WHEN Jesus taught his disciples how to preach the good news, he warned them that people would not always want to listen to them. (Luke 10:3, 5, 6) The same is true in our ministry. Some people we meet might be rude or even aggressive. And when they react that way, it may be difficult for us to have compassion and want to preach to them.

A compassionate person sees the needs and problems of others, feels sorry for them, and wants to help them. But what will happen if we lose our compassion for the people we meet in our ministry? We will lose our zeal, that is, we will not be eager to preach to them, and we will not be able to help them. We can compare our zeal to a fire. For a fire to burn brightly, it needs a lot of oxygen. Similarly, for our zeal to be strong, we need to have compassion!​—1 Thessalonians 5:19.

How can we learn to be more compassionate, even when it is difficult? Let us discuss three examples we can imitate: Jehovah, Jesus, and the apostle Paul.

For thousands of years, people have told wicked lies about Jehovah. But he remains “kind toward the unthankful and wicked.” (Luke 6:35) How does he show his kindness? He is patient with everyone. Jehovah wants “all sorts of people” to be saved. (1 Timothy 2:3, 4) Even though God hates wickedness, people are precious to him and he does not want any of them to die.​—2 Peter 3:9.

Jehovah knows that Satan is very good at making people believe lies. (2 Corinthians 4:3, 4) Many have been taught lies about God since they were children. So the way they think and feel may make it difficult for them to accept the truth. But Jehovah is eager to help them. How do we know?

Take, for example, how Jehovah felt about the people in the city of Nineveh. Even though they were violent, Jehovah said to Jonah: “Should I not also feel sorry for Nineveh the great city, in which there are more than 120,000 men who do not even know right from wrong?” (Jonah 4:11) Jehovah felt pity for those people, who did not know the truth about him. So he sent Jonah to warn them.

We feel the same way Jehovah does about people. They are precious. Like Jehovah, we are eager to help them learn about him even when it seems that they will not accept the truth.

When people react in a negative way to our message, we need to try to understand  why they do so. Maybe they have a bad opinion about the Bible or about Christians because they have seen that some who call themselves Christians do bad things. Others may have heard lies about what we believe. Still others may be afraid that their relatives or people from their community will ridicule them if they talk to us.

Some people we meet may have had terrible experiences that affected them deeply. A missionary named Kim says that many people in her territory survived a war and lost everything they had. They have no real hope for the future. They are frustrated and do not trust anyone. People in this territory often try to stop the Witnesses from preaching. One time Kim was even attacked while she was in the ministry.

How does Kim remain compassionate, even when people treat her badly? She always tries to remember Proverbs 19:11, which says: “The insight of a man certainly slows down his anger.” When she thinks about what the people in her territory went through, it helps her to feel compassion for them. And not everyone she meets is unfriendly. In that same territory, she has some good return visits.

We can ask ourselves: ‘If I did not know the truth, how would I react if Jehovah’s Witnesses came to preach to me?’ For example, what if we had heard many lies about the Witnesses? Perhaps we too would react in a negative way and would need to be treated with compassion. Jesus said that we must treat others the way we would like to be treated. So we must try to understand how others feel and be patient with them, even if it is difficult.​—Matthew 7:12.

The apostle Paul showed compassion even for people who reacted violently to his preaching. Why? Because he remembered how he used to be. He said: “Formerly I was a blasphemer and a persecutor and an insolent man. Nevertheless, I was shown mercy because I acted in ignorance and with a lack of faith.” (1 Timothy 1:13) Paul knew that Jehovah and Jesus had been very merciful to him. He could understand the people who wanted to stop his preaching, because he once felt as they did.

At times, Paul met people who strongly believed in false teachings. How did this make him feel? At Acts 17:16, we read that while he was in Athens, he “became irritated on seeing  that the city was full of idols.” However, Paul used the very thing that irritated him as a way to teach people. (Acts 17:22, 23) He adjusted the way he preached, and he spoke in a different way to people of different backgrounds so that he “might by all possible means save some.”​—1 Corinthians 9:20-23.

When we preach to people who react in a negative way or who have wrong beliefs, we can do what Paul did. We can use what we know about them to help them learn about the “good news of something better.” (Isaiah 52:7) A sister named Dorothy says: “In our territory, many have been taught that God is harsh and judgmental. I commend such people for their strong belief in God and then draw their attention to what the Bible says about Jehovah’s loving personality and his promises for the future.”

We should also try to encourage our brothers and sisters while we preach with them. Jessica says that when she is in the ministry with others and one of them has a bad experience, she tries not to focus on that. Instead, she talks about something positive, such as the good results that our preaching has even though some react in a negative way.

Jehovah knows very well that sometimes it is difficult for us to preach. But he is very happy when we imitate his mercy! (Luke 6:36) Of course, Jehovah will not be compassionate and patient with people in this world forever. We can be sure that he knows exactly when to bring the end. Until then, our preaching is urgent. (2 Timothy 4:2) So let us continue to preach with zeal and have true compassion for “all sorts of people.”