1, 2. What can we do to remain in God’s love?

WE ALL want to be strong and healthy. So we try to eat good food, exercise regularly, and take care of our body. Although this takes effort, we enjoy the results, so we don’t give up. But we also need to be strong and healthy in another way.

² Even though we have made a good start in getting to know Jehovah, we need to keep making our relationship with him stronger. When Jude encouraged Christians, “Keep yourselves in God’s love,” he explained how they could do this. He told them: “Build yourselves up on your most holy faith.” (Jude 20, 21) So how can we build strong faith?

KEEP BUILDING YOUR FAITH

3-5. (a) How would Satan like you to feel about Jehovah’s standards? (b) How do you feel about Jehovah’s laws and principles?

³ It is important for you to be personally convinced that Jehovah’s ways are best. Satan wants you to think that God’s standards are too difficult to live up to and that you will be happier if you decide for yourself what is right and what is wrong. Ever since the garden of Eden, Satan has tried to make people believe this. (Genesis 3:1-6) And he is still trying hard today.

⁴ Is Satan right? Are Jehovah’s standards too restrictive? No. To illustrate, imagine you are walking in a beautiful park. You notice a high fence blocking off a certain area. Maybe you think, ‘Why is this fence in my way?’ But at that moment, you hear a lion roar on the other side of the fence. How do you feel about the fence now? You are grateful that it is protecting you from being the lion’s next meal! Jehovah’s principles are like that fence, and the Devil is like that lion. God’s Word warns us: “Keep your senses, be watchful! Your adversary, the Devil, walks about like a roaring lion, seeking to devour someone.”​—1 Peter 5:8.

⁵ Jehovah wants us to have the best life possible. He does not want us to be deceived by Satan. That is why he has given us laws and principles to protect us and make us happy. (Ephesians 6:11) James wrote: “The one who peers into the perfect law that belongs to freedom and continues in it . . . will be happy in what he does.”​—James 1:25.

6. How can we become convinced that God’s ways are best?

⁶ When we follow Jehovah’s direction, our lives improve and our friendship with him grows stronger. For example, we benefit when we accept his invitation to pray to him often. (Matthew 6:5-8; 1 Thessalonians 5:17) We are happy when we obey his direction to meet together to worship him and encourage one another and when we have a full share in the preaching and teaching work. (Matthew 28:19, 20; Galatians 6:2; Hebrews 10:24, 25) As we think about how these things have helped us to keep our faith strong, we become more and more convinced that Jehovah’s ways are best.

7, 8. What will help us avoid worrying about tests that may come in the future?

⁷ We may worry that in the future we will have tests of faith that will be too difficult for us. If you ever feel that way, remember Jehovah’s words: “I, Jehovah, am your God, the One teaching you to benefit yourself, the One guiding you in the way you should walk. If only you would pay attention to my commandments! Then your peace would become just like a river and your righteousness like the waves of the sea.”​—Isaiah 48:17, 18.

⁸ When we obey Jehovah, our peace will be like a river that does not run dry, and our righteousness will be like waves of the sea that constantly wash onto a beach. No matter what happens in our lives, we can be faithful. The Bible promises: “Throw your burden on Jehovah, and he will sustain you. Never will he allow the righteous one to fall.”​—Psalm 55:22.

14. What do we need to do if we are to build our faith?

¹⁴ We never stop building our faith in Jehovah. Just as eating nutritious food helps us to build strong bodies, learning about Jehovah helps us to build strong faith. When we began studying the Bible, we learned basic truths about Jehovah and his ways. But as time goes by, we need to understand deeper things. That is what Paul meant when he said: “Solid food belongs to mature people.” By applying the things we learn, we gain wisdom. The Bible tells us: “Wisdom is the most important thing.”​—Proverbs 4:5-7; 1 Peter 2:2.