Help Others Come to Know Jehovah

1. How do you feel when you see a Bible student making progress?

HOW do you feel when a Bible student attends his first congregation meeting, begins to comment, shares his faith with others, and in time decides to dedicate himself to Jehovah God? No doubt you are thrilled! Of course, Jehovah deserves the credit for the spiritual progress our Bible student makes. We praise Jehovah when we see how he helps someone to grow spiritually.​—1 Cor. 3:5-9; 3 John 3, 4.

2. What is Jehovah’s will for Bible students? (1 Timothy 2:3, 4)

² God’s will is for “all sorts of people” to “be saved and come to an accurate knowledge of truth.” (Read 1 Timothy 2:3, 4.) Jehovah wants people to come to know him and his purposes as fully as possible. (Jer. 9:24) That means taking in accurate knowledge. The original-language word translated “accurate knowledge” means not merely a collection of facts that someone learns but knowledge that “has its full effect on the person,” as one Bible scholar said. When a Bible student comes to know Jehovah, that knowledge affects the way he lives. And it opens to him the prospect of “everlasting life.”​—John 17:3.

3. What will we discuss in this article?

³ Jehovah has given us the privilege of helping others come to know him. In this article, we will discuss the following questions: Why do Bible students need to get to know Jehovah well? How can we teach them what Jehovah is like? And how can we help them put their knowledge of Jehovah to work in their lives?

HELP THE STUDENT TO COME TO KNOW JEHOVAH WELL

4. In harmony with Mark 12:30, what is our primary objective when conducting a Bible study?

⁴ Jesus said that the greatest commandment is to love Jehovah with our whole heart, soul, mind, and strength. (Read Mark 12:30.) A Bible student must come to know Jehovah in order to love him. We want our Bible student to dedicate himself​—not to us, not to a set of teachings, not to an organization—​but to Jehovah. Therefore, our primary objective when conducting a Bible study is to help our student come to know and love Jehovah.

5. What will love for Jehovah motivate your Bible student to do?

⁵ There is a connection between love and obedience. Once your Bible student comes to know and love Jehovah, he will be moved to obey him. Jesus said: “For the world to know that I love the Father, I am doing just as the Father has commanded me to do.” (John 14:31) Similarly, love for Jehovah​—more than anything else—​will motivate a Bible student to obey him and to stick to him.​—1 John 5:3.

6. How will knowledge of Jehovah help your Bible student when making decisions? Illustrate.

⁶ Bible students who come to know Jehovah well will be more likely to make wise decisions. To illustrate: A commercial airline pilot does not learn to fly by merely studying flight regulations or taking an exam. He must also log many hours in the cockpit. Over time, he learns how the plane reacts in different conditions and how his decisions affect the plane’s performance. Similarly, a Bible student will come to know Jehovah not only through his study but also by seeing how things turn out for him when he makes decisions in harmony with Scriptural principles. As he grows in knowledge of Jehovah and sees how his heavenly Father helps him, he will be equipped to make good decisions in any circumstance.

7. How did knowledge of Jehovah help Joseph to make a good decision?

⁷ Knowledge of Jehovah helped Joseph when Potiphar’s wife tried to seduce him. From childhood, Joseph had no doubt heard about the accounts of Adam and Eve and of Abraham and Sarah. (Gen. 2:24; 20:3, 6) Joseph could discern from those accounts how Jehovah views marriage and the gift of sexual relations. Joseph came to know Jehovah so well that he rejected the advances of Potiphar’s wife and told her: “How could I commit this great badness and actually sin against God?” (Gen. 39:7-9) Joseph knew what was good and what was bad in Jehovah’s eyes. He understood what would hurt his God. As a result, Joseph made the right decision. If we help our Bible students to get to know Jehovah well and to learn what he is like, they too will make choices that please him.

TEACH HIM WHAT JEHOVAH IS LIKE

8. How can you use the Enjoy Life Forever! book to help a Bible student come to know Jehovah?

⁸ How, then, can you teach a Bible student what Jehovah is like? Jehovah helped Job to learn more about Him by asking questions​—well over 50 of them! (Job 38:1–41:34) We too can ask questions. The questions found in the Enjoy Life Forever! book are designed to help a student progressively learn about Jehovah’s personality. (See the box “Questions That Help Us Teach.”) So use these questions to help your student come to know Him.

9-10. (a) What will help Bible students to get the most out of their Bible reading? (James 5:11) (b) Illustrate how a Bible account can reveal what pleases or what displeases Jehovah.

⁹ Early in our interactive Bible course, we encourage students to start a routine of Bible reading.a How can we help them to get the most out of their personal reading? We might suggest that each time they read a Bible passage, they consider why Jehovah included it in his Word and what qualities it reveals about him. Notice how the disciple James did just that when he referred to the story of Job. James drew attention not only to a quality of Job​—his endurance—​but also to qualities of Jehovah​—His tenderness and mercy.​—Read James 5:11.

¹⁰ We want our students to discern how each Bible account reveals what pleases or what displeases Jehovah. For example, perhaps our student consults the chart “Get Started Reading the Bible” in the Enjoy Life Forever! book and tells us that he has chosen to read the story of Daniel in the lions’ den. We might encourage him to meditate on such questions as: ‘Why did Jehovah save Daniel? What does this tell me about what makes Jehovah happy?’ (Dan. 6:10, 22) He might also ask himself: ‘What happened to the men who had accused Daniel? What does this tell me about what displeases Jehovah?’ (Dan. 6:4, 5, 24) Finally, he can think about other qualities of Jehovah that are evident in the account.​—Dan. 6:26, 27.

11. How can we help our student to see his Bible study as a gift from Jehovah?

¹¹ We are happy when our student appreciates the benefits he receives from his Bible study. However, we should help him to see that the Source of these benefits is Jehovah, the Grand Instructor. (Isa. 30:20, 21) Our student may thank us for what he is learning and perhaps even praise us for the way we teach. While these sincere expressions of gratitude are not wrong, we should try to redirect such praise and gratitude to Jehovah.

HELP HIM PUT HIS KNOWLEDGE TO WORK

12-13. How can getting to know Jehovah help a student when he finds a Bible account difficult to understand? (See also picture.)

¹² To benefit fully from accurate knowledge, we must use what we know. So how can you help your student to put his knowledge to work? First, teach him to recall what he knows about Jehovah when he reads a Bible account that he finds difficult to understand. While reading about divine judgments, for example, he may wonder why Jehovah executed some people but spared others. How might you help your student to reason on the matter?

¹³ You can encourage your student to reflect on what he has learned about Jehovah. How precious is life to Jehovah? (2 Pet. 3:9) How far has he gone to save us​—even though we are sinners? (Eph. 2:4, 5) Does Jehovah punish people who do not deserve it? On the other hand, does he allow anyone who deserves punishment to escape it? (Ex. 34:6, 7) Sometimes, a Bible account does not provide the details that would make Jehovah’s decision more understandable to us. However, we do not need those details. We know our God, and we are convinced that our God always does what is right.

14. How can you help a student if he finds it hard to get along with someone in the congregation?

¹⁴ Consider a second way a Bible student can put his knowledge of Jehovah to work. Suppose your student is now attending meetings, but he finds it hard to get along with someone in the congregation. Perhaps he has been offended by that publisher. Encourage your student to consider how Jehovah views our brothers and sisters. What sacrifice has Jehovah made to show his love for them? (John 3:16) How important is our Christian unity to him? (Ps. 133:1) How does he feel when we strive to protect that unity? (2 Cor. 13:11) Help your student to see how pleased Jehovah will be when we focus on the positive qualities of others rather than on their faults.

15-16. (a) When facing a major decision, how can a Bible student imitate Jesus? (John 8:29) (b) How did Marianne help her student to make a good decision? (See also picture.)

¹⁵ Finally, you can help your Bible student to use his knowledge of Jehovah to make good decisions. You might first direct his attention to lesson 35 of the Enjoy Life Forever! book, entitled “How to Make Good Decisions.” However, what if your student has prayed and done research but still struggles to make a decision? He may feel overwhelmed by the number of Bible principles that bear on the topic. You can suggest that he reflect on Jesus’ example. How did Jesus make decisions? He said: “I always do the things pleasing to [my Father].” (Read John 8:29.) Encourage the student to ask himself, ‘Based on what I have researched and on what I have learned about Jehovah, what choice would please him?’ Any decision that pleases Jehovah is a good decision.

¹⁶ A woman in Chile who was studying the Bible faced a major decision. She was being pressured by her family to accept a well-paying job that would interfere with her meeting attendance. Her Bible teacher, Marianne, relates: “I urged her to reflect on how her decision would make Jehovah feel. Would he be happy or sad? I also encouraged her to pray to Jehovah specifically about the situation and to observe how he would answer. She refused the job offer and soon found employment that allowed her to attend meetings.” Note that rather than tell the student what to do, Marianne helped her to meditate on what she already knew about Jehovah. As a result, this experience strengthened the student’s relationship not only with Marianne but also with Jehovah. Marianne says about her student: “She learned that Jehovah cares for us if we put his worship first.”

BLESSINGS FOR THOSE WHO COME TO KNOW JEHOVAH WELL

17. Besides learning the facts, what else do we want Bible students to do?

¹⁷ Our interactive Bible course covers many important teachings. Students study basic Bible doctrines​—including the condition of the dead, the ransom, and the Kingdom. They also learn about organizational aspects​—such as the meetings, the elder arrangement, and the role of the Governing Body. However, we want our students to do more than just learn facts. We want them to get to know Jehovah well.

18. What blessings are in store for those who come to know Jehovah?

¹⁸ What a privilege it is for us to teach others to come to know Jehovah! Even now, those who come to know and worship Jehovah are blessed with the happiest life possible today. (Ps. 25:12-15) In the future, all who “gain the knowledge of the one who is true,” Jehovah, will enjoy eternal life. (1 John 5:20) But that is not all. The Bible tells us that those who strive to come to know and love Jehovah are “known by him.” (1 Cor. 8:3) Yes, Almighty God takes notice of us and acknowledges us as his friends. What a splendid reward for coming to know the only true God!