USE EDUCATION TO PRAISE JEHOVAH No 146 (11/00)
| Note to the speaker: Present this material in an appealing and reasonable way. Help the audience to focus on the real purpose of life - to know Jehovah and serve him faithfully. Education should enhance our ability and our opportunities to praise Jehovah, and should help us to care effectively for our Christian responsibilities. |
EDUCATION IS AN ESSENTIAL PART OF CHRISTIAN LIFE (5 min)
As true Christians, Jehovah's Witnesses value education highly
Through education, we learn how to treat others (Matt 7:12)
Education equips us to care for our responsibilities, both material and spiritual (1 Tim 5:8; g98 3/8 19-21)
By means of education, we learn about God and his purposes
Education should be used to help us obey and praise Jehovah (Eccl 12:13; g99 7/22 13)
WHERE AND WHEN SHOULD EDUCATION BEGIN (6 min)
Education is defined as "the process by which people acquire knowledge, skills, habits, values, or attitudes" (World Book Encyclopedia; it-1 682)
Education should begin at home, as parents teach their children from infancy (2 Tim 3:14, 15; w99 2/1 32; g98 1/22 8; w96 2/1 12)
Children are capable of learning good habits, attitudes, values, and skills at an early age
Many are taught to read before attending school (w96 7/15 31; w88 8/1 13)
Help young ones to develop a personal relationship with God (w96 12/1 15-16)
Teach children good manners, respect for others and proper moral conduct
Parents have major role in educating their children (see quote "Questions for parental examination" g88 9/8 12)
Christian education supplied through the congregation does not absolve parents of their responsibility (Eph 6:4)
THE BASIC OBJECTIVES OF A BALANCED EDUCATION (15 min)
Education should be used primary to bring praise to Jehovah
Jesus set the example in this regard (John 7:16-18)
To honor Jehovah, young people should follow scriptural principles as they apply themselves diligently to their school studies (Ps 119:9-12; Col 3:23; w96 2/1 11-14)
Learn to read well
Master the art of writing clearly
Develop mentally, morally, spiritually
Acquire practical training for daily life
Parents have the responsibility to guide their children with regard to the amount of secular education to peruse (w97 8/15 21)
Any Christian contemplating supplementary education should weight potential benefits and drawbacks (g98 3/8 20)
Motive should not be glory or riches
Objective should be to support ourselves so we can serve Jehovah as fully as possible in the Christian ministry (w99 9/1 16-17; w96 12/1 17-19)
HOW JEHOVAH EDUCATES HIS PEOPLE (15 min)
Jehovah is the greatest Educator
God uses his word and his visible organization to provide vital education today (Job 36:22; Isa 54:13; w00 5/1 14-16)
Unlike worldly wisdom, Jehovah's teaching is always beneficial to those who follow it (Isa 48:17; w00 6/1 29-31)
Divine education includes learning to think, reason, speak, obey, co-operate with others and show love (Prov 2:10-11)
Reading Bible regularly keeps mind and heart focused on the most important things and builds faith (Ps 1:1-3; 2 Tim 3:16, 17)
Studying Society's Publications such as the Watchtower and Awake gives spiritual insight, widens horizons and expands vocabulary (w00 2/15 32; g00 5/8 32)
We have thus learned about Jehovah, Jesus Christ, the ransom, God's Kingdom, the new world, hope for the dead, godly conduct and so forth
Attending congregation meetings provides a person opportunity to make progress in ability to speak and teach (Matt 28:19, 20; w99 8/1 7)
Participating in the ministry is a valuable education itself
Helping with Kingdom Hall maintenance , with theocratic building projects and at assemblies teaches us to plan and to work with others
Jehovah's Organization teaches obedience to God, Christ, congregation, parents, "superior authorities" (Rom 13:1; Acts 5:29; Eph 6:1; Phil 2:10; Heb 13:17)
Only divine education leads to the real life (1 Tim 6:17-19)
USE EDUCATION TO HONOR THE GREATEST EDUCATOR (4 min)
We will always learn from our grand instructor (Isa 30:20)
Many new things will be learned the "scrolls" (Rev 20:12; re 298-300)
Those whose names are written in "scroll of life" will have benefited from education provided by Jehovah
Jehovah is educating us today to see the universal issues confronting mankind
God's word and organization help us to evaluate matters in connection with our worship and personal goals
With gratitude to God, we strive to keep a simple eye and seek first the Kingdom (Matt 6:22, 33, 34)
Like Jesus, the great teacher, let us use education and all our other resources to praise Jehovah (Isa 2:3, 4)
I hope the formatting worked. Maybe I'll post my actual talk notes later. I think I was pretty reasonable with it :)
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