LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: Week of November 6 to 12, 2023, “Each of you must set something aside” Video: Thank you for setting something aside, Analysis and Answers.

LIVING AS CHRISTIANS: 6-12-November-2023, Video: Thank you for setting something aside, Analysis and Responses.

“Each of you must set something aside” (15 mins.): Analysis with the audience and video. In charge of an old man. Congratulate the congregation for their donations to support Kingdom work.

Why is it good to plan our donations well?

It is good because it is thanks to these donations that a large part of the work carried out by the organization is carried out. Of course, everything is possible Thanks to the support of Jehovah. In addition, each year each branch prepares a budget of everything that will be taken care of in the year, and our brothers count on our donations. 

It is advice that the apostle Paul left us, and doing it over the years makes us feel happy, because it helps us organize ourselves to be able to contribute to the work, of course as we saw in the video it is not an obligation. However, it allows us to give from the heart, and know how much we want to contribute, it allows us to strive to give to Jehovah and in this way we can plan what will be in the future. 

What have some done to make sure they “put something aside”?

What some brothers have done is make periodic donations through Donate on jw.org, that is, they schedule their donations online, others have made legal wills of what the person wishes to donate to the organization, so they feel that they are collaborating very closely with Jehovah's organization, in fact, a brother mentioned something very interesting, and that is that our donations do not depend on what is in our pocket, but on what is in our heart.

As we could see in the video, a couple calculated the expenses, analyzed the situation and prayed to Jehovah about the matter, to make a will, and that way they could make sure they set aside something.

Another sister commented that she sets reminders each month, so as not to forget to contribute, whether it be a little or a lot, the important thing is that they do it for love of Jehovah, which as a couple mentioned, what we can give does not compare to what much that Jehovah gives us. 

ANALYSIS OF OTHER ADDITIONAL POINTS OF THE VIDEO.

It is certainly surprising to see all that Jehovah is accomplishing through the earthly part of his organization. And why do we say this? Because every year the good news of the Kingdom reaches more people, and what can we say about our very varied spiritual food and the construction projects, and the relief work that is carried out worldwide.

As mentioned in the video, Jehovah's Witness branches each year make expense calculations and prepare a budget, with the goal of ensuring they have the necessary funds. And to prepare this budget our donations are very important. Because if we do, we would be following the words of 1 Corinthians 16:2. In this passage Paul encouraged first century Christians to plan their giving. and today we can also follow this advice and plan our donations.

In the video we could also see that those in charge of the branches feel confident that everything that has been planned can be completed, and everything is possible thanks first of all to the blessing of Jehovah and to all these brothers who have the habit of setting something aside.

We saw that over the years various methods have been used to set something aside. At the beginning of the 1890s, the December 15 issue of the Watchtower Magazine included an extra sheet of paper on which the brothers could write what they hoped to contribute in the following year, and speaking of this method, the December 15 Magazine December 1896 said that knowing in advance what the brothers wanted and expected to contribute to the work made it possible at that time to manage the funds wisely and effectively. However, The Watchtower of July 1, 1959, on this point made it clear that the amount written was not an obligation or a promise, but simply a declaration or desire of what one expected to be able to contribute during that following year.

And something interesting that could be seen in the video is that nowadays we can also set aside something and make donations in various ways. For example, we can use Donate.org, in which we can make periodic donations, which allow us to know how much money the organization soon. 

There is also the possibility of making a legal will in which the person indicates what they wish to donate to the organization. In this way you can better plan what will be done in the future. And thanks to this method you can cancel or change donations depending on the circumstances, and this great help allows us to give something to Jehovah and therefore we can be happy to be able to contribute our grain of sand.

Our brother Shaun from Japan mentions that he had the opportunity to participate in Relief work, and was moved to see for himself how his donations were used, and because he wanted to express his appreciation for this work, he made the decision to schedule his donations in line. And thanks to the thank you letters he receives every month he knows exactly how his donations are being used to help brothers around the world. Which makes him feel that he is collaborating very closely with Jehovah's organization.

Our brother Sidney from Brazil mentions that they made an important decision following the advice of the apostle Paul to set aside a specific amount. So he calculated his expenses well, analyzed the situation and prayed about the matter, then he realized that it was important to make a will. And he came to the conclusion that he was really only giving back to Jehovah some of everything that Jehovah had given him, since he saw that in general our donations do not depend on what is in our pocket, but on what is in our heart.

Our sister Ofentse from South Africa mentions that contributing financially makes her feel very happy, and something that helps her is setting an alarm on her phone, and she did it because with so many things on her mind it was easier for her to forget. Since thanks to the alarm she remembers every month to contribute to Jehovah's organization, no matter how much or little she can give, she knows that the important thing is that we do it with all our heart and that is what truly makes her happy. to Jehovah.

VIDEO TRANSCRIPT

Are you surprised to see all that Jehovah is accomplishing through the land portion of his organization? Every year the good news of the Kingdom reaches more people, we enjoy a wide variety of spiritual food, construction projects advance around the world and relief work is carried out.

The governing body. has asked me to thank you very much for being so generous in using your time, energy and resources to support the global work. You may be wondering how we make sure we have enough money to cover all of these expenses given what Luke 14:28 says.

Each year, Jehovah's Witness branches calculate expenses and prepare a budget to ensure they will have the necessary funds. All your donations are very important to prepare this budget. You are doing what 1 Corinthians 16:2 says. Here Paul encouraged first-century Christians to plan their giving, telling them: “On the first day of each week, each of you should set aside something according to your means.

Thanks to their generosity, as they have the habit of setting something aside, we feel confident that everything that has been planned can be completed with Jehovah's blessing. In the following video we will see that since the end of the 19th century our brothers have had the habit of putting something aside, and that has made them very happy.

Over the years different methods have been used to set something aside. Since the early 1890s, the December 15 issue of the Watchtower magazine included an extra sheet of paper. The brothers wrote on it what they hoped to contribute in the following year, filled it with good hopes, and sent it to the branch office.

Speaking of this method, the Magazine of December 15, 1896 said: «Knowing in advance what the brothers wish and expect to contribute to the work allows us to manage the funds wisely and effectively. However, The Watchtower of July 1, 1959, made it clear that the amount written was not an obligation, saying this is not a promise, but simply a statement of what one hopes to be able to contribute during the coming year. 

Nowadays we can also set aside something and donate in different ways using donate.jw.org. Regular donations allow us to know how much money the organization will receive next. It is also possible to make a legal will in which the person indicates what he or she wishes to donate to the organization. That way you can better plan what will be done in the future and you can cancel or change donations depending on the circumstances. The important thing is that we can all be happy by giving something to Jehovah.

 JAPAN

I had the opportunity to participate in Relief work, and I was very moved to see with my own eyes how the donations were used. Because I wanted to express my appreciation for this work, I decided to schedule my donations online. Thanks to the thank you letters I receive every month, I know how donations are being used to help brothers around the world. These letters make me feel that I am collaborating very closely with Jehovah's organization.

BRAZIL

We made an important decision: we followed the apostle Paul's advice to set aside a specific amount. So we did the following: We calculated our expenses, analyzed the situation and prayed about the matter, then we realized that it was important to make a will. In reality we are only giving back to Jehovah some of everything he has given us, I have seen that in general our donations do not depend on what is in our pocket, but on what is in our hearts.

SOUTH AFRICA

Contributing financially makes me very happy, something that helps me is setting an alarm on my phone, because with so many things, it is easy for me to forget. Thanks to the alarm I remember every month to contribute to Jehovah's organization, and it doesn't matter if we give a lot or a little, I know that the important thing is that we do it with all our heart, that is what makes Jehovah happy.

It is very exciting to see how Jehovah's people follow the first counsel of Corinthians 16:12, many set aside something regularly to show how much love they feel for their brothers around the world, we are in the last days and we are going through financial difficulties, But You can be sure that even if you think little about Jehovah, he greatly values ​​everything you do from the heart. We ask Jehovah to bless you for having the habit of setting something aside, thank you for what you have done and for what you continue to do.