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00:02 You and I make a lot of decisions every day. 00:04 Now, some have a little impact on our lives; 00:07 others have a very big impact. 00:10 And we can appreciate that we can make 00:12 choices and decisions for ourselves. 00:15 Think of how life would be if you made no decisions for yourself 00:18 —someone tells you when to go to bed, 00:21 they pick out your clothes, 00:23 and they tell you what to do for work. 00:25 Well, none of us would like that! 00:27 Jehovah gave each of us free will, 00:31 and that’s the precious gift 00:33 of making choices for ourselves. 00:35 Now, have you ever thought about why Jehovah gave us this gift? 00:39 I mean, why trust us with free will 00:41 when he knew that we could make bad choices or decisions? 00:45 Well, one powerful reason is love. 00:49 The only way to give us the gift of love 00:52 is also to give us the gift of free will. 00:55 The two are tied together. 00:57 You really can’t have one without the other. 01:00 For example, if I programmed my computer 01:03 to give me a message every day at 2:00 p.m.: 01:06 “John, I love you. I think you’re a wonderful guy,” 01:09 I think there’d be a little something wrong with me if I thought: 01:12 ‘Aw, isn’t that nice? My computer, it loves me.’ 01:16 Yeah, love only exists 01:18 if it comes truly from a free-will expression. 01:23 Now, did Jehovah place any boundaries on free will? 01:27 Yes. 01:29 They were stated in the Law to the nation of Israel. 01:31 And Jesus later repeated them 01:34 at Matthew 22:37-40: 01:40 “He said to him: 01:42 “‘“You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart 01:46 “‘“and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” 01:49 “‘This is the greatest and first commandment. 01:52 “‘The second, like it, is this: 01:55 “‘“You must love your neighbor as yourself.” 01:58 “‘On these two commandments 02:00 the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.’” 02:04 So our use of free will 02:07 has love of God and love of neighbor 02:10 as its boundaries. 02:12 Notice, for example, 02:14 what people are doing in this picture, 02:16 both inside the circle boundary and outside. 02:21 See, free will allows us to do 02:23 any of the things we see in the picture. 02:25 But love of God and love of neighbor 02:28 move us to reject what’s outside the circle 02:31 and choose to do the kinds of things 02:33 that we see inside the circle. 02:36 Now, to stay within those boundaries, 02:39 Jehovah gave us a marvelous brain 02:41 and a built-in conscience, 02:43 but he also knows we need more help. 02:45 And that’s why he also gave us Bible principles 02:48 —basic truths from the Bible 02:52 that can help us to make good decisions. 02:54 And it can safely be said that any decision we face 02:58 can be guided by Bible principles. 03:01 Now, our Creator, Jehovah, knows what’s best for us. 03:05 And he also trusts us to make decisions 03:08 based on Bible principles 03:11 because he knows that when we do that, 03:13 then we’re really, truly going to be happy, content, 03:16 and at peace with him and with others. 03:20 So in review so far: 03:22 Jehovah gave us free will 03:24 —that’s the privilege to make choices for ourselves— 03:28 and he also gave us Bible principles 03:31 as the boundaries to our choices. 03:35 But making difficult decisions requires that we train ourselves 03:40 to recognize Bible principles and apply them. 03:44 Now let’s read Romans 12:1, 03:48 and let’s see how this verse 03:50 describes the decision-making process. 03:55 “Therefore, I appeal to you 03:58 “by the compassions of God, brothers, 04:00 “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 04:03 “holy and acceptable to God, 04:06 a sacred service with your power of reason.” 04:11 So are we using our “power of reason” 04:16 to understand Bible principles? 04:19 For example, young children 04:21 ask lots of questions. 04:24 But has a child ever asked you: 04:26 “What happens when I drop a ball? 04:28 a pencil? a book?” 04:30 No, they don’t ask that. 04:32 They know what happens to anything they drop. 04:35 It falls down! 04:37 See, the child doesn’t need rules for every object 04:40 but has quickly grasped the principle. 04:43 Anything he drops falls down. 04:47 Now, what if an 18-year-old asked you, 04:49 “What’s going to happen when I drop this pen?” 04:53 Well, it’s obvious he’s not been paying attention 04:56 to basic principles of life. 04:59 So by us paying attention to Bible principles, 05:10 ` 05:54 06:04 06:14 06:27 it won’t obey, 06:29 but it’ll pull the person back from danger. 06:31 Now, it can take a year or more of training for the dog to learn 06:35 the amazing skills that are so helpful to a blind person. 06:39 Likewise, our raw, untrained “power of reason” 06:44 can help us to a degree. 06:46 However, it can be amazing 06:49 if we take the time to train it. 06:52 Now, here are three skills that we can use 06:55 to train our “power of reason.” 06:57 They are illustrating, 06:59 analyzing, 07:01 and balancing. 07:04 Now, to consider our first skill, illustrating, 07:08 let’s use the general topic of forgiveness. 07:13 What Bible principles could help with forgiveness? 07:19 Please think of as many principles and scriptures as you can. 07:41 Proverbs 12:18 says: 07:43 “The tongue of the wise is a healing”; 07:46 and Colossians 3:13 tells us 07:50 to ‘forgive one another freely.’ 07:53 Now, the skill we want to learn is illustrating 08:30 08:54 09:06 09:28 and it can also be quite enjoyable. 09:31 You know, try at your family worship 09:33 to take the principles for a topic 09:35 and see how many similarities, 09:42 10:04 nf 10:46 Did you notice, for example, what appears to be 10:49 a reverse order of the steps leading to sin? 10:53 This verse works its way from sexual immorality 10:57 back to the very roots of the problem. 11:00 Now, let’s take each phrase starting with the last, 11:04 “greediness, which is idolatry.” 11:08 So, sexual immorality starts with selfishness, 11:11 greedily putting our needs ahead of anything else. 11:24 smelling the bread and cakes when he can’t pay for it. 11:29 Likewise, hanging around immoral entertainment 12:43 until we’ve learned all that we can. 12:45 And we can use the many research tools we have 12:47 to find valuable comments and application. 12:51 Now, let’s consider our third 12:53 and final skill: balancing. 12:56 And to do that, 12:58 let’s use a question on the topic of alcohol. 13:02 What Bible principles could help a couple to decide 13:06 whether to serve alcohol at their wedding? 13:10 What principles and scriptures do you think would help them 13:14 make a balanced decision? 13:17 Again, you’re welcome to pause the program 13:19 if you’d like to write down what comes to mind 13:21 or to research something. 13:24 Now, your list probably has some of these principles. 13:28 At John 2:9, Jesus made wine for a wedding. 14:26 14:51 4
00:02 You and I make a lot of decisions every day. 00:04 Now, some have a little impact on our lives; 00:07 others have a very big impact. 00:10 And we can appreciate that we can make 00:12 choices and decisions for ourselves. 00:15 Think of how life would be if you made no decisions for yourself 00:18 —someone tells you when to go to bed, 00:21 they pick out your clothes, 00:23 and they tell you what to do for work. 00:25 Well, none of us would like that! 00:27 Jehovah gave each of us free will, 00:31 and that’s the precious gift 00:33 of making choices for ourselves. 00:35 Now, have you ever thought about why Jehovah gave us this gift? 00:39 I mean, why trust us with free will 00:41 when he knew that we could make bad choices or decisions? 00:45 Well, one powerful reason is love. 00:49 The only way to give us the gift of love 00:52 is also to give us the gift of free will. 00:55 The two are tied together. 00:57 You really can’t have one without the other. 01:00 For example, if I programmed my computer 01:03 to give me a message every day at 2:00 p.m.: 01:06 “John, I love you. I think you’re a wonderful guy,” 01:09 I think there’d be a little something wrong with me if I thought: 01:12 ‘Aw, isn’t that nice? My computer, it loves me.’ 01:16 Yeah, love only exists 01:18 if it comes truly from a free-will expression. 01:23 Now, did Jehovah place any boundaries on free will? 01:27 Yes. 01:29 They were stated in the Law to the nation of Israel. 01:31 And Jesus later repeated them 01:34 at Matthew 22:37-40: 01:40 “He said to him: 01:42 “‘“You must love Jehovah your God with your whole heart 01:46 “‘“and with your whole soul and with your whole mind.” 01:49 “‘This is the greatest and first commandment. 01:52 “‘The second, like it, is this: 01:55 “‘“You must love your neighbor as yourself.” 01:58 “‘On these two commandments 02:00 the whole Law hangs, and the Prophets.’” 02:04 So our use of free will 02:07 has love of God and love of neighbor 02:10 as its boundaries. 02:12 Notice, for example, 02:14 what people are doing in this picture, 02:16 both inside the circle boundary and outside. 02:21 See, free will allows us to do 02:23 any of the things we see in the picture. 02:25 But love of God and love of neighbor 02:28 move us to reject what’s outside the circle 02:31 and choose to do the kinds of things 02:33 that we see inside the circle. 02:36 Now, to stay within those boundaries, 02:39 Jehovah gave us a marvelous brain 02:41 and a built-in conscience, 02:43 but he also knows we need more help. 02:45 And that’s why he also gave us Bible principles 02:48 —basic truths from the Bible 02:52 that can help us to make good decisions. 02:54 And it can safely be said that any decision we face 02:58 can be guided by Bible principles. 03:01 Now, our Creator, Jehovah, knows what’s best for us. 03:05 And he also trusts us to make decisions 03:08 based on Bible principles 03:11 because he knows that when we do that, 03:13 then we’re really, truly going to be happy, content, 03:16 and at peace with him and with others. 03:20 So in review so far: 03:22 Jehovah gave us free will 03:24 —that’s the privilege to make choices for ourselves— 03:28 and he also gave us Bible principles 03:31 as the boundaries to our choices. 03:35 But making difficult decisions requires that we train ourselves 03:40 to recognize Bible principles and apply them. 03:44 Now let’s read Romans 12:1, 03:48 and let’s see how this verse 03:50 describes the decision-making process. 03:55 “Therefore, I appeal to you 03:58 “by the compassions of God, brothers, 04:00 “to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, 04:03 “holy and acceptable to God, 04:06 a sacred service with your power of reason.” 04:11 So are we using our “power of reason” 04:16 to understand Bible principles? 04:19 For example, young children 04:21 ask lots of questions. 04:24 But has a child ever asked you: 04:26 “What happens when I drop a ball? 04:28 a pencil? a book?” 04:30 No, they don’t ask that. 04:32 They know what happens to anything they drop. 04:35 It falls down! 04:37 See, the child doesn’t need rules for every object 04:40 but has quickly grasped the principle. 04:43 Anything he drops falls down. 04:47 Now, what if an 18-year-old asked you, 04:49 “What’s going to happen when I drop this pen?” 04:53 Well, it’s obvious he’s not been paying attention 04:56 to basic principles of life. 04:59 So by us paying attention to Bible principles, 05:10 ` 05:54 06:04 06:14 06:27 it won’t obey, 06:29 but it’ll pull the person back from danger. 06:31 Now, it can take a year or more of training for the dog to learn 06:35 the amazing skills that are so helpful to a blind person. 06:39 Likewise, our raw, untrained “power of reason” 06:44 can help us to a degree. 06:46 However, it can be amazing 06:49 if we take the time to train it. 06:52 Now, here are three skills that we can use 06:55 to train our “power of reason.” 06:57 They are illustrating, 06:59 analyzing, 07:01 and balancing. 07:04 Now, to consider our first skill, illustrating, 07:08 let’s use the general topic of forgiveness. 07:13 What Bible principles could help with forgiveness? 07:19 Please think of as many principles and scriptures as you can. 07:41 Proverbs 12:18 says: 07:43 “The tongue of the wise is a healing”; 07:46 and Colossians 3:13 tells us 07:50 to ‘forgive one another freely.’ 07:53 Now, the skill we want to learn is illustrating 08:30 08:54 09:06 09:28 and it can also be quite enjoyable. 09:31 You know, try at your family worship 09:33 to take the principles for a topic 09:35 and see how many similarities, 09:42 10:04 nf 10:46 Did you notice, for example, what appears to be 10:49 a reverse order of the steps leading to sin? 10:53 This verse works its way from sexual immorality 10:57 back to the very roots of the problem. 11:00 Now, let’s take each phrase starting with the last, 11:04 “greediness, which is idolatry.” 11:08 So, sexual immorality starts with selfishness, 11:11 greedily putting our needs ahead of anything else. 11:24 smelling the bread and cakes when he can’t pay for it. 11:29 Likewise, hanging around immoral entertainment 12:43 until we’ve learned all that we can. 12:45 And we can use the many research tools we have 12:47 to find valuable comments and application. 12:51 Now, let’s consider our third 12:53 and final skill: balancing. 12:56 And to do that, 12:58 let’s use a question on the topic of alcohol. 13:02 What Bible principles could help a couple to decide 13:06 whether to serve alcohol at their wedding? 13:10 What principles and scriptures do you think would help them 13:14 make a balanced decision? 13:17 Again, you’re welcome to pause the program 13:19 if you’d like to write down what comes to mind 13:21 or to research something. 13:24 Now, your list probably has some of these principles. 13:28 At John 2:9, Jesus made wine for a wedding. 14:26 14:51 4
