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Cultivate Love That Never FailsThe Watchtower—2009 | December 15
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Focus mainly on the last phrase in verse 7
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Cultivate Love That Never FailsThe Watchtower—2009 | December 15
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‘Love endures all things.
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Cultivate Love That Never FailsThe Watchtower—2009 | December 15
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Love Endures All Things
14, 15. (a) How can love help us to endure trials? (b) Why did one young brother refuse to compromise?
14 What enables Christians to endure no matter what trials, difficult situations, and problems they encounter? Basically it is love based on principle. Such love goes beyond just giving up something in a material way. It extends to the point of being willing to maintain our integrity and even to lose our life for the sake of Christ. (Luke 9:24, 25) Reflect on the faithful course of Witnesses who suffered in concentration camps, labor camps, and prisons during and after World War II.
15 A young German Witness named Wilhelm well illustrates this. Rather than compromise, he remained loyal when facing death by a Nazi firing squad. In a farewell letter to his family, he wrote: “Above all we must love God, as our Leader Jesus Christ commanded. If we stand up for him, he will reward us.” Later, in a Watchtower article, a member of his family wrote: “Through the turmoils of time, as a family we have seen to it that our love for God has always come first.” Such is the spirit of many brothers presently enduring imprisonment in Armenia, Eritrea, South Korea, and other lands. These brothers are remaining steadfast in their love for Jehovah.
16. What did our brothers in Malawi endure?
16 In many places, trials of a different sort test the faith and endurance of our brothers. For 26 years Jehovah’s Witnesses in Malawi endured governmental bans, severe opposition, and many atrocities. Their endurance was rewarded. When persecution broke out, there were about 18,000 Witnesses in that country. Thirty years later their number had more than doubled to 38,393. Similar results have been experienced in other lands.
17. What do some in divided households face, and why could they endure the mistreatment?
17 Frontal assaults against God’s people in general are one thing. When opposition comes upon individual Christians from family members, it is quite different. Stress may be caused by members of the household or immediate relatives. Did not Jesus foretell that this would take place? Yes, and many have experienced the truthfulness of his words. (Matt. 10:35, 36) Teenagers have endured opposition from unbelieving parents. Some have even been ordered out of the home, but they were taken in by kindly Witnesses. Others have been disowned. What enabled such ones to endure mistreatment? Not just their love for the brotherhood but, above all, their genuine love for Jehovah and his Son.—1 Pet. 1:22; 1 John 4:21.
18. How is the love that endures all things a help to married Christians?
18 There are many other situations in life that call for the love that endures all things. Within the marriage union, love enables couples to respect Jesus’ words: “What God has yoked together let no man put apart.” (Matt. 19:6) When experiencing “tribulation in their flesh,” married Christians should remind themselves that Jehovah is a key party in their marriage. (1 Cor. 7:28) His Word says that ‘love endures all things,’ and a husband and wife clothed with this quality are fortified to stick to each other and keep their marriage intact.—Col. 3:14.
19. What has occurred among God’s people after natural disasters?
19 Love helps us to endure all things in times of natural disasters. This was the case when an earthquake hit southern Peru and Hurricane Katrina devastated portions of the Gulf area in the United States. Many of our brothers lost their homes or material possessions in those disasters. Love moved the worldwide congregation to provide relief supplies, and volunteers helped to rebuild homes and repair Kingdom Halls. Such acts prove that our brothers love and care for one another at all times and under any circumstances.—John 13:34, 35; 1 Pet. 2:17.
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