Study of the Book of the congregation, Week of May 22 to 28, 2023, Why dedicate yourself and be baptized?, Lesson: 46 point 4, summary, review and "Resolve this", Answers.

Study of the Book of the congregation, 22-28-May-2023, Lesson: 46 point 4, summary, review and "Resolve this"., Answers.

Congregation Bible study (30 min.): lff lesson 46.

1. What motivates us to dedicate ourselves to Jehovah?

What motivates us to dedicate ourselves to Jehovah is the love we feel for him, since just as we decide to get married, the love we have for God motivates us to get baptized.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Ideally or properly, one is motivated to dedicate himself to God because he loves him, not because he is being pressured by the one who gives him a Bible study or because the elders are pressuring him. If not, one voluntarily decides to be baptized, it would not be advisable to ask: And when are you going to be baptized? since it is not the correct way.

And in first John 4:19 it says that we love Jehovah because he first loved us, therefore, that great love that he shows us, we want to give back a little by dedicating our lives to him, is a way of showing him that we also love him and We appreciate everything you do for us. 

The Bible in Mark 12:30 tells us that we must love the creator with all our soul with your debts and strength. And this is evident, sadly some have been baptized under pressure from others, we are not saying that this baptism is invalid, but the pressure from others or pleasing others should not be the reason why a person dedicates himself and is baptized. This is how the example of a marriage is given here, we know that the ideal is for them to marry for love, but not by force or interest. So Jehovah wants us to take this step, so to speak, out of genuine love and gratitude to him, not by force, or out of interest. 

2. What blessings does Jehovah bestow upon his baptized Witnesses?

For example, the blessing of being part of a great global family of brothers, also the blessing of being called his children, because by being baptized we become part of his special property. So we will be even closer to him.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Well, first of all, one becomes a child of Jehovah, he is our heavenly father, the Bible and Jesus Christ taught him so when he was on earth. And that is the most important thing, now after this we become part of Jehovah's family and we feel the love of God in different ways as he mentions and in Malachi 3:16, since if we fear Jehovah, our name will be written in his book, and we will become his special property.

Well, we became part of Jehovah's family, a worldwide family of brothers who also love Jehovah and are also very happy, just like we, we also feel God's love in different ways and be even closer to him because he has compassion for us. .

Also, so to speak, Jehovah gives us a worldwide brotherhood of brothers who were also baptized, serve God and here the words of Mark 10:29 to 30 are fulfilled, so to speak, a spiritual family.

Well then we already saw some benefits here, and he says we will also have the opportunity to live forever in the long term. Baptism is saving you says 1 Peter 3:21. 

LET'S DEEPER INTO THE SUBJECT

Let's see why it is important that you dedicate yourself to Jehovah and get baptized.

3. We must all decide who we will serve

What decision did the Israelites have to make?

These worshiped both Jehovah and a false god. That is why Elijah told them that this could not be, they had to choose between worshiping the true God Jehovah, or Baal, but not both.

They had to decide if they served Jehovah or served Baal, they had to make a decision. 

Just like the Israelites, we too have to choose whom we will serve. Read Luke 16:13 and discuss the following:

Why can't we worship Jehovah and someone or something else at the same time?

Because as the text clearly says, we will love one and hate the other, or we will be more loyal to one than the other, so this cannot be.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

So we cannot serve Jehovah and someone else at the same time.

And let us remember that Jehovah, being our creator, has the right for us to give him our worship, he is also a God who demands exclusive devotion and to dedicate ourselves to him we have to serve him loyally. 

What can we do to show Jehovah that we have already chosen to worship him?

Put ourselves on your side clearly and publicly, and we only do this if we don't dedicate and baptize.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Well, despite having already made the decision to be baptized and having also made our dedication, we have to see the changes in us.

Here it is proposed that Jehovah see something, not hear something perhaps, there are ways that we can transmit a message in an inaudible way, so we can well tell Jehovah I already dedicated myself to you but having a double life would not be consistent, so we have to prove it with perhaps very punctual acts, leave some trace of the old personality, identify it, tell Jehovah to help us, have good habits such as reading, be good publishers, meditate on the word of God and that is something that Jehovah will be seeing, so we do see There will no longer be doubts as soon as we have any doubts, but simply that we can continue to strengthen our faith and that a dedication and later baptism will naturally take place. 

4. Think about how much Jehovah loves you

Images of a man thinking about all that Jehovah has given him: 1. Love, represented by the affection of a mother towards her baby. 2. Delicious foods, represented by a variety of fruits and vegetables. 3. The Bible. 4. The sacrifice of Jesus.

Jehovah has given us many valuable gifts. And what can we give him? Watch the video.

VIDEO: What we can give to God (3:04)

What are some ways that Jehovah has shown his love for you? Read Psalm 104:14, 15 and 1 John 4:9, 10, and discuss the following:

Of all the gifts that Jehovah has given us, which are you most grateful for?

Well, I am grateful that you have given us the wonderful gift of life, and also the Bible, because it guides us so that we go on the right path and thus be happy.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Yes, we can even see in the image that he gives us life, he gives us what is necessary to live, he gives us his word or even gave us the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ so that we can have a friendship with him.

If one of those I thank Jehovah that I can meet him and I continue to serve him with all my heart.

Yes, the wonderful opportunity that he gives us to be his friends apart, I am also very grateful that it frees us from false teachings that cause us anguish, but rather gives us the truth and we can have a calm and clean conscience and spiritual peace.

I am very grateful for the rescue because Jesus gave us back the hope of living again forever and it was a gift that Jehovah gave us undeservedly.

Thinking of these gifts, how do you feel about him?

I feel a lot of gratitude, and love for our heavenly father, because in all the gifts he has given us, the love he feels for humanity is reflected.

Well, to think that those gifts were prepared and given to me long before I was born or I knew him is very moving, I feel that he has not yet come to know well the width, the length and the height and the depth of his love, but the thinking about this motivates me to deepen my love for him and motivates me to give him even more. 

When someone gives us a gift that we love, we want them to know that we are very grateful. Read Deuteronomy 16:17 and discuss the following:

When you stop to think about all that Jehovah has given you, do you feel like giving something to him? What would he give her?

Of course, because Jehovah has given us everything, and the Bible says that our gift to God should be in proportion to what he gives us, and he has given us more than we can pay him, that's why brother in the video he says that the only thing we can give them is our life, and dedicate ourselves to their service.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Yes, since Jehovah is very good to all of us, he has always given us everything we need and he has not given them more than what we can pay him since we saw in the video it was like the brother says that the only thing he could give him is the life our life and dedicate our time to serve him, in that way, since we imitate that example, I would give my life to serve him.

James 1:17 says that every good gift comes from God Jehovah is the owner of everything, he is the creator, so he does not need anything from us, what we can give him is our obedience and our loyalty.

 5. Dedication opens the door to many blessings

Many people believe that fame, a good career, or money will bring them happiness. But is that true? Watch the VIDEO and talk about the following:

VIDEO: Soccer was my life (5:45)

Images from the 'Football was my life' video: 1. Andrey resuming his Bible study. 2. Andrey preaching with his daughter.

Although the athlete in the video had a passion for soccer, why did he leave his career?

Because he was able to realize firsthand that fame and money are fleeting, it is something that ends sooner or later, and that the only thing that could give meaning to his life was to serve Jehovah, he even says that when he was baptized he felt great happiness and contentment, and no medal or trophy had ever made him feel that way.

He acquired a personal and direct knowledge that fame and money are ephemeral, something that sooner or later comes to an end. He realized that the only thing he could really give purpose to his life was to serve Jehovah. In fact, he mentions that when he was baptized, he experienced a profound happiness and satisfaction, surpassing any emotion he would have experienced when receiving medals or trophies.

He decided to dedicate his life to Jehovah and not to soccer. Do you think you made the right decision? Because?

Of course, because it is the best thing we can do with our lives, because everything that this world offers is temporary and with a mirage, instead serving Jehovah is the only thing that will give us true happiness.

Of course, he made a very good decision to move away from the sports career he had, he realized that in itself, well, nothing that this world offers was real, it was not even going to last, at some point perhaps his economic stability had economic possibilities, but It didn't help in the long run, so he decides to dedicate his life to Jehovah and see that Jehovah really appreciated all his efforts to give him devotion to Jehovah. 

Before he became a Christian, the Apostle Paul had a promising career. In fact, he had studied with a well-known teacher of Jewish law. But he left everything to be a Christian. Did he regret it afterwards? Read Philippians 3:8 and discuss the following:

Why did Paul say that what he had done before becoming a Christian was “a bunch of rubbish”?

Paul recognized that succeeding in the Jewish system of things was worthless in the eyes of God and therefore had no future.

Because everything he had achieved in the world was nothing, Compared to the opportunity to be a slave of God and Christ. Just as no one longs for a bag of garbage that they have thrown into the container, Pablo never regretted having discarded what the world offered, because for him, it no longer had any value.

What did he gain in exchange for what he left behind?

He gained so much more because he got to serve Almighty God, which is really what will lead us to true happiness and in the future.

He gained far greater benefit by serving Almighty God, for it is this that will truly lead us to true happiness both now and in the future.

Do you think your life will improve if you decide to serve Jehovah? Why do you think so?

Of course I do, because it is the only thing that can make us really happy, and make us feel complete and I think so because as all things that have been created by man have a purpose, Jehovah created us to be happy, and to be , we must obey his commandments and dedicate our lives only to serve him.

Exactly, serving Jehovah is the only thing that can bring us true happiness and a sense of fulfillment. I firmly believe in this because just like all things created by man have a purpose, Jehovah created us with the purpose of being happy. To achieve that happiness, we must obey his commandments and dedicate our lives to serving him exclusively.

ILLUSTRATION

Series of images: 1. Saul, later called Paul, when he was a proud Pharisee. 2. The faithful apostle Paul writing a letter to his fellow Christians. When Paul became a Christian, he gained much more than he lost.

WHAT SOME SAY: "It makes no sense to dedicate your whole life to God."

Do you think dedicating your life to Jehovah makes sense? Because?

It does make sense, because it is he who has given us the wonderful gift of life, and everything we have. So the only way we retain to give back is by dedicating our lives to serving him.

Dedicating oneself to Jehovah is only part of the process to become a friend of Jehovah, in which case we should not remain in a basic knowledge that does not allow us to visualize the things of God, to become a friend of Jehovah we have to continue preparing ourselves afterwards dedicating yourself comes baptism and then continue reading the word of God to continue progressing and in that sense we are going to find the love of Jehovah. 

 SUMMARY

Our love for Jehovah compels us to dedicate ourselves to him and to be baptized.

Review

Why does Jehovah deserve our wholehearted love and worship?

Because he loved us first, and has given us many gifts, like our very life, food, the sacrifice of his son Jesus Christ.

Well, we have to adore Jehovah for the love that he had for us or has for us because he gave his only son that he had and we cannot find that love anywhere, not even in riches. 

What gift does Jehovah give his baptized Witnesses?

For example, the blessing of being part of a great worldwide family of brothers, also the blessing of being called his children, because by being baptized we become part of his special property, thus we will be even closer to him.

He has given us the wonderful gift of being part of his family together with our brothers, also of having Jehovah as a father and having a great worldwide brotherhood. 

Would you like to dedicate yourself to Jehovah?

Of course, I would love to show my love to our God Jehovah, and in that way show thanks to him for all the blessings he gives us undeservedly.

I am willing to express my devotion to our beloved God Jehovah, as a way of showing gratitude for all the blessings he generously gives us without our deserving.