If we teach poorly, there may be sad consequences. Paul warned: “If anyone’s work that he has built on it remains, he will receive a reward; if anyone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss, but he himself will be saved; yet, if so, it will be as through fire.”c—1 Corinthians 3:14, 15.

14. (a) How might Christian disciple makers “suffer loss,” yet how might they attain to salvation as through fire? (b) How can we minimize the risk of suffering loss?

¹⁴ Sobering words indeed! It can be very painful to work hard to help someone become a disciple, only to see the individual succumb to temptation or persecution and eventually leave the way of the truth. Paul acknowledges as much when he says that we suffer loss in such cases. The experience may be so painful that our salvation is described as being “as through fire”—like a man who lost everything in a fire and was himself just barely rescued. For our part, how can we minimize the risk of loss? Build with durable materials! If we teach our students so as to reach their hearts, moving them to value such precious Christian qualities as wisdom, discernment, fear of Jehovah, and genuine faith, then we are building with durable, fire-resistant materials. (Psalm 19:9, 10; Proverbs 3:13-15; 1 Peter 1:6, 7) Those who acquire these qualities will continue to do God’s will; theirs is the sure hope of remaining alive forever. (1 John 2:17)