*** w09 5/15 pp. 16-17 Youths—Make Your Advancement Manifest *** “Fully Accomplish Your Ministry” 15 Drawing attention to Timothy’s important assignment, Paul wrote: “I solemnly charge you before God and Christ Jesus, . . . preach the word, be at it urgently.” He added: “Do the work of an evangelizer, fully accomplish your ministry.” (2 Tim. 4:1, 2, 5) To fulfill this charge, Timothy had to be “nourished with the words of the faith.”—Read 1 Timothy 4:6. 16 How can you be “nourished with the words of the faith”? Paul wrote: “Continue applying yourself to public reading, to exhortation, to teaching. Ponder over these things; be absorbed in them.” (1 Tim. 4:13, 15) Improvement requires diligent personal study. The expression “be absorbed” conveys the idea of being immersed in an activity. How are your study habits? Are you absorbed in “the deep things of God”? (1 Cor. 2:10) Or do you put forth only minimal effort? Pondering over what you study will move your heart.—Read Proverbs 2:1-5. 17 A young pioneer named Michelle said: “To be truly effective in the ministry, I have a good schedule for personal study, and I am regular at the meetings. As a result of this, I am always growing spiritually.” Serving as a pioneer will indeed help you to improve your ability to use the Bible in the ministry and to make spiritual advancement. Strive to be a good reader and to give meaningful comments at Christian meetings. As a spiritually mature youth, you would want to prepare instructive student talks in the Theocratic Ministry School, adhering to the assigned material. 18 ‘Doing the work of an evangelizer’ means making your ministry more effective and helping others to gain salvation. This requires developing the “art of teaching.” (2 Tim. 4:2) By arranging to share in the ministry with those who are experienced in this work, you will be able to learn from their teaching methods, as Timothy learned from working with Paul. (1 Cor. 4:17) Referring to those he had helped, Paul said that he not only shared the good news with them but also gave of his ‘own soul,’ or used his very life in helping them, because they became beloved to him. (1 Thess. 2:8) To follow Paul’s example in the ministry, you must have the same disposition as Timothy, who genuinely cared about others and ‘slaved in furtherance of the good news.’ (Read Philippians 2:19-23.)
Posted on: Mon, 01 Jul 2013 09:47:52 +0000
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