DAILY TEXT, From today Saturday May 6, The same thing happens with my Father who is in heaven: he does not want even one of these little ones to be lost (Matt. 18:14).

DAILY TEXT, From today Saturday May 6, 2023,  The same thing happens with my Father who is in heaven: he does not want even one of these little ones to be lost (Matt. 18:14).

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Saturday May 6

It is the same with my Father who is in heaven: he does not want even one of these little ones to perish (Matt. 18:14).

In what sense are the disciples of Jesus like “little ones”? Well, who does the world consider important? The rich, the famous and the powerful. But most of Jesus' disciples are not like that. For this reason, the people of the world consider them “little”, that is, unimportant, insignificant (1 Cor. 1:26-29). Instead, Jehovah does not see them that way. Why did Jesus speak of “these little ones”? His disciples had asked him: “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” (Matt. 18:1). At that time, many Jews attached great importance to prestige and social position. A specialist says: "Men lived and died anxious to enjoy honor, consideration, fame, approval and respect." Jesus knew that his disciples would have to work hard to leave behind the competitive spirit that was ingrained in Jewish culture. w21.06 20 par. 2; 21 paras. 6, 8, 9.

WE FORGIVE FROM HEART

What do we learn from Jesus' parable about the king and the slave?

After warning his disciples not to cause others to stumble, Jesus told them a parable about a king and one of his slaves. The king forgave the slave a debt that was so great that he could never pay it. Later, that same slave did not want to forgive another slave a much smaller debt. In the end, the king imprisoned that slave who had no mercy. What do we learn? Jesus stated: “This is how my heavenly Father will treat you if you do not forgive your brothers from your heart” (Matt. 18:21-35).

If we refuse to forgive, how do we hurt others?

What that slave did harmed not only him, but others as well. To begin with, he was cruel to his partner and "ordered him to be put in prison until he could pay the debt." And, besides, he hurt other slaves who saw what he had done. Jesus said: “When the other fellow slaves found out what had happened, they were very upset.” In a similar way, what we do also has an effect on others. If someone treats us badly and we refuse to forgive him, what can happen? We hurt him to begin with by denying him our forgiveness and love, and perhaps even ignoring him. In addition, we make the brothers in the congregation feel uncomfortable by noticing that we are not at peace with that person.

What do you learn from what happened to a pioneer?

Forgiving our brothers benefits us and makes others feel better. That was the case with a forerunner we'll call Crystal. She remembers how badly a sister in the congregation made her feel: “Her words from her were sometimes as sharp as a knife. When we went out to preach, I didn't want to even be put in the same vehicle as her. I started to lose enthusiasm and joy.” It seemed to Crystal that she had good reason to be hurt. But she decided not to hold a grudge or indulge in self-pity. She was humble and she applied the Biblical advice from the October 15, 1999 Watchtower article “Forgive from the Heart.” So she forgave her sister. She says: “Now I understand that we are all striving to put on the new personality and that Jehovah generously forgives us every day. I feel that a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders and I have regained my joy”.

According to Matthew 18:21, 22, what problem does the apostle Peter seem to have, and what do you learn from Jesus' response? And what can help us if we find ourselves in the same situation?

We know that we must forgive because that is the right thing to do. But even so, it may be difficult for us to do so. It seems that this happened to the apostle Peter at times as well (read Matthew 18:21, 22). What can help us? First, meditate on all the times Jehovah has forgiven us (Matt. 18:32, 33). We do not deserve his forgiveness, but he generously gives it to us (Ps. 103:8-10). At the same time, "we also have an obligation to love one another." So forgiving is not optional; we owe it to our brothers (1 John 4:11). The second thing that can help us is to meditate on what happens when we forgive. We help the person who treated us badly, we contribute to the unity of the congregation, we protect our friendship with Jehovah, and we take a load off our shoulders (2 Cor. 2:7; Col. 3:14). The third help is to pray to Jehovah, who is the one who asks us to forgive others. Let us not allow Satan to disturb the peace we enjoy with our brothers (Eph. 4:26, 27). We need Jehovah's help to avoid falling into Satan's trap.

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