Philip was a gangster in South Africa. Fighting, robbery, and rough language were part of his way of life. He spent time in jail for his crimes. But despite his lifestyle, Philip longed to know God. After he began a Bible study with Jehovah’s Witnesses, he developed the desire to serve God and decided to clean up his life. He stopped his bad practices and cut off contact with his criminal associates. What Bible truths motivated him to make such changes?

Jehovah’s Witnesses showed him Jesus’ words found at John 6:44. They read: “No man can come to me unless the Father, who sent me, draws him.” Philip says, “Jehovah saw something good in me and drew me to his people, this wonderful brotherhood.” Philip also took to heart Biblical accounts about Jehovah’s mercy toward contrite wrongdoers. “These accounts,” says Philip, “helped me to see Jehovah’s reasonableness in dealing with imperfect humans who are repentant.”​—2 Samuel 12:1-14; Psalm 51.

Philip and his family, South Africa