Loyalty to Loyal Elders

11. Loyalty will help us guard against what negative thinking?

¹¹ When something is said or done in the congregation that we have difficulty understanding, loyalty will keep us from judging motives and will help us to take the position that perhaps it is a matter of judgment. Is it not far better to dwell on the good qualities of the appointed elders and other fellow believers rather than on their shortcomings? Yes, we want to guard against all such negative thinking, for it is related to being disloyal! Loyalty will also help us to obey Paul’s directive “to speak injuriously of no one.”—Titus 3:1, 2.

14, 15. What factors might test the loyalty of members of the congregation?

¹⁴ There are other aspects to the matter of meeting the challenge of loyalty to the congregation and its elders. If there are somewhat troubled conditions in the congregation, this gives us opportunity to display loyalty to Jehovah and to those representing him. (See The Watchtower, June 15, 1987, pages 15-17.) When there has been a disfellowshipping, loyalty requires that we back up the elders, not trying to second-guess whether there were sufficient reasons for the action taken.