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“Let us continue to love one another, for love is from God” (1 JOHN 4:7).
1, 2. a) Why did the apostle Paul say that love is “the greatest” quality?
Paul says that love is greater because while faith and hope are important in the present life, they will come to an end in the future when the promises are fulfilled. However, love will endure eternally, even beyond the current life. Because we will have to continue showing it.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Yes, because in the future we will not even need hope, because the promises will have been fulfilled but we will always have to have love and even if it grows more.
And faith in hope will disappear because our promises have already been fulfilled, and hope, because we have also achieved it, or at least to some extent, but love will continue.
1, 2. b) What questions will we analyze?
We will analyze the following questions: Why should we love each other? In what ways can we show that we love each other? How can we keep the love we have for each other strong?
WHY SHOULD WE LOVE EACH OTHER?
3. What reasons do we have to love each other?
One reason is that Jesus told his followers to love each other as a hallmark of being his disciples. So love between Christians is, therefore, an outward sign that they are true disciples of Jesus.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Another reason is that Colossians 3:14 says that love is a “perfect bond.” So Loving Others strengthens unity within the Christian congregation. This unity is also a collective testimony that we are servants of Jehovah.
And the third reason is that in 1 John 4:21, the apostle John emphasizes that those who love God must also love their brothers. Love towards others is a reflection and practical demonstration of love for God. It is a way of expressing faith and obedience to divine commandments.
The answer is given in John 13:35, it says because in this way everyone will know that you are my disciples if you have love for us.
Also because it is a way to keep us united in Colossians Paul said that it is a perfect bond of union.
In the Bible with reference searching the text of Colossians 3:14 uses the word perfect bond of union to talk about love, and also that Greek word is translated bond also to talk about the ligaments and their ligaments are strong like rope, they fulfill An important function is to hold organs in place and maintain liver bones. In the same way, love does not work in a similar way and has the power to unite people, which is why it is important to show love to each other.
1 John 4:21 links the love of our brothers to the love with Jehovah, we cannot stop loving our brothers and of course we cannot neglect our relationship with God.
So if by showing love to our brothers we also show that we love Jehovah.
The first reason is very important because the identifying mark of a Christian is love, loving one's brothers, not everyone, but especially them, and it is very serious because we cannot say that I am a Christian if I do not show love, that is, which is something to think about.
If we do not get along with our brothers we will be showing that our relationship with Jehovah is not good either.
4, 5. Give an example that demonstrates the relationship between love for God and love for our brothers.
Just as a doctor checks the pulse on the wrist to know how the patient's heart is, in the same way, love for our brothers is like the pulse that shows if we have love for Jehovah, if we see that our love for our brothers has weakened. , perhaps our love for Jehovah has done it too.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Just as we use the pulse to see the state of our heart, the love we feel for our brothers is the way to measure the pulse or the love we feel for Jehovah. So if we have a little thing with a brother we have to give it attention, to make sure that our love for Jehovah is strong and safe.
Yes, it is also more important that it says that we have to show love, it says the custom of showing it, that is, it is not talking about whether we have love, we have to show that love to our brothers that we love them and our love for Jehovah is indicated, which has strength, or Whether I insist or the emphasis is on demonstrating it.
And how important love is, because it is a very individual quality of each of us, because Jehovah says that we have to have love, but we know what is in our hearts. So it is a quality that we do have to carry out, but personally each of us this quality is what Jehovah wants us to have in love with Jehovah and also with our brothers.
Yes, how good the simile that the paragraph uses, just as we would like our heart to always be beating strongly at full capacity, we must think about how our love for Jehovah is. Yes, it is a love that also beats strongly, since the more we show love, the stronger our love for Jehovah beats.
Just as we take our pulse from time to time to see how we are doing, if it is accelerated if it is weak, right, we should also do the same with the love for our brothers, because we could be having our hearts weakened in that sense and also If they become weak with our brothers it is because they have become weak with Jehovah.
So a self-analysis is required, because it could be that this weakness with respect to the love of our brothers is because we have had too high expectations when we learned the truth, then we begin to see defects, but we must put it in its place. Love toward Jehovah should also be reflected in love toward one's brothers and sisters and vice versa.
6. Why should we worry if our love for our brothers has weakened? (1 John 4:7-9, 11).
As the apostle John said in 1 John 4:20, they clearly establish that love towards God and love towards brothers are connected. If our love for our brothers decreases, it may indicate a problem in our relationship with God. And it is a spiritual wake-up call to evaluate spiritual health, that is, our connection with Jehovah.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Because we just read it in verse 8, it says that he who does not love has not come to know God, because God is love. So love is a gift from Jehovah and we can cultivate it and we are close to him, so if our love for our other brothers weakens, even if it is only with one brother, it is putting us in a very dangerous position towards each other. Jehovah, because the verse says that it is as if we did not know him, it distances us from him. So if we detect that love for our brothers is weakening us, we should be concerned because it indicates that we are in spiritual danger.
And how important it is that verse 11 says that it is an obligation that we have to love one another, so we will only please Jehovah if we love one another, because that is what Jehovah did for us to show us his love.
Yes, since God is love and we want to be his children, we must carry his qualities and we must be loving like him.
As we have been seeing and there is no direct correlation between the love we show to our brothers and the love and our relationship with Jehovah, as 1 John 4:20 says, he who does not love his brother whom he sees cannot love God whom he sees. does not see And this is logical. We see our brothers day by day, we can appreciate their qualities and show them love. If we are not able to do it with our brothers, it will be more difficult to do it with Jehovah.
Of course, because when we read that whoever does not love has not come to know God, it does not refer to an intellectual or superficial knowledge about God, but rather implies a deep knowledge, having personal contact with Jehovah, becoming familiar with him, being friends of Jehovah and this is impossible. If we don't love our brothers.
Yes, 4:20 also explains that if someone says they love God but not their brother, they are a liar. And this would put us in a somewhat dangerous situation, because that would be creating a defect that applies directly to Satan, the father of lies, which is why we would never want this term to be applied to us as well.
We saw that we will demonstrate that we are true Christians that will also keep us united among ourselves, and that we will also demonstrate love for Jehovah, understanding all of that would amount to nothing, just an intellectual process, unless we demonstrate it with our actions.
IN WHAT WAYS CAN WE SHOW THAT WE LOVE EACH OTHER?
7, 8. In what ways can we show that we love each other?
One way is as Zechariah 8:16 mentions, is to tell the truth to each other.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We can show our love to our brothers and sisters by being attentive to them, for example by being honest and honoring each other, and if disagreements arise, doing everything to keep the peace, for example by forgiving each other.
Another way to show love to our brothers and sisters is that when they are going through difficulties we should also comfort ourselves by praying for them.
We also know that this love is something that grows in our heart, of course no one can see it, because it is something internal, so how do we demonstrate this love, as the paragraph says with our words and our actions.
Mark 9:50 also gives us an idea and that is that although it is true that we always have to tell the truth, and sometimes that can cause tensions to arise between the brothers, because the text also encourages us to always maintain peace and not only that, but also to remember how we do it, that our speech is always seasoned with salt, and thus the brothers will notice that love.
We have Colossians 3:13, where Jehovah has given us the example of forgiving each other generously, so we must also learn to forgive generously Even if there is cause for complaint.
There is also the text of Romans 12:10, which says that we take the initiative in honoring each other and in the note it says that taking the initiative means going ahead or before, that is, not waiting for others to do it for us, but rather going ahead and making an effort. for honoring as the note says AND respecting others.
The text of Galatians 6:2 talks about taking our burdens and in the book insight it talked about that in this text the word lighten your burdens means something that has to be carried or transported regardless of its weight. So if a Christian is already going to have problems that are very difficult to bear, his colleagues should support him and help him carry his burdens.
James 5:16 says to pray for each other and this is very important because there you can see the caliber of what we think in this term.
And the Bible shows that showing love is not something optional that we can do or not, but it is a commandment, for example Romans 13 8 says do not owe anything to anyone except to love one another. So we owe love to others. And he goes on to say that he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law, so love for others is a duty and a commandment.
And also as 1 Thessalonians 4:18 shows, we have to be next to our brothers when they need comfort, when they are going through a bad time is when they need us most.
In Romans he tells us to receive gladly, so we can receive our brothers kindly into the congregation when the meetings come, going out to preach with them and being hospitable.
The idea is that it is true that we have it in our hearts, but not only should love for our brothers remain in our hearts, it must be made external so that others can see it and, as it says, demonstrate love.
ILLUSTRATION
I really like how the article conveys the idea that everyone, even the most humble brother, can participate in this work. Second Corinthians 7:13 shows how Paul was glad that they had revived Titus's spirit. Titus was a Pillar in the congregation and in On the other hand, the brothers of the congregation sometimes contribute to this with just their presence, so in the scene we see on the screen, there is not a mature brother who is giving consolation, it is a little sister who is giving this consolation.
She is also dedicating her time to do a video conference and talk to a little sister who is sick and she is seen very smiling at both of them, so these words of encouragement and affection will surely strengthen and encourage the sick sister a lot.
Yes, at the bottom you can also see the sister who seems to have a little detail there that she wants to send to someone, she is writing a note And probably including some biblical text because she has the phone next to her So we see that this sister Although at the same time It is better not to be in person or listen to a video call because they think of ways in which they can encourage the person who needs comfort.
So in the images and from what we have seen in the paragraphs, the love of weapons must be demonstrated, it is proactive, we return to the sister who takes initiatives when doing things, it is not like the urea rule. As some people in the world understand, it is not doing what We don't like it, on the contrary, we have to take the initiative to do things.
Well, she is looking at practical ways to help, for example, at the bottom, a little sister who may have broken her arm because the little sister has realized that she can't do food, shopping or things at home, she sees some lunch boxes. Well Maybe he has prepared food for her and has gone to visit her and spend time with her and, while walking, provides practical help to a sister with a particular need.
And also prayer. Well, we can ask Jehovah to help us see how to console different brothers and see how this sister is doing things that we could all do, being next to a brother, making a video call, writing a letter or simply being together. and talk and if the person who needs comfort wants to vent, then listen very well.
Series of images: 1. A sister praying. 2. Listening while another sister vents. 3. Talking via video conference with an older sister who is sick. 3. Writing a note that she is going to send to someone with a gift. 4. Eating with a sister who has an immobilized arm due to an injury. How can we help a brother or sister who is suffering? (See paragraphs 7 to 9).
9. Why do we say that comforting others is an important way to show them love? (See also images).
Comforting others is an important way to show love because it involves being by a person's side during difficult times, offering support and encouraging them to keep going. By comforting someone who is suffering, we are showing them that they are not alone and that we are committed to helping them on their path to life. It is an expression of love and care towards our brothers and sisters.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
It means the word console which says that it means to stand next to a person and encourage them especially when they are going through difficult times or trials if we at that moment console what we are doing is helping our brother sister to move forward on the path of life and it is a way of showing the love that we have to show our brothers.
Every time a brother or sister needs a shoulder to cry on and we are by their side we are telling them that we love them so that is important.
If there is a detail in the paragraph that says that we help them continue walking on the path that life leads, that means that sometimes there are brothers who are suffering because they are also moving away from that path and therefore we are standing next at that moment is to help them regain their path in the service of Jehovah.
Well, there will be times when we cannot be, so to speak, in person, comforting our brothers, but there is this option, which is to pray to Jehovah, perhaps it was more important because without the brother knowing, perhaps we are praying for him and making Jehovah It also opens your spirit.
10. Why do we say that feeling compassion and giving comfort go hand in hand?
We say that feeling compassion and giving comfort go hand in hand because the feeling of compassion naturally prompts us to comfort and help those who are suffering. This principle is reflected in the very nature of God, who, motivated by his compassion, presents himself as “the Father of tender mercies and the God of all comfort.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
They go together, because consolation is the consequence of feeling compassion, we can say that if we feel compassion for someone the natural reaction will be to console.
Yes, well, we put ourselves in the person's place, then our feelings emerge and we are going to make an effort now to let ourselves take action, take the seat and offer all the help we can to be able to help that person.
Yes because the Bible says that Jehovah is the father or source of tender mercies and that is what motivates him to comfort us in all trials.
There is also the idea that compassion is part of Jehovah's personality just as water emanates from a fountain or a Spring, we cannot prevent the water from coming out of the Spring. So because Jehovah carries it intrinsically with his personality, he feels that compassion and can't help but comfort When we have problems.
11. According to Colossians 3:12 and 1 Peter 3:8, what qualities will help us love and comfort others?
Well, cultivate qualities such as empathy, brotherly affection and kindness.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
According to Colossians 3:12 and 1 Peter 3:8, the qualities that will help us love and comfort others are empathy, brotherly affection, and kindness. These qualities, when cultivated, naturally prompt us to comfort those who are going through difficult times.
Yes, then when these qualities are part of our personality, it makes us console those who are going through difficult times, and that is what we saw previously in the Watchtower, we have to learn to demonstrate this love. And then that is done by cultivating We do not always have these qualities; these qualities must be cultivated.
And maybe someone can say, well, I'm not good at healing others or I don't know how to look for opportunities. We can ask Jehovah for help, we can tell him to help us cultivate these qualities and thus we will learn to comfort others and let it be born from within.
Well we have to do it through our words and actions because if love is an identifying trait of the Christian we cannot say like some religion is that I am a non-practicing Christian, there is no need to practice it because if not it is not a Christian.
Precisely that of comforting others as they do with us.
HOW DO WE KEEP THE LOVE WE HAVE STRONG?
12. a) Why should we be careful?
We must be careful because Jesus warned that in the world, the love of many would grow cold, and it is crucial to prevent that lack of love from influencing us.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Well, because we must not forget that Jesus already warned us in Matthew 24:12 that the love of the majority would grow cold and by that he did not mean that many disciples would stop loving each other, but we must be very careful that the lack of love of this world because it can spread to us.
The world is losing love. Even in very strong bonds such as family, we have to love people who, perhaps, the only thing we have in common is the love of Jehovah. If we allow ourselves to be influenced by the world, it could seem insufficient. But we know. It is the strongest bond and we must protect it.
12. b) What question will we answer next?
We will answer yes, is there a way to know if the love we feel for our brothers is strong?
13. What can test our love?
Our love is tested when we face situations in which our loved ones or our brothers make mistakes or cause us harm, as the apostle Peter highlighted when mentioning that love covers a multitude of sins.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Because he can do it is how we react to situations that arise because perhaps maybe one can be convinced that we really love our brothers. But as mentioned at the end of the paragraph, perhaps a brother can make a mistake or hurt us and the way in which we react. It's like we're not going to realize how much love we feel for it. In fact, that's what the apostle Paul says in 1 Corinthians 4:8. At the end he says to test the sincerity of his love, so this is a way of being able to know. how much love we feel for them.
And when the apostle Paul comments on 1 Corinthians 4:8 he tests the sincerity of love. If we see the context of this verse he was talking about the Macedonians when an economic need they were poor they had serious problems but still it says that they contributed more than they could give So even though we are going through problems if our love is strong Well we will help our brothers even if it costs us.
14. According to 1 Peter 4:8, what kind of love do we need? Give an example.
According to 1 Peter 4:8, we need to have “intense love.” The Greek word used by Peter for "intense" literally means "spreading." An example of this type of love would be when we forgive and show compassion towards our brothers despite their mistakes or weaknesses. This love not only covers one or two sins, but has the ability to reach out and forgive “a multitude of sins,” acting like a cloth that covers and forgives the imperfections of others.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Well, according to this text we need an intense love and the Greek word that Peter used here literally means something that extends. So something that extends in this case the love that extends and extends more and more because it can cover the sins of the brothers once. multitude of sins.
It has made me think of that slice of toast that now we take a generous spoonful of honey and begin to cover the entire toast, a rough and irregular surface and leave it homogeneous, shiny, desired Well, in the same way this love does the same with irregularities or the sins that our brothers may have committed without forgetting that we also commit.
Here, in this case, the word cover is used, of course, it could give the impression that something is covered or ignored, but not here in this sense the word has the meaning of forgiving. In other words, when it says that it covers a multitude of sins, it means that we forgive and forget them.
And according to the example, I covered with a cloth, it is easy, but if we now include other factors of justice from our sense of Justice, perhaps we can come to think that our sense of Justice does not allow us to forgive certain sins or certain deficiencies of our brothers, but here is the advice It is clear that if we can cover it with sin and we do not force any biblical principle on ourselves that we cover it with sin because Jehovah also forgives us many things.
Well, here it mentions that it has to be a fabric that can be extended, that is, it should be large, not a handkerchief, something that covers, something that has to cover everything.
15. What do we achieve when our love for others is strong? (Colossians 3:13).
When our love for others is strong, we are able to forgive their mistakes, as mentioned in Colossians 3:13.
By forgiving, we demonstrate the strength of our love and our desire to please Jehovah. Well, we manage to forgive his mistakes no matter how big they may have been since, as the text has said, we must forgive each other generously even if we have a reason to complain about the other.
16, 17. What else can help us overlook the small mistakes of others? Give an example. (See also images).
To overlook the small mistakes of others, we can focus on the good things about them. An example would be deleting a photo where someone didn't turn out well and keeping the ones that capture happy moments, applying the same principle to our memories and focusing on the positive.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
We see the example of taking a group photo in this photo, well you can take three and you see that in two they both turn out well but in another third a brother does not come out with an expression other than it is not very pleasant so what do we do? We leave the good ones and delete the one that the brother is not so favored with.
So when, at some point, a brother has said or done something to us that did not sit well with us or was not good, we have to remember those beautiful moments that we have lived with him, that is really what will help us erase that bad moment. What we have been through with them.
Proverbs 19:11 explains that insight will help us overlook offenses. Why Well because this quality will help us see beyond and understand what is behind other people's words or actions and because of that we will be better off. easier not to feel hurt and forgive others.
ILLUSTRATION
Yes, we can clearly see how the brother is selecting the photo that does not turn out well, and the other brother is deleting it, definitely not, and what he does with the rest with the one that turns out well, because we see how he prints it and puts it in a box in a place to That he can see it and that it reminds him of the good times that they have spent together because we want to do the same, forget the brothers' mistakes and keep the good times that we have had with them.
And how easy it is now. Delete the photos, it's not like before you did it with a camera and you didn't have to develop it and it cost you money, but now it's very easy and that's how it should be between brothers.
Yes, I really like the detail that says that we delete it from our memory, because it is true that if we do not delete the photos we know that our cell phone fills up and the cell phone itself alerts us that we should delete. We must do the same with errors. We want to forgive and not have it there, that is, we erase it from our memory forever.
Not only does it delete the photo that did not turn out well, but it also deletes the good photo or the good memories in a place where you can see it often. It is good for us to keep in our minds the beautiful memories with our brothers so that we can often we can think about them.
Left: A brother has several photos of a group of brothers and sisters on his phone, and he is deleting one of the photos. Right: a bookshelf with a framed photo of the same group. Just as we save the most beautiful photos and delete the rest, we remember the good times we lived with our siblings and erase the bad memories from our memory. (See paragraphs 16 and 17).
WHY IS LOVE SO IMPORTANT TODAY?
18. What are the main ideas of this article?
The importance of keeping love towards one's brothers strong as a sign of love towards Jehovah.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Show love towards the spiritual family through concrete actions, such as comforting brothers and for this we need to feel compassion
The suggestion of forgiving the mistakes of others as a way to strengthen love in relationships.
Yes, love for Jehovah is also demonstrated by loving our brothers, consoling us and forgiving their mistakes. In addition to feeling love for our brothers, we must externalize them because we can help them. At the end of the paragraph, it is important that we forgive their mistakes.
And we also highlighted at the beginning that we must want to keep the love we have for each other strong because by showing our love for our brothers and sisters we are also indirectly demonstrating that we love Jehovah.
And an important aspect of Christian love is also compassion which we learned is an active proactive quality as discussed. And so This is what will drive us to comfort just as Jehovah does.
19. Why is it so important to show ourselves love today?
It is important to show ourselves love today because we are close to the end of all things. Jesus predicted that at this time the disciples will face hatred from the nations. To endure and continue serving Jehovah, unity is crucial. Mutual love acts as a perfect bond of union, counteracting Satan's attempts at division.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
As we see in Matthew 24:9 Jesus said that the nations would give us up for his name's sake and for loving Jehovah they will persecute us and they will hate us, so we have to stay united to be able to face those trials.
Also, as we know that Satan has little time left in this system of things, he is the one who wants to divide us at all costs and make us leave Jehovah and our brothers. So we don't want him to get his way and we have to demonstrate intense love like bond of union between all. Philippians 2:1-2 is very beautiful as it shows us that we must fill ourselves, we will fill Jesus with joy if we show ourselves to have the same mind and the same love that he showed for us and we are completely united like this. Now it is very important But also It is a way to make Jesus and Jehovah happy.
Peter wrote to the Jews that Defines all things were approaching his case was the end of the Jewish system So it was more important than ever that they feel that intense love for each other and the same thing happens in our case comes the end of this system of Things will remain more important than ever that we make that love grow so that it is intense.
WHAT WOULD YOU ANSWER?
What reasons do we have to love each other?
One reason is that Jesus told his followers to love each other as a hallmark of being his disciples. So love between Christians is, therefore, an outward sign that they are true disciples of Jesus.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Another reason is that Colossians 3:14 says that love is a “perfect bond.” So Loving others strengthens unity within the Christian congregation. This unity is also a sign of the collective testimony that we are servants of Jehovah.
And the third reason is that in 1 John 4:21, the apostle John emphasizes that those who love God must also love their brothers. Love towards others is a reflection and practical demonstration of love for God. It is a way of expressing faith and obedience to divine commandments.
Because by showing love to our brothers we also demonstrate our love to Jehovah because by doing so we demonstrate that we are true Christians, as John 13:35 says, that we love one another.
In what ways can we show that we love each other?
We can show our love to our brothers and sisters by being attentive to them, for example by being honest and honoring each other, and if disagreements arise, doing everything to keep the peace, for example by forgiving each other.
ADDITIONAL COMMENTS
Also another way to show love to our brothers is that when they are going through difficulties we should also console ourselves and pray for them.
The Watchtower has reminded us in several ways, one of which is when a brother has a problem or something, try to listen to him and put ourselves in his place, and another very important one is that we all make mistakes, so be ready to forgive because this is what is not going to unite us. within the congregation.
Yes we have also seen telling the truth to each other, keeping peace with each other and also taking the initiative to honor ourselves.
Why can we say that forgiving others is a sign of love?
Because to forgive when our loved ones make mistakes or cause us harm requires that we have genuine love.
I imagine that we do not want the lack of love that this world has to infect us, so when one of our brothers makes a mistake what we want is to cover that mistake, forgiving them and if we manage to forgive our brothers our love will become stronger and stronger. and we will add our God Jehovah.
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