Thereafter, the preaching work became a regular part of my life and so did arrests and imprisonment. No wonder that my prospective bride was told, “If you marry him, you are bound to go to jail”! Yet, such experiences were not really that hard. After spending a night in jail, a fellow Witness usually bailed us out.

As my share in the ministry increased, however, so did my visits to prison. Once I was put in a cell with Mike Miller, a faithful, longtime servant of Jehovah. We sat on the cement floor and talked. Our upbuilding spiritual conversation strengthened me immensely. Afterward, though, the question crossed my mind, ‘What if a misunderstanding had existed between us and we were not on speaking terms?’ The time spent with this dear brother in jail taught me one of the most beautiful lessons of my life​—we need our brothers and should therefore be forgiving and kind to one another. Otherwise, as the apostle Paul wrote: “If . . . you keep on biting and devouring one another, look out that you do not get annihilated by one another.”​—Galatians 5:15.