the widows blessed, but the occasion furnished a witness to the truth and “many became believers upon the Lord.”—Acts 9:42.

19. What is the divine rule regarding the harsh, cruel person, and how is this illustrated?

¹⁹ Those who fail to show kindness to all men miss out on many blessings. Just as it is true that “a man of loving-kindness is dealing rewardingly with his own soul,” so it is that “the cruel person is bringing trouble upon his own organism.” (Prov. 11:17) That is the divine rule. Well illustrating it are Abigail and Nabal. Abigail was “good at discernment and beautiful in form, but the husband was harsh and bad in his practices.” David had showed kindness to Nabal, and one day he sent his men to Nabal to ask for a little food: “Just give, please, whatever your hand may find to your servants and to your son David.” Cruel, stingy Nabal “screamed rebukes at them.” This angered David; he put his sword on, and he and his men determined to repay Nabal for his unkindness. Nabal’s wife, Abigail, intercepted David, bringing him “two hundred loaves of bread and two large jars of wine and five sheep dressed and five seah measures of roasted grain and a hundred cakes of raisins and two hundred cakes of pressed figs.” Abigail, in an impassioned plea, reflecting her kindness and discernment, persuaded David not to enter into bloodguilt. As for Nabal, “Jehovah struck Nabal, so that he died.” David recognized that Nabal received from Jehovah what he had coming to him: “David got to hear that Nabal had died and so he said: ‘Blessed be Jehovah, who has conducted the legal case of my reproach. . . , and the evilness of Nabal Jehovah has turned back upon his own head!’” As for kind, sensible Abigail, she had an unexpected blessing: “David proceeded to send and propose to Abigail to take her as his wife.”—1 Sam. 25:3, 8, 14, 18, 38, 39.

20. Why is the mean, cruel person certain to receive the repayment he deserves?

²⁰ We will receive from Jehovah what we have coming to us. Unkindness comes back to one just as surely as does kindness. The mean, cruel person loses out on the blessings of showing kindness and reaps—even in a number of ways—only “trouble upon his own organism.” If the cruel person escapes repayment by man or seems not to suffer from body-injuring emotions, he cannot escape repayment from Jehovah, the accurate Account-keeper. “Certainly,” declares Paul, “the man that is doing unrighteousness will receive back what he unrighteously did, and there is no partiality.” On the other hand, “he that is pursuing righteousness and loving-kindness will find life, righteousness and glory.”—Col. 3:25; Prov. 21:21.

21. What is God opposed to, but what is the Christian spirit?

²¹ What abundant testimony there is that God is opposed to unkindness—meanness, harshness, stinginess, narrowness and selfishness! The Christian spirit is in accord with gentleness, compassion, long-suffering, hospitality and generosity. The Christian measure is nothing skimpy, though it might be overflowing. Said Jesus: “Practice giving, and people will give to you. They will pour into your laps a fine measure, pressed down, shaken together and overflowing. For with the measure that you are measuring out they will measure out to you in return.”—Luke 6:38.

22. How should Christians measure out their kindness, and what will be the result?

²² Let us measure out our kindness, then, generously. In showing kindness to strangers by teaching them the Kingdom truths, Christians have the opportunity to show generosity by giving freely of their time. To measure out time skimpily in God’s precious Kingdom ministry, when we could measure it out generously, will deprive us of blessings: “He that sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he that sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.” Being generous with our kindness to all men will bring rich rewards and unexpected blessings—yes, and you will “prove yourselves sons of your Father who is in the heavens.”—2 Cor. 9:6; Matt. 5:45.

Pursuing My Purpose in Life

As told by Ragna S. Ingwaldsen

DECEMBER 25, 1959, was a happy day for me, not for the reason that the world celebrated it, but because it marked my eleventh anniversary as a missionary in Venezuela. They have been eleven happy years, full of wonderful experiences in bringing the message of God’s kingdom to the friendly people of this South American country.

My service to Jehovah did not begin eleven years ago, however. It began long before that. In fact, I was blessed with the privilege of being reared in God’s service. Back in 1906, when I was a little tot, my mother took me to the Minneapolis convention, where she was immersed in water in symbol of her dedication to God. From then on she never failed to inculcate in me a strong love for him and for his visible organization. I soon learned the importance of serving Jehovah by participating regularly in the witness work. I was happy to go along with my mother and help distribute from house to house tracts that were called “Bible Students Monthly.”

In 1914 the great work with the Photo-Drama of Creation began. Although I was too young to have a large part in it, I did give out invitations and attended the showings. I delighted in seeing over and over again these movies and slides about Biblical events.

Our home was always open to pioneers, who, at that time, were called colporteurs. To me they always seemed to stand out as the ones who had a deep appreciation of Jehovah’s truth. Since my mother and aunt were also colporteurs, I resolved to be one too some day. I dedicated my life to Jehovah and was baptized in 1918.

While still in school I had the privilege of distributing the famous book The Finished Mystery, which was used as a basis for unjustly sending some of our brothers to prison. When I participated in the work