Young, but diagnosed with a debilitating disease. Getting older and unable to find work. Being elderly and becoming increasingly limited in what you can do in Jehovah’s service. If you are experiencing something like one of the situations just mentioned, you may feel that you are not useful anymore. Those situations can rob you of joy, destroy your self-respect, and interfere with your relationships with other people. This world reflects Satan’s view of human life. Satan has always treated humans as if they were of little value. He heartlessly offered Eve a path to freedom, knowing full well that the penalty for disobeying God was death. Satan has always controlled this world. So it is not surprising that many of its leaders reflect his lack of respect for human life and dignity. Jehovah, on the other hand, wants us to feel good about ourselves, and he supports us when we face situations that could make us feel worthless.​—Rom. 12:3. w20.01 14 ¶1-4

For at least 40 years, Jeremiah lived among disloyal people, including neighbors and possibly some relatives from his hometown of Anathoth. (Jer. 12:6) However, he did not isolate himself. In fact, he expressed his feelings to his loyal secretary Baruch and ultimately to us. (Jer. 8:21; 9:1; 20:14-18; 45:1) We can well imagine that as Baruch wrote down Jeremiah’s eventful story, the two developed deep affection and respect for each other. (Jer. 20:1, 2; 26:7-11) For many years, Jeremiah had boldly warned the Israelites about what was going to happen to Jerusalem. (Jer. 25:3) In a further attempt to move the people to repentance, Jehovah asked Jeremiah to write His warnings on a scroll. (Jer. 36:1-4) As Jeremiah and Baruch worked closely together on this God-given task, which probably lasted several months, they no doubt had faith-strengthening conversations. w19.11 2-3 ¶3-4

How should we treat anointed brothers and sisters? It would be wrong to admire a person too much, even if he is an anointed brother of Christ. (Matt. 23:8-11) When the Bible speaks of the elders, it encourages us to “imitate their faith,” but it does not tell us that we can make any human our leader. (Heb. 13:7) It is true that the Bible says that some are “worthy of double honor.” But this is because they “preside in a fine way” and “work hard in speaking and teaching,” not because they are anointed. (1 Tim. 5:17) If we give anointed ones too much praise and attention, we could embarrass them. Or even worse, we could cause them to become proud. (Rom. 12:3) None of us would want to do anything that might cause one of Christ’s anointed brothers to make such a serious mistake!​—Luke 17:2. w20.01 29 ¶8