The Scriptures assure us that our God will not abandon us when we make mistakes. The Israelites sinned against Jehovah again and again; yet, when they sincerely repented, God forgave them. First-century Christians were also made aware of God’s love. Under inspiration, the apostle Paul urged fellow believers to “forgive and comfort” a man who had pursued a course of serious sin but who had repented. (2 Cor. 2:6, 7; 1 Cor. 5:1-5) How remarkable that Jehovah did not reject his worshippers just because they had erred! Rather, he lovingly reached out to them, corrected them, and invited them back into his arms. He promises to do the same for all repentant sinners today. (Jas. 4:8-10) The Bible reveals God’s wisdom, his justice, and his love. This book proves that Jehovah wants us to come to know him. He wants us to become his friends. w23.02 7 ¶16-17

For good reason, we are interested in seeing how current world events are fulfilling Bible prophecy. For instance, Jesus provided a list of specific events to help us know when the end of Satan’s system is drawing near. (Matt. 24:3-14) The apostle Peter encouraged us to pay attention to the fulfillment of prophecy so that our faith will remain strong. (2 Pet. 1:20, 21) He wants us to keep a balanced view when considering Bible prophecy. He urges us to “keep close in mind the presence of the day of Jehovah.” (2 Pet. 3:11-13) Why? Not because we want to work out the “day and hour” when Jehovah will bring Armageddon, but because we want to use the time we have left to perform “holy acts of conduct and deeds of godly devotion.” (Matt. 24:36; Luke 12:40) We want to maintain upright conduct and make sure that our efforts in Jehovah’s service reflect our deep love for him. To keep that focus, we must pay attention to ourselves. w23.02 16 ¶4, 6

There are things that the “other sheep” need to do now to qualify to live in Paradise. We need to show how we feel about Jesus. For instance, we show our affection for him by the way we treat his spirit-anointed brothers. Jesus said that he would judge the sheep on that basis. (Matt. 25:31-40) We can support them in the preaching and disciple-making work. (Matt. 28:18-20) We do not need to wait until we are living in Paradise to become the kind of person that Jehovah wants there. Right now we can work at being honest in our speech and actions and moderate in our habits. And we can be loyal to Jehovah, to our marriage mate, and to fellow Christians. The more closely we conform to God’s standards while living in this wicked world, the easier it will be for us to live by them in Paradise. We can also develop skills and traits to show that we are preparing to live then. w22.12 11-12 ¶14-16