by Jacqueline 24 Replies latest jw friends
Jacqueline.
Please also remember that their love is conditional. They will love you only if you do what is expected of you. If you fall short in any way that's when they start to grow cool. I'm sure everyone here will agree that love should not be with conditions. Love is shown by people who accept you for what you are and do.
Let us know how it works out.
I find the use of the words "among yourselves" in verse 35 in the NWT interesting. Why? Because the Watchtower tries to imply that this verse is speaking to JWs ALONE by translating "one another" to " among yourselves".
NWT reads....
34 I am giving
YOU a new commandment, that YOU love one another; just as I have loved YOU , that YOU also love one another. 35 By this all will know that YOU are my disciples, if YOU have love among yourselves."peace,
somebody
Here are some more interesting articles to study, lots of QUOTES!
Beans
Hi Jacqueline
I can assure you that the lack of love you speak of, is not specific to your congregation, I'm sure you know !
We have found it here in our cong. too. For example, a disabled sister has had to sit in a draughty downstairs foyer (the main hall is up stairs with no means for disabled to get there - no lift, no chairlift etc.) She has sat in that room for over 6 years , most of the time accompanied by one or two others (at the most) she has now decided not to go to meetings anymore, and is now being shunned.
They are a cruel and heartless lot, believe me, you and your husband are better off out of there !
Keep us informed
love from Twink
Lack of meeting attendance? Jacqueline!! Don't you know that the meetings are a protection for us? It's important to be at the meetings so we don't end up discovering nicer people and finding something useful to do with our lives instead of moulding the ass-grooves in the Kingdom Hall chairs! Armageddon is sure to come when all of Jehovah's people are attending a meeting inside our Kingdom Bomb Shells! We also really need the contributions that we haven't been getting from you to pay for that fancy new sign we just got displaying our yearly text. We could use a piece of cardboard and a felt marker, but that would look unclean & Jehovah expects us to have expensive shit in our place of worship to him.
You know, this is about the fifth time in the last two days that I've seen references to the JW religion as The Truth. I know, I know, I used it to when I was "in." It became so ingrained. But don't people know that it's a clear cut sign of a cult to claim it is "The Truth?" Therefore, why keep using the doublespeak???? Why the reluctance to call it the JW religion???
Jacqueline, you will tell that this is my pet peeve and the reason I go to very few meetings, soon to be none.
This lack of love is rampant in every congregation. I thought it was just a problem in a few, but it is everywhere and getting worse. About 15 years ago the WTS had a good article; the points are valid and practical but everyone thinks they are not the culprits.
Here is a scripture I like much better than John 13:34,35
Matthew 5:46-47 ***
Non-witnesses show love to the people they like/love. Christians must be more outstanding.
And here is an article with the right points but I never see applied at the KH. It is always the other person that is lacking never themselves.
*** w88 10/1 11 Appreciation for Our Brothers ***
On the pretext that the Scriptures allow for our having warmer feelings for some brothers than for others, are we inclined to rationalize our feelings? (John 19:26; 20:2)
Because John was more beloved is no excuse to play favorites at the hall. Obviously, the other 11 did not know this based on Jesus' actions or they would not have been fighting over who was the greatest.
Do we think we can express a cold, reasoned "love" to some because we have to, while we reserve warm brotherly affection for those to whom we are attracted?
If so, we have missed the point of Peters exhortation. We have not sufficiently purified our souls by our obedience to the truth, for Peter says: "Now that by obedience to the truth you have purified your souls until you feel sincere affection towards your brother Christians, love one another whole-heartedly with all your strength."1 Peter 1:22, The New English Bible.Jesus said: "If you love [form of agapa'o] those loving you, what reward do you have? Are not also the tax collectors doing the same thing?"Matthew 5:46.
How do we feel deep down in our hearts toward some of the brothers and sisters in the congregation? Do we greet them at meetings with a forced smile, quickly looking away or passing on? Worse still, do we try to avoid having to greet them at all? If so, what can be said of our "obedience to the truth" that should have purified our souls to the point of our feeling sincere affection toward our fellow Christians? By using the word "unhypocritical," Peter is saying that our affection for our brothers must not be put on for show. It must be genuine, heartfelt.
Peter adds: "Love one another intensely [literally, "outstretchedly"] from the heart." It requires no stretching of the heart to show love to those for whom we have a natural liking and who reciprocate. But Peter tells us to love one another "outstretchedly." When expressed among Christians, aga'pe love is not merely an intellectual, reasoned love, such as we should have for our enemies. (Matthew 5:44) It is an intense love and requires effort. It involves stretching our hearts, widening them out so that they can enfold people we would not normally be attracted to.
Good points but never applied. Second behind the lack of love, is the increase in lying and deception. Be prepared for that from the elders. They cannot admit they are wrong or that others are wrong or that the WTS is wrong.
Blondie (who casts no pearls before swine (elders) any more)
I have noticed the perceived lack of love many times, even from some of my closer "friends."
Personally, I think a lot has to do with the pressure that the organization puts upon the elders to keep the R&F walking in a straight line. If you really try to "follow the rules," you're amount of time to really show love to others in virtually nothing.
We always hear that it's only 5 hours a week and 2 or 3 hours for service. But that is a complete joke.
Let's face it, especially if you have one or more children, two nights per week are used for the TMS,SM and Book Study. By the time you begin to get ready, shower, dress, travel, be there 20 minutes or so early to fellowship, etc. etc. the evenings are gone, zap. Another night you typically will have a family study. Ok, no travel, but still, that limits what you can do that night.
Then if preparation for the meetings is done the way suggested, it will take at least another full evening including the Watchtower, the Isaiah book, the TMS, SM, Bible reading for the week, etc. That's four evenings so far "used." Just maybe, a family has to go to the store, do some things that "normally" people do. And we haven't even mentioned homework if there are kids involved!!!!
On the weekend, Saturday morning is used for field service. If you have your meeting Sunday afternoon that sort of messes up the morning since you can't get too involved with anything or go anywhere since you have to be back home by noon to get ready.
Then, we have those special privledges of student talks, service meeting parts, demonstrations, aux. pioneering, assemblies, special assembly days, visits by the CO, special this, special that.
Now, people do need to go stores, to the mall, take care of jobs around the house, take care of ones car, help children with homework, projects for school, etc. Maybe there are other family responsibilities with other family members.
At this point we haven't mentioned anything about recreation or really doing anything for anyone else.
After looking at everything that has been pre-programmed for us to do, it is not surprising that people don't show love to one another because there isn't any time !!!!
And then all we hear from the platform is that we are not doing enough. We hear the experience about sister so-and-so in Timbuctu who is 85 years old, has Hodgekins disease, a diseased leg, is blind in one eye but who auxiliary pioneered last June and placed 100 magazines. The use of guilt is used so intensely at times. Then, that same question repeated to us from the platform: "Are YOU whole-souled in your service to God?"
This annoys me to write anymore. Enough said. Showing love is tough under these circumstances.
*****Rub a Dub
email,
: My advice... GIVE EXCUSES... and well... say you're going to try to go... you've been busy @ work... etc... but DO NOT... I REPEAT... DO NOT get into an argument with them UNLESS you want them to DF you right away
Uh, she said she's only studying with the dubs.
Farkel
Good one Rubadub, thanks for bringing the works aspect into this.
They basically have it backwards - the witnesses would admonish you to do these things to "show" your love, whereas the works should be motivated by love in the first place. The love is supposed to exist first, the works is just a natural manifestation of that. Of course, witnesses being stuck on the form and really just wanting to increase their numbers, they make mention of the love to make service sound respectable, but they really are just looking for the hours. When was the last time anyone heard counsel to the effect of preaching is not just about counting hours and placing literature? Nobody is going to tell the pioneer that his heart is really not in it, because of course they don't really know what that means anyway. High hours look good for the pioneer, it looks good for the congregation, so why would you even think to question the motivation behind it?
