LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: Week of May 22 to 28, 2023, The sacrifice is worth it, Video Kenneth Cook: The sacrifice is worth it (Mar. 10:29, 30). Analysis and Answers.

LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: 22-28-May-2023, Video: Kenneth Cook: The sacrifice is worth it (Mar. 10:29, 30), Analysis and Answers.

The sacrifice is worth it (Mr 10:29, 30) (15 min.): Analysis with the audience. Put the video. Then ask: 

What prompts us to make Jesus' promise in Mark 10:29, 30?

We must be willing to make whatever sacrifice is necessary to continue fulfilling Jehovah's will. Since he has been so good to us and has also made sacrifices for us. And as the text says, everything will be given to us 100 times. Then, we will get more families if someone walks away when we start studying the Bible, since what we lose because of his name, Jehovah will take care of giving us 100 times what we have lost.

It drives us to continue making any necessary sacrifice, in order to continue fulfilling the will of Jehovah. In addition, the love and faith that we have deposited in him drives us to do this, because we know that he has sacrificed a lot for us.

The brother in the video mentions something very important, and that is that what we give and what we are willing to leave behind for the truth, is what really matters to Jehovah, since this reveals who we really are, and let us remember that our God will give us in return much more than we can imagine, since Jesus said 100 times more.

How did Jesus react when his brothers did not want to believe in him? 

Jesus never thought to put aside his service in order to please the members of his family. He was always faithful, and this was so because he was not obsessed with what people thought about, but on the contrary, he concentrated on pleasing Jehovah.

Faced with such disappointment, Jesus never thought to put aside his service, as long as he pleased the members of his family, in fact, Jesus said that whoever does everything possible to please everyone and at the same time serve God, always it ends up being something that displeases Jehovah.

And what should we remember if we have non-Witness relatives?

We must always remember and follow the example of Jesus, just as he has never given us up for lost, in imitation of Jesus we also never put aside our service to Jehovah in order to please our relatives. If not quite the contrary, with our example we can attract them to the truth, just as the truth attracted us, the example that Jesus left us.

Like Jesus, let us never give them up for lost, but above all we must never give up our service to Jehovah, with, but rather let us continue to give them a good example, let us show with our way of living that we have faith, perhaps in this way they will choose the path of truth

Also, let us remember that Jehovah can easily attract those who are already leaning in the right direction, for he knows everyone's heart, so let us be optimistic and help our family members lean in the right direction.

ANALYSIS OF OTHER ADDITIONAL POINTS OF THE VIDEO.

Today I want to ask you a question: What sacrifices are you willing to make? In today's text Mark 10:29 and 30, Jesus made it very clear that when someone decides to be his disciple, they may have to sacrifice some things they value, sometimes their relationship with their family. 

We know that sometimes when someone accepts the truth, their family turns against the message and may even reject the person, but when this happens, no matter how painful it may be, those who truly love Jehovah will not hesitate to remain faithful to his heavenly father, would be willing to make any sacrifice in order to serve Jehovah.

What have you sacrificed? It is good that we think about what we are willing to do for Jehovah and for Jesus, the rewards will undoubtedly be worth it, but of course we have to follow the example of Jesus at all times, that is what we displays the text for today. Many of our brothers and sisters continue to serve Jehovah faithfully despite having only a few relatives in the truth, or despite having none of his relatives in the truth.

On the other hand, there are brothers who belong to families that have been in the truth for generations. And how good for them these brothers are also serving Jehovah faithfully, the reality is that the sacrifices that a person has to make to serve Jehovah will depend on their circumstances. Jesus knew that we would have to make sacrifices that is why he said, what he said.

But no matter how much we lose, we can be sure that Jehovah and Jesus Christ will fulfill the promise recorded in Mark chapter 10. They guarantee us 100 times what we have lost and eternal life in the future. 

What should we do in view of the fact that we have that promise? We must be willing to continue making any necessary sacrifice in order to continue fulfilling Jehovah's will. We have faith in that promise. And that faith and love for Jehovah is what drives us, he has been so good and so generous to us and we know that he has also sacrificed a lot for us.

If we have faith we will never be like Others who, as we know, abandoned the apostle Paul when he was under pressure, he began to long for what he had left behind and lost sight of this point, it is what we give and what we are willing to leave behind for the truth, what really matters to Jehovah, what we give and what we leave behind reveals who we really are.

Sure, what we sacrifice may be different than what others sacrifice, but Jehovah will give us all in return much more than we can imagine again Jesus said in Mark 10:30, 100 times more, no less. Taking this detail of the promise into account will help us put anything aside.

Jesus himself took it into account in his life, for example we all remember when his brothers did not want to believe in him. How did Jesus react to that disappointment? He never thought of putting aside his service in order to please his family members. In fact, Jesus once said "Woe when you speak well of you" Jesus knew that whoever does everything possible to please everyone and at the same time serve God, always ends up doing something that displeases Jehovah. 

Jesus was always faithful because Jesus was not obsessed with what people thought about him, but focused on pleasing his father Jehovah. And what benefit did Jesus get for staying faithful and not giving in to pressure? In the Bible we see that over time his half-siblings ended up accepting the message, especially after seeing everything that happened related to his death and resurrection, their way of seeing Jesus and his teachings changed just at the right time.

Now let's see what practical application does all this have? In the case of some who are listening, some of their family members may not be witnesses, their parents may not even be witnesses, and they have been serving Jehovah without his support for a long time, even knowing that there is little time left until the end. . What can help them keep hope? the answer is to follow the example of Jesus Christ. 

Just like him, never give them up for lost, but never put aside your service to Jehovah, as long as you please them, keep giving them a good example, one that they cannot forget. As Jesus said in Matthew 5:16, notice the words he used here, make your light shine in the sight of people, that they may see your good works, and thus give glory to your father who is in heaven.

What do others including our non-witness family members see when they look at us? They see that we are facing the future with confidence, and that our faith is strong, we strengthen our faith by asking God for more faith every day and by reading and meditating on his word to all who are leaning towards the truth. they will notice that in us they will see that we show that we have faith with our works.

So maybe they lean even more in the right direction, we have to think about that, because as the saying goes, an example is worth a thousand words, and as Jesus said, see your good works and thus give Glory to your father who it is in heaven. 

Of course, we may still worry a little about our relatives who are not Jehovah's Witnesses, we care about them, because we love them, we worry that they do not respond to the message before the end arrives, that makes us lose sleep. When those thoughts and worries overwhelm us let's remember this. As it turned out to be the case with Jesus' brothers, Jehovah can easily attract those who are already leaning in the right direction.

Jehovah knows the hearts of all people in the world and Jesus Christ too, he knows perfectly well who can become a sheep, let's be optimistic and help our family members lean in the right direction, then let's leave the matter in Jehovah's hands, follow trusting that Jehovah will attract them if they have a good disposition.

There is something that is certain, if a witness comes out of a family, more can come out, and we say it from experience, brothers. This is something that has happened on one occasion after another where one sheep can come out of more. So let's be patient, let's not lose hope, but if our relatives never accept the truth, it can happen, if that happens, let's always remember that Jehovah knows that we have tried and will always bless us for it.

 So in conclusion, what sacrifices are you willing to make if we follow Jesus' example? we will always stand on the side of truth and will not allow anything to keep us apart. Even if we have to sacrifice many things. Even if we have to sacrifice the relationship with our relatives.

If we are loyal to Jehovah, our good example can cause others to lean in the right direction, to change course. And Jehovah brings them closer to him that Jesus promised that he will give us. So to follow him we are ready to make any sacrifice, 100 times more in our days, an international family of brothers and sisters who truly love each other. And that's not all. Jesus also promised those who are willing to make sacrifices eternal life in the new world.