Congregation Book Study, Week of March 13-19, 2023, How to Be Clean From God's Point of View, Lesson 40. Answers.

Study of the Book of the congregation, March 13-19, 2023, Lesson 40. Answers.

Congregation Bible study (30 min.): lff lesson 40.

1. How to be physically clean?

To be physically clean, everything around us must be clean. For example, clothes, our house or if we have vehicles, these must be clean and tidy. Just like our body and since we are servants of Jehovah, the Kingdom Hall must also show that we are clean.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

We are clean in a physical sense when we bathe regularly, we keep our clothes, shoes, our vehicle, our house and the rest of our belongings clean. We are also physically clean when we help clean the Kingdom Hall.

As servants of Jehovah we strive to be clean in a physical sense, because as 1 Peter 1:6 says, we must be Holy because Jehovah is holy and physical cleanliness is a feature of holiness that gives Praise to our God, at the same time it results in public testimony that can cause others to praise Jehovah as well. 

The second Corinthians 6:3 gives us an idea, it says that we are not doing anything that causes others to stumble so that no one can find fault with our ministry, here it speaks not only the physical appearance also speaks in the way we express ourselves with the people in the way that we walk in the ministry in every sense, then this makes it clear that to be completely clean both physically and verbally and what we speak.

Here we see that Jehovah tells us very clearly in first Peter 1:16 says that we have to be holy and to be holy we must be clean in a spiritual and physical sense.

Because the fact that we are clean is going to say a lot about the God we serve, for example, the example is given of a mother who worries that her son goes to school clean, both because of his health and because of what others say about her as well as of his son.

2. What habits should we avoid in order to be clean?

Cleaning habits are not only on the outside, but also on the inside. For example, they can do things that damage our body and mind. For example, dirty thoughts or as Colossians says, obscene speech can dirty the inside of our body.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Another thing that can also dirty our body are, for example: Harmful things like tobacco or drugs, for this reason we also avoid using drugs for non-medical purposes, and we also stay away from dirty practices such as masturbation or pornography.

We must avoid any habit that contaminates our body and our spirit as 2 Corinthians 7:1 advises. Hence we strive to reject dirty thoughts and language. We also avoid any substance that contaminates us, nor do we abuse drugs or drugs. In the same way, we avoid masturbation, pornography and any type of addiction. And although it will not always be easy, Isaiah 41:13 assures us that for this, we have the powerful help of Jehovah.

Yes, Jehovah expects from us a complete bone cleansing not only superficially or physically but also spiritually and that is why we have to be very aware if we have thoughts that could damage our spirituality.

Colossians 3:8. As already said, our way of expressing ourselves or talking to people also has to be clean.

Psalm 119:37. There is talk about keeping ourselves clean in terms of what we look at and this may be involved in pornography or even masturbation, it would not be something a Christian could do either.

Isaiah 41:13. We have the guarantee that Jehovah is there to help us as that text says, because all the things that are mentioned here are addictions and others could be mentioned and to overcome an addiction we need a lot of strength and a lot of help from God because it is for ourselves very complicated and sometimes impossible.

LET'S DEEPER INTO THE SUBJECT

Let's see how physical cleanliness honors Jehovah and how we can overcome bad habits.

3. Physical cleanliness honors Jehovah

When we read the laws that Jehovah gave to the ancient nation of Israel, we understand how important cleanliness is to him. Read Exodus 19:10 and 30:17-19, and discuss the following:

What do these verses teach about Jehovah's view of physical cleanliness?

It teaches us that cleanliness within the worship of Jehovah is very important. That is why he both in the temple and to appear before Jehovah demanded cleanliness from his servants, which then indicates that our worship also has to do with physical and spiritual cleanliness.

When analyzing Exodus 19:10, we see that the expression sanctify oneself denotes freedom from anything that is bad in the eyes of Jehovah, such as physical uncleanness for example. The Israelites had to purify or clean their clothes. In the same way, today's servants of Jehovah must present ourselves physically clean, because otherwise we would be unclean before Jehovah. 

This teaching and these verses that have just been read are an example for us because we also have to come to Jehovah's temple to the meetings, so to speak, to be a clean people because God told Moses to prepare a basin to wash their hands. hands and feet why, because it was going to be sanctified on Mount Sinai, then they had to go there clean and their clothes clean the same thing happens to us wherever we are and wherever we are we have to have a good presence before Jehovah because we are people who they look at us and see how we are cleanly dressed and well behaved.

In the same way, Exodus 30 17 to 19, shows that the high priest and his sons had to wash their hands and feet before performing their priestly functions. Likewise, today, when visiting the house of Jehovah we must present ourselves clean in a physical sense, which includes our clothes and shoes and our appearance. in the same way, also our body, both externally and internally.

What good customs help us to always be clean?

We must have good physical cleaning habits and something that will help us is to take into account how our home is. For example, keep it free of rodents, cockroaches or flies, since these abound when hygiene is needed and can also affect our health.

The habit of bathing every day, changing our clothes daily, cleaning our shoes, grooming ourselves so as not to appear unkempt, washing our hands with soap and water before eating, cooking, and doing our tasks. Also the habit of keeping our house and its surroundings clean and our vehicle everything in order to give Honor and Glory to Jehovah.

In the case of young people, we can also show good cleaning habits, for example, keeping our room tidy and avoiding that articles or our things are not scattered or mixed with each other.

One goes to Bethel and the first thing one receives is a pamphlet and one of the recommendations that they give us is to shower every day.

Being clean takes time and effort. But we can be no matter where we live or whether we are rich or poor. Watch the VIDEO and talk about the following:

VIDEO: God Loves Clean People (4:10)

If the people we preach to see that our stuff is clean, can that help them respect Jehovah more? Because?

Of course, since people see that our things are clean, obviously that will help them to respect Jehovah, since people are carefully observing how we are dressed, how we behave and how we express ourselves, but above all our physical cleanliness both of ourselves, and of the things we use for preaching, since that is what they will see first when they open the door, which is why our worship should not only be lip service, but we must show that we truly worship Jehovah from the heart and that we apply his laws in our lives, if we do so it will be easier to demonstrate it in the Ministry.

Of course. 2 Corinthians 6:3,4 advises us not to give anyone a cause of stumbling, so that no fault is found in our ministry. He also advises us that we should remember ourselves before others as God's ministers. Consequently, we must take care of our cleanliness and appearance when we preach and teach. Why we represent Jehovah and why this testimony may help people to respect Jehovah more. 

Yes, for example, when the student may start to go from house to house to talk to other people about Jehovah, tell them that appearance is important because who we represent, then they say well, if they see us that we are not ordered, they will think that our organization or our friends that we are all that sloppy or dirty, then we are representing someone important.

And yes also perhaps that Jehovah already expected it before the Israelites to be clean and today it has not changed but he also expects us to be clean. 

4. Beat bad habits

If you smoke, abuse drugs, or use drugs, you probably know how hard it is to quit. One thing that can help you is to stop and think about the effect this is having on your life. Read Matthew 22:37-39, and discuss how tobacco and substance abuse harm...

... the friendship a person has with Jehovah.

Our friendship with Jehovah can be affected, and we say this because here we see that Jehovah loves cleanliness, and if we show that we don't like cleanliness, it will be very difficult to have a good relationship with Jehovah.

These verses refer in part to the fact that our thinking faculty and our thoughts, feelings, attitudes, and motivations should manifest our love for Jehovah. Consequently, if we love Jehovah, we will obey the mandate not to contaminate our body by abusing addictive substances. Why we highly value the friendship we have with him.

We love ourselves and we also love others, that is why if we leave habits like smoking that dirty our health and our environment around us, then we obey this verse and Jehovah will have the desire to accept us as his friend.

... to relatives of a person and to others.

Our relationship with our relatives or other people will be affected because if we are not careful with tobacco and addictive substances, they can become a vice, which increases problems within the family and people who do not like this kind of vices move away from us, and therefore they do not want to get closer to Jehovah.

In Matthew 22:37,39, Jehovah also commands us to love our neighbor. Consequently, if someone abuses tobacco and addictive substances in front of his family or other people, he harms them, either by directly and literally contaminating them, or by giving him a bad example.

Think about the things you could do to overcome an addiction. Watch the VIDEO.

VIDEO: Show Self-Control (2:47)

Read Philippians 4:13 and discuss the following:

Do you think that having the habit of praying, studying the Bible and attending meetings can give a person strength to overcome addictions? Why do you think so?

If we have healthy habits, they will stop our mind from thinking about temptations. And as we can see in the video, if we keep ourselves busy in spiritual matters and surrounded by brothers who have good habits, this will also help us to move away and be stronger to reject dirty habits.

If here the text mentions that Jehovah gives us the strength to be able to achieve certain things, but we have to do something, in the video it was mentioned and it was seen that it could be that we stopped our spiritual routine we stopped preparing we stopped praying we stopped study, so we began to change that for other practices that are incorrect and here it was mentioned or shown later how it was important that we not leave these things as important as the prayer and study meeting.

If I think so because in Philippians 4:13, Jehovah God promises to give us the strength we need to overcome any bad habit or addiction. So praying, attending meetings and studying the Bible can help us regain self-control.

In the video we saw how the brother smoked when he was with people who did not serve Jehovah and had this bad habit. But when he was busy in the service or with the brothers, he didn't even think about smoking. So maintaining a good program of spiritual activities adding to Jehovah's help is a perfect formula to overcome any addiction.

 5. Fight against dirty thoughts and practices

Read Colossians 3:5 and discuss the following:

How do we know that viewing pornography, sexting, and masturbating are impure or filthy practices for Jehovah?

We know this because as the text of Colossians says in Chapter 3 verse 5 we must avoid all kinds of sexual immorality and uncontrolled sexual passion, and that is what pornography does, it leads us to turn our thoughts around sexual appetite, which Jehovah says in his word the Bible that we must keep controlled.

In the past it said dampen but the text did not translate well and the brothers changed it, they put it to death, of course it means something that we have to make a radical change in this sense, so the video was very, very eloquent in being able to keep us busy in a spiritual sense and pray and study the Bible.

We know this, because Colossians 3:5 clearly shows that these things are immoral. Therefore, the apostle Paul told Christians that they should dampen the members of his body, in terms of those practices. This means that we must act decisively to eliminate immoral desires and all sinful practices.

Do you think it is reasonable for Jehovah to ask us to be morally clean? Because?

Of course it is reasonable, since obeying is beneficial to ourselves. And this is so because our physical, mental and spiritual health will remain morally clean, which will make us cultivate good relationships with others and above all with Jehovah.

Yes it is reasonable. For example, the person who masturbates or watches pornography can become addicted to sex, and this can lead them to develop the same symptoms as those who are addicted to drugs or alcohol. In addition, they can also lead to shame and even suicide. In the same way, these practices are the cause of problems in the marriage and can lead to divorce. As we see, everything that Jehovah commands us and advises us is not only reasonable, but it is for our entire benefit.

Find out how to fight dirty thoughts. Watch the video.

VIDEO: Let's Take Action to Stay Pure (1:51)

Jesus used an example to teach us that we must act decisively if we want to be morally clean. Read Matthew 5:29, 30 and discuss the following:

Jesus did not mean that we have to hurt ourselves, but that we must take action. What drastic measures must be taken to avoid dirty thoughts?

An example that will help us understand what Jesus meant is that some people have allowed their severely infected leg or arm to be cut off in order to save their lives. This teaches us that if we want to be free from any vice, we must root it out and avoid how many people think they can leave it little by little.

No, he did not mean that we have to cut off our hand or take out our eye, but to take drastic action regarding these things, for example not watching immoral movies or pornography or any image that arouses these dirty feelings in us, undo it completely of our mind.

The eye that Jesus spoke of in Matthew 5:29-30 represents the ability to fix our attention on something, and the hand represents the actions we perform with our hands. With this text, what Jesus meant is that if we are careless, these parts of the body can cause us to stumble. therefore, if we are tempted to obey God, we must take drastic measures in order to continue to maintain our mental, moral, and spiritual purity. from there and some people dedicate. For example, not having social networks or limiting your access to the internet.

The brother in the video saw that evil desires were taking over him. Something that helped him was the text of Galatians 6 7 8, because it made him understand that if he continued to cultivate those desires with what he saw on the internet, he would reap a divided heart that sooner or later would sin seriously.

It also helped him to reason that although the images he was seeing were not pornographic, they were of no use to him either, and rather were not leading him to be sensitive towards what Jehovah hates. So as Matthew 5:29 and 30 says, the brother took drastic measures in this regard to safeguard his Spirituality.

If you are already struggling with dirty thoughts, you can be sure that Jehovah greatly appreciates your efforts. Read Psalm 103:13, 14 and discuss the following:

If you are struggling with an unclean habit, do you think these verses can give you strength to keep going? Because?

These texts help us and give us strength in a great way to move forward, because it shows us Jehovah's empathy, since he knows that we are dust and that we are going to fall at any moment, which does not mean that we do it on purpose, but If we try our hardest not to and fall, Jehovah will see us as righteous people. And this is so because Jehovah knows our condition and he is ready to help us to start over again.

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

Just as a father shows mercy to his children, Jehovah has shown mercy to those who fear him because he knows well how we are formed, he remembers that we are dust.

How nice this text is, it compares him to Jehovah as a father, so a father loves his son and when he relapses maybe it helps him to prevent this from happening again, and what 14 says is also very nice that he knows that we are dust, so he knows that we are imperfect, so he knows us very well and he is the one who can help us.

Yes. Because it shows Jehovah as an understanding father and not as a punishing God. On the contrary, he speaks of the Mercy that Jehovah can show someone who is facing a struggle of this type.

It also shows that Jehovah can come to understand this person well and what he is going through also perfectly recognizes his nature and what he is made of. Jehovah knows that the imperfect and those of us who live in a new world do not dominate evil Satan

Don't give up! A relapse is not a defeat

The easiest thing would be to think “I fell again; I give up". But think about the following. Just because a runner stumbles and falls doesn't mean they have already lost the race or that they have to start from scratch. In the same way, that you relapse does not mean that you have already lost the battle against a vice or addiction. And, of course, that doesn't spoil everything he's accomplished. Relapses are normal, they are part of the recovery process. So don't give up! With Jehovah's help, you will be able to overcome any dirty habit.

WHAT SOME SAY: "It's a vice, I can't leave it."

What scripture would you use to show this person that, with Jehovah's help, any addiction can be overcome?

The text that I would use is 1 Corinthians 6:9-11, since it shows us that although these vices are difficult to leave, we must bear in mind that our life depends on it, since as Corinthians says, these are habits that Jehovah does not also accepts the text says that some of these vices were held by the servants of the past but they were able to overcome them with the help of Jehovah.

Another text is Titus 2:11,12, since it shows us that God's servants can overcome anything because we have Jehovah's undeserved kindness. So we can also overcome these vices and ask for Jehovah's help.

James 5:15, There we are shown that Jehovah can help a person who is in that condition through prayer. Jehovah can help to recover and get up, if he has already committed the sin or if he is fighting against that addiction or bad tendency.

Philippians 4:8, It can also help a person who is facing a fight against addiction, since there Jehovah advises that if the person fills his mind with pure and clean thoughts, then he will not leave room for bad thoughts, for temptations or bad wishes. Consequently, applying this advice can help you overcome addictions.

SUMMARY

We make Jehovah happy if we keep our body, mind, and conduct clean.

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Why is it so important to be clean?

Because we know that Jehovah loves cleanliness and he showed it since ancient times, that is why we want to show that we have the same way of thinking as Jehovah by being clean in every way so that our worship will be accepted by him.

It is important because we love Jehovah and for Jehovah cleanliness is an essential part of the worship we offer him. It is also a command that we must obey. On the other hand, Jehovah is Holy, pure, clean. Consequently, those of us who serve must imitate him.

What do we have to do to be physically clean?

To be physically clean, everything around us must be clean. For example, our clothes in our house, if we have vehicles, these must be clean and tidy, as well as our body, and since we are servants of Jehovah, the Kingdom Hall must also show that we are clean. 

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS

We must also be careful with what enters our body, for example things that can dirty both our mind and our heart, such as harmful desires and dirty habits, how to keep ourselves free from the vices of alcohol, drugs, masturbation and pornography.

In addition, we must be careful with what enters our body, since it can dirty our mind and heart. We must avoid harmful desires and dirty habits, such as the consumption of alcohol, drugs, masturbation and pornography to keep ourselves free from vices.

We must keep our body free of any substance that can contaminate it. We must also keep our clothes, shoes, vehicle, house and any other belongings, as well as, clean and presentable. We must also collaborate with the cleaning of the kingdom hall and take care of the cleanliness and appearance of the things we use both in preaching and teaching

What do we have to do so that our behavior and our thoughts are always clean?

We have to root out all these dirty habits and something that will help us is to have good habits like praying, studying the Bible and attending meetings and surrounding ourselves with people who have good habits.

To eradicate these dirty habits, it is necessary to address the root of the problem. One way to do this is to adopt good habits such as prayer, Bible study, and regular attendance at meetings. In addition, surrounding ourselves with people who have good habits can also be of great help on our path towards physical and spiritual cleanliness.

We must root out any habit or tendency that leads us to sin in the same way we must maintain a spiritual routine. How to study the Bible, pray and attend meetings. We must also avoid inappropriate companies and rather we must hate ourselves from those who help us maintain our good habits.