You Show You Strong Wen You Make Gentle

1. Wat kine stuff peopo at work o school can ask us?

HOW you feel wen somebody you work o go school wit ask you about wat you believe? You feel all nerjus? Plenny of us feel lidat. But wat dey ask can help us fo undastand wat dey tinking o wat dey believe, an can give us chance fo share wit dem da trut. Sometimes somebody might ask us stuff fo challenge us. Dass not one shocka. Az cuz maybe some of dem wen hea bulais about wat we believe. (Jesus Guys 28:22) On top of dat we stay live “befo da world goin come pau,” wea peopo “no goin give chance to nobody,” an “dey goin like see odda peopo suffa.”—2 Tim 3:1, 3.

2. How come az good fo be gentle?

² You might tink, “How I can be nice wen somebody stay challenge wat I believe in da Bible?” Wat going help you? Be gentle. One gentle guy no get huhu fas an know how fo control himself even wen he donno how fo ansa o peopo try get um mad. (Smart Guys 16:32) But maybe you tinking dass easy fo say, but hard fo do. How you can learn fo be gentle? How you can be gentle wen somebody challenge wat you believe? An if you get kids, how you can help dem fo be gentle kine wen dey stand up fo wat dey believe? We go see.

HOW FO BE GENTLE

3. How come wen you gentle you not weak, but strong? (2 Timoty 2:24, 25, NWT)

³ Somebody who gentle is strong, not weak. We gotta be strong inside fo stay calm wen going thru one hard time. Bein gentle is one part of “da fruit dat God’s spesho spirit kokua us fo have.” (Gal 5:22, 23, NWT) Sometimes dey wen use one Greek word fo “gentle” fo talk about taming one wild horse. Try picha one wild horse dat come gentle, but still yet strong. How we can be gentle but same time be strong? We no can do um by ouaself. We gotta pray fo God’s spesho spirit fo help us be lidat. We know fo shua dat we can do um. Plenny of oua braddahs an sistahs was humbo an gentle wen peopo had challenge dem, an dis wen make um moa easy fo odda peopo tink good about da Witnesses. (Read um 2 Timoty 2:24, 25, NWT.) How can bein gentle be one of yoa strengths?

4. Wat Isaac teach us about bein gentle kine?

⁴ Da Bible get plenny stories inside dat show why is good fo be gentle kine. We go try look Isaac. He wen live Gerar town wea da Filisha guys wen live, an da guys ova dea was jealous so dey wen throw dirt inside da watta pukas his faddah wen dig. Radda den fighting about um, Isaac wen hele on an go move far away an dig odda watta pukas. (Start 26:12-18) But da Filisha guys wen say dat was dea’s one too. Even tho dey wen do dat, Isaac neva make one big deal about um. (Start 26:19-25) Wat wen help him fo stay gentle even tho da guys ova dea wen make anykine to him? Garuntee he wen learn from how his parents wen ack. He wen see how his faddah, Abraham was, an how his maddah, Sarah, wen do “eryting nice kine, an no make one big deal about notting.”—1 Pet 3:4-6; Start 21:22-34.

5. Wat exampo show dat parents can teach dea kids why is good fo be gentle?

⁵ Parents, you can teach yoa kids why is good fo be gentle. We go look one 17 year ol name Max.b He had fo deal wit peopo getting all nutz in school an in field service. But his parents wen work wit him fo help him come moa gentle. Dey wen tell, “Max had learn az easy fo fight wit peopo dat try get you mad, but you gotta be strong fo hold back.” Max wen learn fo be gentle kine.

6. How prayer can kokua us fo be gentle?

⁶ Wat we can do if somebody trying fo get us mad, like dey talk bad about Jehovah o da Bible? We should pray to Jehovah fo his spesho spirit an his smarts so dat we reack in one gentle kine way. Wat if we find out we neva reack in one good way. Pray some moa an tink about how we can do betta nex time. Den Jehovah going help us wit his spesho spirit fo control oua temper an ack gentle.

7. If we memorize some scripchas, how dat going help us fo hold back an stay calm? (Smart Guys 15:1, 18)

⁷ Get some scripchas inside da Bible dat can help us control how we talk wen peopo try make us mad. God’s spirit can help us rememba dose scripchas. (John 14:26) Like da Bible truts inside Smart Guys can help us fo be gentle. (Read um Smart Guys 15:1, 18.) Dat book tell us why is good fo us hold back an stay calm, speshly wen tings is stressful.—Smart Guys 10:19; 17:27; 21:23; 25:15.

WE CAN BE GENTLE WEN WE UNDASTAND HOW COME TINGS HAPPEN

8. Why az good fo tink about how come somebody challenge wat we believe?

⁸ Wen we undastand how come tings happen, dat can help us. (Smart Guys 19:11) Somebody who can undastand how come tings happen can control himself wen peopo challenge him about da stuff he believe. Some of da stuff guys challenge us wit o da questions dey get is jalike one iceberg, we ony see one small part above da watta, but da way bigga part is undaneath da watta. Sometimes wen peopo ask us questions, dey no tell us da real reason how come dey ask um. So befoa we ansa dem, is good fo tink about how come dey wen ask da question in da firs place.—Smart Guys 16:23.

9. How Gideon wen show he was akamai wen he wen ansa da Efraim guys?

⁹ Try look how Gideon wen ansa da Efraim guys. Dey was mad cuz he neva call dem from da start fo fight da enemies of da Israel peopo. Wat da real reason dey wen come all mad? Maybe dea pride was hurt. Wateva was, Gideon was akamai an wen respeck how dey feel an wen ansa dem nice. Wat wen happen? “Dey no stay huhu wit him no moa.”—Leadas 8:1-3.

10. Wen somebody ask us wat we believe, wat going help us know how fo ansa? (1 From Peter 3:15, NWT)

¹⁰ Maybe somebody we work wit o one kid in school ask us how come we live oua life da way da Bible tell. (Read um 1 From Peter 3:15.) We going do oua bes fo stand up fo wat we believe, but same time we going respeck da way dey tink. So radda den tinking dey stay attacking you, tink about how dea question can help you fo learn wat stay importan to dem. No matta why dey ask da question, az good if we ansa in one nice, gentle kine way. Da way we ansa might help dem fo tink some moa about wat dey believe. Even if da way dey talk to us seem like dey giving us lip, we still always like be nice wen we ansa.—Rome 12:17.

11-12. (a) Wat we should tink about befoa we ansa one hard question? (Go look da picha.) (b) Tell how dat can give us chance fo talk story layta on.

¹¹ Try tink, if somebody we work wit ask how come we no celebrate birthdays, maybe dey wonda if az ok fo us have fun. Maybe dey tinking dat if we no celebrate wit erybody, dass going mess up da good vibes at work. Maybe we can make um feel betta if we let um know dat dass good he like erybody be happy at work an dat we like da same ting too. Dat might give us chance layta on fo talk story wit dem about wat da Bible tell about birthdays.

¹² We can try do da same ting if odda hard questions come up. Anodda kid at school might say dat Witnesses Fo Jehovah should change how dey tink about mahus. He wen say dat cuz he no really undastand wat Witnesses believe? O maybe he get one fren o somebody inside his ohana dass mahu? He tink we hate peopo who live lidat? Maybe we gotta let um know dat we kea about erybody an we respeck dat erybody get da right fo make dea own choice.c (1 Pet 2:17) Den maybe we can share wit dem wat da Bible tell about how fo live one happy life.

13. If somebody make fun of you cuz you believe in God, how you can help dem?

¹³ If somebody get in oua face an dey really no like wat we believe, no tink automatic dat we know wat dey believe. (Titus 3:2) Like wat if somebody at school tell no make sense fo believe in God? You going jus tink he full on believe in evolution an know plenny about um? Maybe he jus copying wat he wen hea from odda peopo. Radda den getting into one beef wit um about evolution, try look fo one way fo give him someting fo tink about layta. Maybe you can send um one link to some info on jw.org dat stay about creation. Maybe he going like talk story layta on about one article o one video he wen find dea. If we show um respeck, dat might make him change his mind fo like know wat da Bible tell.

14. How Neil wen use jw.org fo show one kid in school wat peopo tink about Witnesses Fo Jehovah not true?

¹⁴ One teenager name Neil wen use oua website fo show dat wat some peopo tink about Witnesses Fo Jehovah not true. He tell, “Dis boy in school wen tell me I no believe in science cuz I trus one book dass ony make believe radda den da facts.” Wen da boy neva give Neil chance fo tell why he tink lidat, he wen go tell da boy fo look da section “Science and the Bible” on jw.org. Layta on, Neil wen figga dat day boy wen read da info he wen give um, so he could talk to him about how life wen start. Maybe same ting going happen to you.

GET READY AZ ONE OHANA

15. How parents can help dea kids fo ansa in one nice kine way wen odda kids in school question dem?

¹⁵ Parents can teach dea kids how fo ansa in one nice, gentle kine way wen somebody question wat dey believe. (Jam 3:13) Some parents use dea ohana worship fo have one practice sesh. Dey go ova tings dat might come up at school an dey teach dea kids how fo ansa in one nice kine way.—Go look da box “Practice Sesh Fo Help Da Ohana.”

16-17. How having one practice sesh can help young guys?

¹⁶ One practice sesh can help young guys fo prove to demselfs an explain to oddas wat dey believe. Da “Young People Ask” series on jw.org get worksheets fo teenagers. Dose tings going help young guys fo come moa strong in wat dey believe an ansa fo demselfs. If ohanas study dat series togedda, den erybody can learn how fo stand up fo wat we believe in one nice, gentle kine way.

¹⁷ One young guy name Matthew tell how having one practice sesh wen help him. Matthew an his parents look up tings dat maybe going come up in school az part of dea ohana worship. He tell, “We tink of wat kine questions might come up an den practice how fo hando um wit da tings we wen look up. Wen az clear to me how come I believe someting I feel solid an az moa easy fo be nice wen I talk to oddas.”

18. Wat we can learn from Fo Da Colosse Peopo 4:6?

¹⁸ Even if we tell wat we believe in one clear way dat make sense, not erybody going like lissen. But if we talk wit aloha an be gentle, dat can help plenny. (Read um Fo Da Colosse Peopo 4:6.) Telling oddas wat we believe is jalike throwing one ball to dem. We can throw um gentle kine, o whip um at dem. Wen we throw um nice kine, moa easy fo da odda guy catch um an dey going like keep playing. Same ting, if we talk to oddas wit aloha an be gentle, peopo going like lissen an keep talking story wit us. If somebody like argue o make fun of wat we believe, we no need talk to dem. (Smart Guys 26:4) But mos times peopo not going ack lidat, plenny going lissen.

19. Wat going help us fo be gentle wen we stand up fo wat we believe?

¹⁹ Going be good fo you if you learn how fo be gentle. Pray to Jehovah fo give you wat you need fo stay calm wen guys give you hard time o you gotta ansa hard kine questions. No foget dat wen peopo no agree wit you, if you gentle an make nice kine, dat can keep tings from turning into one mayjah beef. An if you gentle an show respeck wen you ansa, dat can make some guys change wat dey tink about us an da Bible. “Stay ready fo tell anybody dat ask” wat we believe, an “tell um nice kine, an show respeck to dem.” (1 Pet 3:15) Dass right, you show you strong wen you gentle!