2016 Yeartext

“Many will . . . hate one another. . . . The love of the greater number will grow cold.” (Matt. 24:10, 12) These words of Jesus foretold that a lack of love would characterize people living during the years leading up to the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E. In contrast, the disciples of Christ would be identified by the love they displayed. (John 13:35) How encouraging it must have been to the Hebrew Christians in Jerusalem to read Paul’s words that acknowledged their brotherly love and exhorted them to continue displaying it!

Today, we are nearing the destruction of Satan’s entire global system of things. Like our brothers in the first century, we live among those who love money, pleasures, and themselves but have little love for God or neighbor. (2 Tim. 3:1-4) Yet, brotherly love among Jehovah’s Witnesses flourishes throughout the earth. May we praise Jehovah, the very personification of love, by letting our brotherly love continue.