to ‘love our neighbor as ourselves.’ How can we always understand the reasons for a certain action? We cannot read the heart, can we? No, only God can. Suffering evil should soften us, make us more sympathetic toward others, more contrite toward God. If we let evil make us hard, then we are taking the side of Satan, for we are permitting evil to turn us away from God, which is exactly what Satan boasted he could accomplish by inflicting evil upon mankind.—Matt. 22:39.

ANTIDOTES

How can we keep from letting evil harden us, and, instead, let it soften us? One way is to bear in mind Scriptural examples of persons who suffered evil and yet did not permit it to harden them. The ancient Israelites in Egyptian bondage did not let evil harden them but rather called to God for help. He heard them and in his due time delivered them. (Ex. 2:23) Faith and prayer are therefore two of the greatest aids in letting evil soften instead of harden us. Yes, have faith that “just a little while longer and the wicked one will be no more . . . But the meek ones themselves will possess the earth.”—Ps. 37:10, 11.

Today many unjustly suffer political, economic or social evils. But rather than let any or all of these things make them hard and cause them bitterly to devote their entire lives to fighting these evils, they let these evils soften them so as to look to God for help. Then when His witnesses call upon them they are ready to receive the good news of God’s kingdom and as a result become happier even while enduring such evils than they ever could have been had they got out from under them but continued without the hope of God’s kingdom.

Another great aid to having evil soften instead of harden us is humility. Humility makes us soft, pliant, yielding, able to bend. Evil makes the proud hard, as was the case with Pharaoh, so that they cannot bend but crack and break under the strain. Evil robs the proud of all joy of living. How foolish! The humble, on the contrary, appreciate that life is worth while even with its evils, and so they pursue the wise course of making the best of circumstances. They keep gentle, mild-tempered and submissive.

Cultivating the fine qualities of patience, endurance and long-suffering will also help us to keep soft in spite of evils. Consider how long-suffering Jehovah God was with wayward mankind before the Flood, with the nation of Israel, and is now with the present wicked world. If Almighty God, able at once to end evils, is willing to put up with them, and they must grieve him far more than they do any of his imperfect earthly children, then surely we should seek to cultivate patience, endurance and long-suffering so as to put up with them uncomplainingly. Appreciating God’s good reasons for permitting evil—the vindication of his name and the salvation of creatures—we can keep evil from hardening us.

But, above all, love is needed if we would have evil soften instead of harden us. Love for God will cause us to submit to all he permits to come to us in the way of evil. Love for our neighbor will cause us to make allowances for the ways he may have harmed us. And surely, if we are to ‘love our enemies and pray for those persecuting us’ we cannot let ourselves become hard toward them, can we? So let us never forget: “Love is long-suffering and obliging. . . . It does not keep account of the injury.”—Matt. 5:44; 1 Cor. 13:4, 5.

To let evil soften us is the only wise course. It makes for contentment, peace of heart and mind, and peace and unity with our fellow man. On the other hand, to let evil harden us is unwise, hurting us ourselves as well as others. It is the course of pride, presumption and selfishness. Faith, prayer, humility, patient endurance and love for God and fellow man will keep us soft. Keeping soft, we will be the recipients of God’s blessings both now and in his new world when evil will be no more.

Putting Kingdom Interests First

THE special training provided overseers of the congregations of Jehovah’s witnesses in a one-month course at the Watchtower Society’s Kingdom Ministry Schools has been received with keen appreciation. But for men with families to support, and at a time when employment is scarce, making arrangements to attend the school has called for strong faith.

Those who have attended have had a question to face. No, it was not a question of whether they would go to school; they knew the answer to that. But the question was, Would their secular employer be willing to let them off for a whole month or more and still have a job for them on their return? No matter what the answer, they knew that they would be doing the right thing by putting their service to God first.

Some employers, on learning that the congregation servant was to be given free training to equip him for more effective overseership, marveled at the interest shown by the organization in those who represent it. Just the thought that no charge at all was made for the training or even for room and board at the school amazed them. And what was the objective of the training? Not a commercial one; not so the overseer could make more money for some organization, nor even so he could make money for himself; but so that he could more effectively care for the spiritual needs of those in his congregation. The fact that the Watchtower Society gives the training free and the overseer is willing to give of his time to receive it has made some employers feel that it is the least they can do to give a little cooperation.

In other places of employment there has been no spontaneous encouragement. It has proved to be a test of faith for the congregation servant, but a test that he has met with Jehovah’s help.

A congregation overseer from Fort Worth, Texas, relates this experience that he had: “When I received my invitation to attend the Kingdom Ministry School at South Lansing, New York, I approached the owner of the business where I was employed and asked for a six-week leave of absence. The answer was a very definite No, and when I informed my employer that I was going anyway, he began to advertise for my replacement as a supervisor in his business organization. . . .

“The Monday before I was to leave, the owner sent interoffice memos to the sixteen department heads to contact me immediately if their business required contact with me, since I would be on leave of absence for the next six weeks.

“When I received my last pay check before leaving, I asked if I might have my vacation pay, since my family would be needing it. My employer replied, ‘Suppose I just send your wife your next pay check and we’ll save your vacation pay for this summer inasmuch as you will probably be going away again as you do every summer.’”