Build Godly Personalities on the Right Foundation

AMONG the various kinds of activity to which the Scriptures liken the work of Christian ministers is that of building. “If anyone builds on the foundation gold, silver, precious stones, . . . each one’s work will become manifest, . . . because it will be revealed by means of fire.”​—1 Cor. 3:12, 13.a

The right foundation upon which the Christian witnesses of Jehovah are to build is Jesus Christ, who is not only man’s Ransomer but also earth’s rightful King, now reigning. And what are they to build on this foundation? Christian personalities, even as the context shows. With what are these Christian personalities to be built? With that which is pictured by the noninflammable materials of gold, silver and precious stones, namely, godly qualities.​—1 Cor. 3:9-11.

Yes, we are living in very critical times, and if one who is a servant of God does not want his building work to be destroyed by the fiery tests and opposition all about us, he must build with the right materials. He must build these materials, or Christian qualities, into those whom he is teaching. These qualities are heavenly wisdom and spiritual discernment, appreciation of integrity and devotion to Bible principles, respect for all God’s laws and commandments, faith in his written Word, loyalty to God’s visible organization and an unbreakable attachment to His kingdom. Building such godly qualities into persons makes them strong, able to resist the fiery trials that Satan and his agents bring against all those who would serve Jehovah God.​—2 Tim. 3:1-5.

For Jehovah’s witnesses to build these godly qualities into persons with whom they are studying the Bible, what must they do? First of all, they must set a good example. They must have and display these godly qualities themselves, at no time stumbling those with whom they are studying by careless, indiscreet or selfish conduct. (Phil. 1:9-11) Further, they must stress the importance of these qualities and show how these can be applied to one’s own life. Thus if they are studying with a person who is proud, or one who uses profane language, or one whose conduct tends toward uncleanness, they must tactfully, as opportunity affords, point out to that person the need for humility, for clean speech and purity of conduct. More than that, they must impress upon the minds of these persons how they can cultivate godly personalities, by regular study of God’s Word, by meditating on it, by prayer and by association with God’s people.

In all such ways Jehovah’s witnesses build Christian personalities on the foundation of Jesus Christ. They help sincere persons to acquire godly qualities that will enable them to withstand all the fiery tests that may come upon them, all to Jehovah’s glory, to their eternal salvation and to the lasting joy of those who have helped them.

Questions From Readers

● Is it proper to use Isaiah 40:22 to prove that the Bible teaches that the earth is round, Isaiah’s words being written at a time when men thought the earth was flat? Some have expressed the thought that the word “circle” could refer to something circular but flat.​—J. L., Denmark.

Isaiah 40:22 reads: “There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth.” When this text says that God sits above the circle of the earth, this harmonizes with the fact that the earth is circular, viewed from all directions, but that also makes it globular in form. The Hebrew word hhug here is defined in A Concordance of the Hebrew and Chaldee Scriptures by B. Davidson as “circle, sphere.”

This same Hebrew word for circle is found in Job 22:14, where the New World Translation says of God: “On the vault of heaven he walks about.” Now, we know that the vault of heaven as seen from the earth is hemispherical, or like a half globe. The other half of the hemispherical vault of heaven extends below the earth upon which we stand and hence cannot be seen directly by us. In harmony with this fact, when Isaiah 40:22 says that