1. What did the apostle Paul openly acknowledge?

He sincerely acknowledged that at times he felt weak because his body was “wearing out” due to the imperfection and also because he had a struggle between doing what is right and what is wrong. He also mentioned that sometimes Jehovah\’s failure to answer his prayers as he expected and the opinions of others were weakening factors.

Paul acknowledged that at times he felt weak, as he struggled to do what is right despite the negative opinions of others and that Jehovah did not always answer his prayers as he expected, yet he did not allow all these things to make him feel that it was useless.

Like Paul, many of us have reasons why we can feel weak. The asterisk or the note in this paragraph tells us that imperfection, poverty, disease, the little education we have received or our enemies are factors that try to weaken us. So without a doubt this article will be of great help to everyone. (2 Cor. 4:16; 12:7-9; Rom. 7:21-23) ​—2 Cor. 10:10-12, 17, 18.

2. According to 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10, what valuable lesson did Paul learn?

2 He learned that when a person feels that they are weak they can actually become very strong. This is because Jehovah said in 2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10 that his power is fully manifested or demonstrated in weakness, that is, Jehovah gives the weak the strength they need.

The valuable lesson is that a person may feel that he is weak but in reality he is very strong, this is because as it says: Second Corinthians 12: 09,10 Jehovah\’s power is fully demonstrated in weakness, which means that he gives us the forces that we need.

And due to the words that were recorded in this biblical quote from 2 Corinthians 12: 9, 10 we can see that Paul recorded this lesson very well and demonstrated it by not seeing his weaknesses or difficulties as a reason to give up, rather the he saw an opportunity to demonstrate his trust in Jehovah.(Read 2 Corinthians 12:9, 10.) 

3. Why can we take pleasure in insults?

3 The reality is that nobody likes to be insulted, so it is very necessary that Christians see insults in their proper perspective, we understand that insults and opposition are proof that we are true disciples of Christ, as 1 Peter 4 says: 14, if they are insulting us because of the name of Christ, we are happy because the spirit of God rests on us, that indicates to us that the support of the holy spirit is a sign that we have God\’s blessing for which we feel happy.

For what is recorded in 1 Peter 4:14 where it says that \”the spirit of God rests on those who are insulted by the name of Christ.\” This means that receiving insults or opposition shows that we are true disciples of Christ.

And precisely this was something that Christians experienced in the first century. Because they lived in a society that had been greatly influenced by Greek and Jewish cultures, people saw them as ignorant and inferior men with very little education as shown in Acts 4:13.

Apart from the reasons already mentioned why when we receive insults we should react with joy, it is important to think about what the quotes from Proverbs 24:10 and 12:16 teach us. In these it is recommended that when we go through difficult times or irritation the worst thing we can do is get discouraged or react hotly. Rather, we must be wise and control our emotions and our tongue, and thus we will control the situation instead of the situation controlling us. (Prov. 24:10; 2 Cor. 12:10; 1 Pet. 4:14; John 15:18-20; Acts 4:13)

4. How did the early Christians respond to the negative view that opposers had of them?

4 For example, for the Apostles Peter and John it was an honor that they were persecuted for being disciples of Jesus and speaking of his teachings, the Christians of the first century knew that they suffered at the hands of their enemies for defending the pure worship of Jehovah, they were sure that The work they were doing helped and gave hope to the people who listened, so far from being discouraged they gladly continued to preach about the Kingdom of God.

At no point did they feel ashamed as they knew they had no reason to feel this way. Rather, thanks to their sure expectation of things that although they did not contemplate they knew would happen, they trusted that the work they were doing was not of men but of God and that it would provide help and hope to millions of people even after hundreds of years. And we see that their faith and actions were well rewarded since unlike the nation that thought negatively of them which at present is only ashes, they currently rule as kings in heaven.

We can meditate on how the apostles felt when they were brought before the Sanhedrin as mentioned in Acts 5: 27-29, they probably remembered the moments that Jesus Christ went through when he also faced the Sanhedrin. Thinking that they were experiencing persecution just like their Master sure filled them with faith and confidence that they were doing the things that Jehovah and Jesus liked. We see then that the first Christians did not allow the negative opinions of their enemies to stop them, rather they considered it a great honor. (Acts 4:18-21; 5:27-29, 40-42) (Matt. 24:14) ​—Rev. 5:10.

5. According to John 15:19, why are Jehovah’s people looked down on?

5 Jesus in this text explains that the main reason why Jehovah\’s people suffer persecution is that we are not part of the present evil system of things, we do not follow their selfish and arrogant attitudes and we do not get involved in politics, so we do not fit in in the mold of this world we are considered inferior.

They despise us because we are not part of this world, that is, we do not have the same attitude as the people around us. In this world, the proud, arrogant and rebellious are admired but we strive to be humble, gentle and obedient people. In addition to that we maintain a neutral position on political and military matters.

And perhaps in our country we do not see so clearly this hatred on the part of the world towards us, but we can think of nations such as Russia, China, North Korea among others where our brothers can go to jail or be fined for not participating in the political elections or refusing to do military service. Integrity on the part of our brothers should also motivate us as well as integrity on the part of the apostles of Christ.

Perhaps some of us used to be one of those people who despised or made fun of Jehovah\’s Witnesses, but the words of Romans 12: 2 were fulfilled in us and we stopped conforming to this system and rather, we transformed ourselves by renewing our mind. Now perhaps we suffer that same contempt and ridicule, but that does not discourage us because as we have already learned, it is an honor to suffer for the name of Jehovah.​—Read John 15:19; Rom. 12:2.

6. What is Jehovah achieving with his people?

6 Jehovah has used us to achieve different achievements, such as carrying out the largest preaching campaign in history, which allows us to publish and distribute the magazines in different publications around the world, and we use his word the Bible to help millions of people to improve their lives, truly that Jehovah uses us in this way makes each of us strong and valuable.

There are several things in which Jehovah allows us to help you, among these is the largest preaching campaign in history, the production of the most translated and distributed magazines in the world, and the life-saving work where we help through the Bible millions of people to improve their lives. And this is because Jehovah enhances the abilities of people who we seem weak but who with his help make impressive achievements.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Reviewing more information, I was able to find some of the totals that as an organization and with the help of Jehovah we achieved in the 2019 service year, in the yearbook of that year it was published that there are 119,712 (one hundred nineteen thousand seven hundred twelve) congregations in 240 countries. And that there was a maximum of 8,683,117 (eight million six hundred eighty-three thousand one hundred seventeen) publishers which we achieved an average of 9,618,182 (nine million six hundred eighteen thousand one hundred eighty-two) monthly studies and one of the most outstanding things is that they dedicated 2,088,560,437 (two thousand eighty-eight million five hundred sixty thousand four hundred thirty-seven) hours of preaching, No doubt Jehovah\’s power and our disposition make such extraordinary works possible.

7. What is one lesson that we learn from Paul’s example?

7 The apostle Paul had many reasons to feel proud of himself, because he grew up in a prosperous city with a good education and also had a certain influence in the Jewish community, it could be said that according to the world he had some advantage but the Instead of relying on his own strengths or capabilities he had acquired trust in Jehovah and let Jehovah help him in all things. (Acts 5:34; 22:3; Gal. 1:13, 14; Acts 26:4).

8. According to Philippians 3:8 and footnote, how did Paul view the things he gave up, and why did he take “pleasure in weaknesses”?

8 For Paul, according to Philippians 3: 8, all that was a heap of rubbish, that is, having been better among his contemporaries to have studied at the feet of Gamaliel, all that for him was a heap of rubbish for Christ\’s sake, so he highly valued service.

We must imitate the example of the apostle Paul, appreciating everything we have now, for example the good relationship we enjoy with Jehovah is a token of gratitude that we must have, also our record of faithfulness before God has incalculable value, in addition to what it offers this world has no comparison with the immense value of the spiritual blessings that we enjoy and also those that we will enjoy in the future.

Paul saw how Jehovah helped him, he came to understand that despite the abilities and attitudes he had, there is a limit to what we can do with our strength, although he was capable, he could not do everything he wanted but he got the idea that he needed a superior help, Jehovah could give him the strength he needed and that helped him to fulfill his commission well as well.

ILLUSTRATION

In the image we see how Paul is abandoning his life as a Pharisee, it was one of the most important things that for the people of that time had a lot of value, but Paul got rid of all those things because he understood that Jehovah was the one who was going to give him Now his help, he understood that serving Jehovah was the most important thing for him now, many people considered that as Paul despised many valuable things but Paul understood that the most valuable thing for him would be to be by Jehovah\’s side and serve the congregation the one he had persecuted before and who frankly was able to leave everything and continue serving Jehovah. (Read Philippians 3:8 and footnote.) (Acts 23:12-14) (Acts 16:19-24, 37) (Rom. 7:21-25) —2 Cor. 4:7; 12:10.

9. How should we view any seeming disadvantages we have?

9 We must see it as an opportunity to see how Jehovah helps us with his holy spirit, for example if we are going through some difficulty and at the moment we pray to Jehovah and we see how Jehovah helps us our faith will be strengthened and when other difficulties come. strong, as we are going to be strong in a spiritual and emotional sense, these types of situations will no longer take us by surprise.

And for example, at this time of the pandemic, many brothers have had the opportunity to demonstrate with their faithful service to Jehovah, despite the fact that they themselves have fallen ill or one of their loved ones have felt how Jehovah has given them the strength to continue serving him. and we have all undoubtedly heard experiences like these that make us truly feel that Jehovah continues to help his servants at this time.

Some of the things for which we can come to think that we have certain disadvantages is because perhaps our physical strength or health is decreasing or because we did not have a good education, because of our culture, or because of our material possessions. But we must remember what 1 Cor. 1:26, 27 says that Jehovah has decided to use \”the weak things of the world.\” So the possible disadvantages that we face personally are not impediments to being useful in Jehovah\’s sight. (1 Cor. 1:26, 27; Eph. 6:19, 20) 

10. Why should we study the examples set by faithful Bible characters, such as those mentioned at Hebrews 11:32-34?

10 Like those mentioned in Hebrews 11: 32,34, Jehovah made sure to include the accounts of these faithful servants in the Bible, to teach us valuable lessons so that when we read about them, we must use our imagination to see and feel what each character experienced and think about how we would have reacted in each situation, in this way we will understand more about the faithfulness they showed to Jehovah.

Because Paul did so and thanks to this he made his knowledge grow and his faith grow stronger. Paul himself mentioned that through their faith these examples of biblical characters did things that they would not have accomplished on their own. So if we want to have that same faith and continue to contribute to doing extraordinary works for Jehovah, it is good that we imitate Paul and study these faithful men of antiquity, such as King David, who we are going to analyze next.

Paul made sure to include the stories of these faithful servants in the bible to teach us valuable lessons, so when we read about them, we must use our imaginations to see and feel what each character experienced and think about how we would have reacted in each situation, In this way we will understand more about their faithfulness to Jehovah. (Read Hebrews 11:32-34.) 

11. Why did David seem to be weak? (See cover picture.)

11 Because Goliath was much bigger and better equipped and trained for war. David was nothing more than an inexperienced young man who did not seem ready for battle.

David seemed weak, because he was nothing more than an inexperienced young man who had not received military training, as we see in the drawing on the cover he would face Goliath, an incredibly huge warrior with his impressive armor, he also seemed not ready for battle But he trusted in the power of Jehovah the answer that he gave to Goliath remains to this day a powerful statement of faith, David said: to Jehovah belongs the battle. as a result what appeared to be a weakness turned out to be an advantage. and in the end he defeated his enemy proving that there is nothing that Jehovah\’s power cannot overcome.

The Bible mentions that when David faced Goliath, David was just a young man, perhaps he was in his late teens, whereas Goliath was the Philistine champion and he was 3 meters (9.5 feet) tall. And although King Saul tried to dress David in his own armor, David found it awkward and heavy. So David with the naked eye was carrying with him only his shepherd\’s staff, a bag slung over his shoulder, and a sling. Instead, Goliath carried his shield, a spear, his sword and armor that weighed 57 kilos.

ILLUSTRATION

Thanks to the illustration we can get a vivid picture of what David faced. We see that although David seemed to have disadvantages compared to Goliath, in reality these disadvantages became opportunities to see Jehovah\’s power at work. And David was undoubtedly aware that Jehovah had given him the necessary power as we see him stretching out his arms towards heaven as a sign of thanks to Jehovah.—1 Sam. 17:41-45, 50.

12. What other challenge did David have to cope with?

12 Despite being a loyal servant, he faced the envy of Jehovah\’s appointed king of Israel, King Saul. This envy caused Saul to treat him badly and even try to kill him.

David faces a problem that could have made him feel weak or defenseless, he received mistreatment from who should be his friend, King Saul himself, envy and pride had reached Saul so much that he tried several times to kill him.

The Biblical references to the 1 book of Samuel found in this paragraph show us the reasons why Saul began to see David as an enemy. The reason was that the people began to see David as someone better than Saul. And with good reason, David was a skilled warrior as he had Jehovah\’s blessing. We see then that just as we are despised for serving Jehovah faithfully, Saul despised and hated David for being his anointed to the throne of Israel and being his faithful servant.​—1 Sam. 18:6-9, 29; 19:9-11.

13. How did David respond to the unjust way he was treated by King Saul?

13 David continued to respect Saul the king whom Jehovah had appointed in Israel and trusted that Jehovah would give him the strength to endure this difficult trial.

Although Saul treated him unfairly, David did not lose respect for him, knowing that he was the king whom Jehovah had appointed. Neither did he become bitter with Jehovah or blame him for the bad things that Saul did to him, rather he left everything in his hands and trusted that Jehovah would give him the necessary strength and even provide salvation to his problems.

Perhaps the times we remember the most when David showed respect to Saul was when he had the opportunity to kill him. These were two times and both times David refused because he knew that if he did, he would be disloyal to God. Saul was king because God had appointed him, and Jehovah\’s loyal servants respect the people he has placed in charge of his people. (1 Sam. 24:6) —Ps. 18:1, superscription.

14. What situation did the apostle Paul face that was similar to that of David?

14 Paul received mistreatment from the enemies of the truth, influential leaders who hated him and who on many occasions sent him to beat and put him in prison, in the same way it happened to David he received mistreatment from people who should be his friends, some of the congregation Christian who had turned against him, but Paul did not allow himself to be defeated and although he had so much against him, he was victorious because I trust in Jehovah and not in his own strength.

It is mentioned in the paragraph that Paul had very powerful enemies, he was surrounded by influential leaders who hated him so much that they sent him to beat and to prison. Even sadly he suffered the mistreatment of those who must have been his friends and some of the Christian congregation. But despite this he did not allow himself to be defeated by his enemies, he was loyal to his brothers although they disappointed him but above all he was loyal to Jehovah.

And the apostle Paul was able to remain faithful to Jehovah despite these difficult situations because he did not trust his own abilities or learning but rather trusted that Jehovah would help him. Although Paul may have had reasons to try to fix things on his own because of his education or because of the family he came from, he did not do so, left everything in Jehovah\’s hands and showed that he fully trusted the wisdom from above .

A specific situation that Pablo had to face was when one of his collaborators named Demás abandoned him \”for loving this system.\” This undoubtedly put him off quite a bit. But Paul based his trust in Jehovah and He encouraged him using his holy spirit and other brothers such as Aristarchus, Tychicus and Mark, who comforted him and helped him to endure. Paul himself acknowledged this when he said that some of the brothers had been “a source of great comfort” (w20 Jan pp. 8-9). (2 Cor. 12:11; Phil. 3:18) (2 Tim. 4:8) 

15. What is our goal, and how can we achieve it?

15 Like Paul and King David we want to continue conquering evil with good, but of course we do not want to achieve this by embedding a stone in the forehead like David did, rather our objective is to use the Word of God to reach the mind and the hearts of those with a good attitude.

Our goal is to continue defeating evil with good, that is why we use the word of God to reach the minds and hearts of people who have a good attitude, for example if someone questions our beliefs we answer their questions with kindness and respect Even if they treat us badly, we must do good to everyone including our enemies.

Putting into practice what is recommended to us in 1 Peter 3: 15-17 where we are told that we must be ready to present a defense to all the people who demand reasons of why we believe what we believe, this we must do with the Bible. We must also be careful how we respond to those who treat us badly and we must strive so that our way of responding to them is by showing kindness and respect so that those who speak out against us are ashamed because of our good behavior as followers of Christ.

ILLUSTRATION

In this illustration we can see how coworkers of a brother are inviting him to celebrate a birthday with them. The truth is that it is a complicated test since they meet in a place very close to their workplace, but the brother seems calm and explains to them with biblical principles, kindness and respect why he does not celebrate these festivities. (Rom. 12:21) —Matt. 5:44; 1 Pet. 3:15-17.

16-17. What did Paul never forget?

16-17 Paul never forgot the lesson that Jesus taught him when he spoke to him from heaven on the road to Damascus, as he had become blind he had to resort to the same people he had persecuted, in this case he was humble and accepted the help of Ananias , who restored his sight Paul, later, although he became an important member of the Christian congregation, he continued to maintain this attitude of humility and recognized that the help of the brothers does not strengthen and are a source of comfort.

He never forgot the lesson that Jesus taught him when he spoke to him from heaven on the road to Damascus. This lesson was that he should be humble and willingly accept the help that his brothers and sisters gave him. Some years after the lesson of Jesus Christ the apostle Paul said in Colossians 4:10, 11 where he accepted that some of his brothers had helped and strengthened him a lot.(Acts 7:58; 1 Tim. 1:13) —Acts 9:3-9, 17, 18.Col. 4:10, 11, ftn.

18. Why may we be reluctant to accept help from others?

18 Because we may think that we have been serving Jehovah for many years and that we have enough experience, that makes us not so willing to accept help from others, especially if it is offered to us by a brother who has not been in the truth that long, the truth is that if we want to benefit from Jehovah\’s power, we must accept that he often uses brothers and sisters to strengthen us.

Because maybe we\’ve been serving Jehovah for a few years now and we feel like we have a lot of experience. Sometimes we may even underestimate the encouragement or help of some brothers who have served Jehovah for less time than we have.

Some of the brothers who in ancient times helped Paul were Aristarchus, Marcos and Tychicus. In the case of Aristarco, he showed loyalty when, time after time, despite suffering many difficulties, he continued by Pablo\’s side, strengthening him with his company. Marcos was a helpful friend to Pablo when he was shopping for food, looking for lodging, or doing similar things during his missionary trips. And in the case of Tychicus, he was a trustworthy friend for Paul since he named him collaborator of a collection to help the Christians of Judea.

If Paul, having the experience he had, accepted help from brothers not so experienced, how should he do the same? (1 Cor. 3:1, 2) (Rom. 1:11, 12) 

19. Why was Paul successful?

19 The reason was that Paul understood that the secret of success is not in physical strength, education, wealth or social position, but in humility and trust in Jehovah, if we imitate his example even if we feel weak, Jehovah will make us powerful.

Because he understood that the secret of success is not in physical strength, education, wealth or social position, but in humility and trust in Jehovah. We too can achieve extraordinary achievements if we put into practice the example of Paul, that is; trusting in Jehovah, learning lessons from biblical characters and accepting help from our brothers.

HOW WOULD YOU ANSWER?

In what sense can we “take pleasure . . . in insults”?

In the sense that Christians see insults in their proper perspective, we understand that insults and opposition are proof that we are true disciples of Christ, as first Peter 4:14 says, if they are insulting us for the name of Christ, we are happy because the spirit of God rests on us.

We should rejoice because the words that are recorded in 1 Peter 4:14 where it says that \”the spirit of God rests on those who are insulted for the name of Christ are being fulfilled in us.\” This means that receiving insults or opposition shows that we are true disciples of Christ.

Why should we not be overly concerned about the world’s view of us?

Because despite what the world thinks of us, Jehovah is using us to achieve extraordinary things, such as carrying out the largest preaching campaign in history, he allows us to publish and distribute the magazines and different publications all over the world and we use his word the bible to help millions of people improve their lives.

Because we are not part of this world, we become more interested in what Jehovah thinks of us.

Also because if we worry too much about this we can get discouraged. Rather, we must be wise and control our emotions and our tongue, and thus we will control the situation instead of the situation controlling us.

What are three things that we, like Paul, can do to gain power from Jehovah?

The three things we must do are: trust Jehovah, learn lessons from biblical characters, and accept help from our brothers.

1) We should not rely on our own strength, rather we should rely on Jehovah. 2) We can also learn valuable lessons from biblical characters of old and 3) accept the help that our congregation brothers give us, regardless of whether they have been in the truth for a long time or a short time. By doing this even if we feel weak, Jehovah will make us strong.

SONG 71 We Are Jehovah’s Army!