“THE more I learned of God’s standards in the Bible, the less I felt worthy of his favor and blessing,” said Frank. His interest in the Bible had been roused while he was in prison for drug offenses. He read a copy of the book The Truth That Leads to Eternal Life,a felt sure that what it said was the truth, and, after being released from prison, contacted Jehovah’s Witnesses to learn more about the Bible.

Why did studying the Bible make him feel unworthy? Because his past life-style had violated many of God’s principles. Misuse of drugs, alcohol abuse, and various other degrading habits had brought him so low that on one occasion a policeman said to him: “Would you please tell me your home address? I just want to know where to send your corpse!”

What later made him feel most unworthy, though, was that however hard he tried, he found it very difficult to conquer these ingrained unclean habits. The degrading hold of alcoholism, for example, almost defeated him. “I had failed miserably again and again and was very depressed,” he said. “I almost gave up on myself completely, feeling that I was a hopeless case.”

“One thing that helped me greatly,” said Frank, “was to appreciate what the Bible says at Hebrews 4:15, 16.” The apostle Paul there reminds us that Jesus is a caring helper who can “sympathize with our weaknesses” and who has made it possible for us to “obtain mercy and find undeserved kindness for help at the right time.”