1. What does Jehovah see when he looks at his people?
How happy it is to know that “Jehovah is delighted with his people”! (Ps. 149: 4). He looks at our good qualities, sees our potential and gives us his friendship. As long as we are faithful to him, he will always be close to us (John 6:44).
2. Why is it difficult for some brothers to believe that Jehovah loves them?
Someone may say: "I know that Jehovah loves his people in general, but how do I know that he loves me?" Why is it that some brothers ask that question? Let's see what Oksana, * who had a tough childhood, says: “When I was baptized and pioneered, I was very happy. But 15 years later, very painful memories began to invade me. I came to the conclusion that I no longer had Jehovah's approval and that I did not deserve to be loved by him. " A pioneer named Yua, who also had a difficult childhood, recounts: "I dedicated my life to Jehovah because I wanted to make him happy, but I was convinced that he could never love me."
3. What questions will we answer in this article?
Like these two faithful sisters, we may love Jehovah deeply but find it hard to believe that he loves us. In this article we will answer these two questions: why should we convince ourselves that he really loves us? And what can we do when negative feelings invade us?
DOUBTING JEHOVAH'S LOVE IS DANGEROUS
4. Why is it dangerous to doubt Jehovah's love?
If we are convinced that Jehovah loves us, we will be compelled to give him our best, no matter what difficulties we face in life. But if we doubt his love, "our strength will fail" (Prov. 24:10). And if we become discouraged and begin to believe that Jehovah does not love us, we will be defenseless against the attacks of Satan (Eph. 6:16).
5. What has happened to some brothers who doubted God's love?
Some faithful Christians have begun to doubt that Jehovah cares about them, and as a result their faith has weakened. An elder named James says: “Although I was serving at Bethel and enjoying preaching in a foreign language congregation, I wondered if Jehovah really accepted my sacrifices. At one point I doubted that he was listening to my prayers. " Eva, who also serves full time, explains: “I realized that doubting Jehovah's love is dangerous because it makes you stop wanting to do things for him and lose the joy of serving him. You enter a vicious circle ”. And Michael, who is a regular pioneer and an elder, says, "If you don't believe that God cares about you, little by little you walk away from him."
6. What should we do when negative feelings invade us?
These comments help us understand why doubting God's love is so dangerous. What should we do when negative feelings invade us? Get them out of our head immediately. Let us ask Jehovah to give us his peace and to protect our hearts and minds so that we can rid ourselves of “disturbing thoughts” (Ps. 139: 23; note; Philip. 4: 6, 7). And let's not forget that there are other faithful Christians who are also struggling with negative feelings. Even some of Jehovah's servants in the past felt this way. Let's see what we can learn from the example of the Apostle Paul.
WHAT WE LEARN FROM PAUL'S EXAMPLE
7. What problems did Paul have?
Do we carry so many responsibilities that sometimes we feel like we can't handle them all? This is how the apostle Paul felt. He said he was concerned not for one congregation, but "for all congregations" (2 Cor. 11: 23-28). Do we suffer from a chronic illness that often robs us of joy? Paul was very frustrated because he could not get rid of a certain "thorn in the flesh", perhaps some health problem (2 Cor. 12: 7-10). Are we discouraged by our imperfections? Pablo sometimes too. He said that he was very unhappy because all the time he had to fight to do what is right (Rom. 7: 21-24).
8. What helped Paul to continue serving Jehovah despite the problems?
Despite so many trials and difficulties, Paul continued to serve Jehovah. Where did he get his strength from? Although he was very aware of his shortcomings, he had an unshakable faith in the rescue. Furthermore, he was well aware of Jesus' promise that anyone who shows faith in him will have eternal life (John 3:16; Rom. 6:23). There was no doubt that Paul had faith in the ransom. He was convinced that Jehovah is willing to forgive even those who have committed serious sin if they are repentant (Ps. 86: 5).
9. What do Paul's words recorded in Galatians 2:20 teach us?
Paul had faith that God loved him very much because he knew that God had sent Jesus to die for him. Let's look at the comforting words that we find at the end of Galatians 2:20 (read it). Paul said, "The Son of God ... loved me and gave himself up for me." Paul did not think that God's love for him had a limit, as if to say: "I understand why Jehovah loves my brothers, but it is impossible for him to love me." In fact, he reminded the Romans: "While we were still sinners, Christ died for us" (Rom. 5: 8). God's love has no limits.
10. What does Romans 8:38, 39 teach us?
(Read Romans 8:38, 39). Paul was totally convinced of the power of God's love. He wrote that nothing "can separate us from the love of God." He knew that Jehovah had been very patient with the nation of Israel. And he also knew that she had shown him mercy. In short, Paul was saying, "If Jehovah sent his Son to die for me, I have no reason to doubt that he loves me" (Rom. 8:32).
ILLUSTRATION
What counts with God is what we do now and in the future, not the mistakes we made in the past. (See paragraph 11) *
11. Although Paul had committed sins, such as those mentioned in 1 Timothy 1: 12-15, why was he sure that God loved him?
(Read 1 Timothy 1: 12-15). Surely Pablo sometimes felt very guilty about his past. He said he was "the worst" of sinners, and with good reason. Before learning the truth, he cruelly persecuted Christians in many cities, put some in jail, and supported the execution of others (Acts 26:10, 11). Let's imagine that in the past you supported the execution of a Christian marriage and now you knew their son. How would it have felt? Pablo regretted his mistakes, but knew that he could not change the past. He became convinced that Christ had died for him and confidently wrote: “By the undeserved kindness of God I am what I am” (1 Cor. 15: 3, 10). What do we learn? That we have to convince ourselves that Christ died for each of us and thus made it possible for us to have a personal friendship with Jehovah (Acts 3:19).
12. According to 1 John 3:19, 20, what should we do if we feel that we are worthless or do not deserve to be loved?
Sometimes our imperfect heart can deceive us into feeling like we are useless or unworthy of being loved (read 1 John 3:19, 20). Because of this, we may come to think that Jesus' sacrifice cannot cover our sins. When we feel like this, let us remember that "God is bigger than our heart." Although we feel that our heavenly Father does not love or forgive us, the reality is that he does love us and does forgive us. We have to convince our heart to accept it. To do this, we have to study his Word every day, pray frequently, and spend time with the brethren on a regular basis. Let's see why these three things are so important.
HOW STUDY, PRAYER AND OUR BROTHERS HELP US
13. How does studying God's Word help us? (See also the box “How God's Word Helps You”).
Study God's Word every day. By doing so, we will get to know Jehovah's beautiful personality better and better and we will realize how much he loves us. Meditating each day on the Bible will help us to think more clearly and “set things straight” in our minds and hearts (2 Tim. 3:16). An elderly man named Kevin, who struggled with low self-esteem, says: "Reading Psalm 103 and meditating on it has helped me to see things as they are and to understand what Jehovah really thinks of me." Eva, mentioned in paragraph 5, explains: “At the end of the day, I spend a little time quietly meditating on how Jehovah views things. That gives peace to my heart and strengthens my faith.
14. How does prayer help us?
Pray frequently (1 Thess. 5:17). Good friendships are based on frequent and honest communication, and this is also true of Jehovah. When we tell him what we feel, what we think, and what concerns us, we show him that we trust him and know that he loves us (Ps. 94: 17-19; 1 John 5:14, 15). Yua, mentioned in the second paragraph, recounts: “When I pray, I try not to limit myself to telling Jehovah what I did that day. I open my heart to him and tell him everything I feel. Instead of seeing Jehovah as the president of a company, little by little I have learned to see him as a father who truly loves his children. " (See the box “Have you read it?”).
15. How does Jehovah show that he cares about each one of us?
Spend time with our brothers. They are a gift from Jehovah (James 1:17). Our heavenly Father shows that he cares for each of us by providing us with a spiritual family of brothers who “love us at all times” (Prov. 17:17). In his letter to the Colossians, Paul mentioned certain Christians who had helped him and said that they had “become a source of great comfort” to him (Col. 4:10, 11). Jesus Christ himself needed and appreciated the support he received from his friends, both angels and human beings (Luke 22:28, 43).
16. How do our brothers help us draw closer to Jehovah?
Do we seek and accept the help of our brothers in the congregation? Telling a mature brother what worries us is not a sign of weakness; in fact, it can be a protection. Consider what James says, mentioned in paragraph 5: “Having good friendships with mature Christians has been a lifesaver for me. When negative feelings invade me, those dear friends listen to me patiently and remind me that they love me. Through them I perceive that Jehovah loves me and cares for me. " How important it is that we have good friends in the congregation!
REMAIN IN JEHOVAH'S LOVE
17, 18. Who should we listen to, and why?
Satan wants us to give up and stop doing what is right. He wants us to think that Jehovah does not love us and does not consider us good enough to save us. But, as we have seen, there is nothing further from the truth.
Jehovah loves us and highly values each of his servants. If we obey him, we will always remain in his love, just like Jesus (John 15:10). So let us not listen to Satan or our hearts when they try to convince us that Jehovah does not love us. Instead, listen to Jehovah, who looks at the good things in each of us. Let us convince ourselves that he "is delighted with his people," including you.
WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?
Why should we resolve any doubts that Jehovah loves us?
Because doubting the love of God is dangerous for us, as Proverbs 24:10 says "We may lack the strength" to continue rendering full service and faith can be weakened, as was well related in the experiences we analyze in this study Therefore we must not allow negative feelings to invade us, asking Jehovah for help to protect our hearts and to give us his peace.
What do we learn from the Apostle Paul and many of Jehovah's servants today?
Paul was convinced that nothing could separate him from the love of God, as he very well expressed in his letter to Romans 8:38, 39, he knew that God had shown him mercy, thanks to Jesus' rescue, as Romans 8 says: 32. And today we must also be convinced in our hearts that nothing will separate us from the love of God, let us not let our hearts make us feel that we are useless, or that we do not deserve to be loved.
How do Bible study, prayer, and our brothers help us?
Studying the Bible will help us meditate and see clearly that Jehovah does love us. Prayer leads us to trust in Jehovah, because we talk with him, and we can tell him everything, what we feel, think, or worry about, 1 John 5: 14,15 clearly says “that we can ask for anything that is in accordance with his will ”and listen to us. And our brothers in the faith are a gift from God, they help us when negativity assails us, it is very important to have mature friends in the congregation, who make us see that Jehovah loves us.
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