do, however, we must remember a key fact: Unlike literal cloths that are adjusted to fit us, we must ourselves to fit the spiritual clothing that Jehovah supplies. It is only reasonable that we change who we are in order to measure up to God's requirements. 

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" - LIKE PAUL-REMAIN SPIRITUALLY WELL-CLOTHED

    To please God, we must take advantage of another of Jehovah's provisions: spiritual clothing. What do we mean by that? The apostle Paul wrote that we must "strip off the old personality" and clothe ourselves with the new personality" and clothe ourselves with "the new personality (Read Colossians 3:8-10.) Clothing ourselves in such a way is an ongoing challenge. Consider Paul's own example. From a young age, he worked hard to gain God's favor. (Galatians 1:14; Philippians 3:4, 5) But he lacked accurate knowledge of God's purpose and was thus in a poor spiritual condition. His ignorance of God's teachings, couple with pride, made him "an insolent man" who was clothed in negative traits. - 1 TIMOTHY 1:13. 

Before becoming a Christian, Paul had a hot temper. An account in Acts states that Paul was so angry with the disciples of Jesus that he was "breathing threat and murder" against them. (Acts 9:1) After becoming a Christian, Paul no doubt worked hard to strip off this old aspect of his old personality.  (Ephesians 4:22, 31) Even so, when Paul an Barnabas had an argument, it erupted into "a burst of anger." (Acts 15:37-39) That was a setback for Paul, but he did not give up. He kept 'pummeling his body-fighting his imperfections-so as to retain Jehovah's approval. - 1 CORINTHANS 9:27. 

Next time: Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" - LIKE PAUL-REMAIN SPIRITUALLY WELL-CLOTHED - Conclusion

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritual Need" - LIKE PETER-REMAIN WELL-FED SPIRITUALLY "

 Like Peter, we must regularly feed on the milk, or basic truths, of God's Word. We also develop an appetite for solid food-truths that may be more difficult to understand. We have set aside the time and be willing to make the effort to get a deeper understanding of God's Word, but its worth it. Why? We benefit in at least two ways; One, we learn things about Jehovah that deepen our love and respect for him; and two, we feel even more motivated to tell others about our awe-inspiring heavenly Father. (Romans 11:33; Revelation 4:11) Peter's example teaches us another lesson: when we receive adjustments in our understanding of God's Word, we need to be quick to adapt our thinking and actions. Only then will we remain spiritually well-fed and useful to Jehovah. 

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Continue to Satisfy Your "Spiritually Need" - LIKE PETER -REMAIN WELL-FED SPIRITUALLY

 Consider the apostle Peter's example, He was one of the first Jews to recognize that Jesus was the Messiah-the one whom Jehovah was using to feed His people "sayings of everlasting life." (John 6:66-68) Before the resurrected Jeus ascended to heaven, he gave Peter this commission: "Feed my little sheep." (John 21:17) Peter fulfilled that commission faithfully, and Jehovah even used him to write two letters that became part of the Bible. But Peter also needed to nourish himself with spiritual food. For example, he studied the inspired letter that the apostle Paul wrote previously. Peter acknowledged that some of the things Paul wrote about were "hard to understand." (2 Peter 3:15, 16) But Peter obviously persisted, having faith that Jehovah would help him digest, or understand and apply, the "solid food" that Paul had been inspired to serve in his letters. - Read Hebrews 5:14-6:1. 

Peter proved that he had faith in Jehovah by obeying the direction he received. For instance, while in the city of Joppa, Peter had a vision in which God's representative told him to slaughter and eat animals that, according to the Mosaic Law, were unclean. To the Jews, that direction would have been shocking. At first, Peter responded: "Not all, Lord, because I have never eaten anything defiled and unclean." He was then told: "Stop calling the defiled the things God has cleanse." (Acts 10:9-15) Peter got the point. How do we know? Soon after he received the vision, three men sent by the Gentile Cornelius arrived and invited Peter to come and speak to his master. Normally, Peter would never have agreed to enter a Gentile's house. The Jews considered Gentiles to be unclean. (Acts 10:28, 29) But Peter immediately accepted the new light that Jehovah revealed to him. (Proverbs 4:18) He preached to Cornelius and his household and had the joy of seeing them accept the truth, receive holy spirit, and get baptized. - ACTS 10:44-48. 

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