1. How Christians gotta be like one tree? (Go look da picha.)

 GET one saying from long time ago, “Da wind no can break one tree dat can bend.” Dis show dat fo some trees stay strong an no broke, gotta be able fo flex. Us too gotta be flexible an ready fo bend fo keep serving Jehovah. How we do dat? We gotta be able fo adjus wen stuff change in oua life, an we gotta respeck da way odda peopo tink an choose fo do stuff.

2. Wat going help us adjus wen tings change, an wat we going talk about in dis lesson?

² Az Jehovah’s peopo we like be flexible, but we like be humbo an show we kea too. In dis lesson, we going see how being lidat wen help some Christians deal wit changes in dea life, an how dat going help us too. But firs, we go look at da perfeck exampos of being flexible, Jehovah an Jesus.

3. Wat kine proof we get dat Jehovah flexible?

³ Jehovah, “he jalike one big stone” cuz he strong an solid an notting can shake him. (Rules 32:4) But same time, he flexible. Wen tings change in dis world, he adjus fo make shua dat wat he promise come true. He wen make humans jalike him, an dey can adjus wen tings change. In da Bible get tings inside dea dat can help us make smart kine decisions no matta wat we stay going thru. Jehovah’s exampo an da tings in da Bible  give proof dat he solid jalike one big stone, but still yet flexible.

4. Give one exampo of how Jehovah stay flexible. (Da Prieses 5:7, 11)

⁴ Jehovah always perfeck an flexible. He not mean an he no ask too much of peopo. Try tink how Jehovah was flexible wit da Israel peopo. He neva make erybody give da same kine sacrifice, no matta if dey was rich o pooa. Sometime, he wen let each guy jus give wat dey could.​—Read um Da Prieses 5:7, 11.

5. Give one exampo of how Jehovah humbo an show he kea.

⁵ Jehovah flexible cuz he humbo an he kea. Like wen Jehovah was going wipe out da peopo Sodom town, he wen show how humbo he was. Thru his angels Jehovah wen tell Lot fo dig out to da mountains. Lot was sked fo go ova dea, so he wen beg Jehovah fo let him an his ohana go hide out Zoar side even tho dey was suppose to get wipe out too. Jehovah coulda stuck to his guns an told Lot fo do exackly wat he told um fo do. But Jehovah wen lissen to Lot an let him go Zoar, an neva wipe out dat town. (Start 19:​18-22) Long time afta dat, Jehovah wen show he kea about da guys who wen live Nineveh. He wen send Jonah fo talk fo him an let da peopo know he was going wipe out da town an erybody who stay ova dea. But dey wen feel sorry fo wat dey was doing, so Jehovah wen pity dem an neva wipe dem out.​—Jonah 3:1, 10; 4:10, 11.

6. How Jesus was flexible jalike Jehovah?

⁶ Jesus wen copy how Jehovah was flexible. He wen come to da earth fo preach to da Israel peopo who was jalike los sheep. But wen he wen do dat work he wen show he was flexible. One time had one wahine who no was from da Israel peopo, an she wen beg Jesus fo heal her girl who had da “bad kine spirit dat . . . make her suffa plenny.” Cuz Jesus wen kea, he wen do wat da wahine wen ask him an make her girl come good again. (Mat 15:21-28) Anodda time wen Jesus wen firs start fo preach he wen tell, “if get one guy dat tell in front da peopo dat he donno me, den I going tell . . . I donno him.” (Mat 10:33) Even tho Peter sed he donno Jesus three times, Jesus neva do da same ting back to him. Jesus wen know dat Peter felt bad about wat he wen do an dat he still had plenny faith. Afta Jesus wen come back alive, he wen meet up wit Peter an is pretty much garans he wen let Peter know dat he wen let him go an he still had love fo him.—Luk 24:33, 34.

7. Wat kine rep in Fo Da Philippi Peopo 4:5, NWT we like have?

 ⁷ We wen see dat Jehovah an Jesus both flexible. An Jehovah expeck us fo be lidat too. (Read um Fo Da Philippi Peopo 4:5, NWT.) Try tink, “I get da rep fo being somebody dat stay flexible? O peopo tink I strick an hard head? Do I tink dat oddas gotta do tings exackly da way I tink should be? O do I lissen to oddas an adjus to wat dey like wen can?” How flexible we stay going show how much we trying fo copy Jehovah an Jesus. Us go look two ways we gotta be flexible—wen tings in oua life change an wen da way peopo tink an choose fo do tings is diffren from us.

8. Wat can help us fo be flexible wen tings in oua life change? (Go look da extra info.)

⁸ Part of being flexible is being able fo adjus wen get tings dat change in oua life. Cuz we no expeck dese changes, can be hard fo us. Like all of a sudden, we could get one mayjah health problem. Could be money problems, o changes in da govament dat make um hard fo us live. (Teacha 9:11; 1 Cor 7:31) Even wat we do in Jehovah’s hui could change, an dat could be one tes fo us. Wateva we deal wit, we going be able fo adjus to dese changes moa betta if we do dese four tings, (1) face da facts, (2) look ahead, no look back, (3) tink good, an (4) do tings fo oddas. b We go check out how doing dis wen help oua braddahs an sistahs.

9. How one missionary couple wen hando wen tings had happen dat dey neva expeck?

⁹ Face da facts. Emanuele an Francesca got sent fo be missionaries in anodda country. Jus wen dey wen start fo learn da language an get fo know da braddahs an sistahs in da local hui, da COVID-19 pandemic wen hit an dey had fo stay away from erybody. On top of dat, all of a sudden, Francesca’s maddah wen mahke. Francesca wanted fo go see da ohana real bad, but cuz da pandemic she no could go. Wat wen help her fo hando all dis? Firs, Emanuele an Francesca wen pray togedda fo know how fo take um one day at a time an no let da presha get to dem. Jus at da right time, Jehovah wen ansa dea prayas thru his hui. Like dey wen watch one video of one braddah who wen tell, “Da fasta we face da facts, da fasta we can come happy again an do oua bes wit how tings stay now.” c Den, dey wanted fo try get moa betta at preaching on da phone an dey wen even start one study. An den, dey wen let da braddahs an sistahs help um out an dey was supa tankful fo dat. One sistah even wen send dem one short message wit one scripcha eryday fo one year. If we face da facts wen tings change in oua life, we still yet going be happy wit wat we can do.

10. How one sistah wen adjus to one big change in her life?

 ¹⁰ Look ahead, an tink good. Christina, one Romanian sistah who live Japan, was all bum out wen da English local hui she was in had get shut down. But, she neva keep tinking about um. She wen jus try her bes in da Japanese local hui she was in now fo charge um ova dea. She wen ask one lady she wen work wit befoa fo teach her how fo talk Japanese moa betta. Christina wen ask if could use da Bible an You Can Live Good Foeva! fo teach her Japanese, an she sed can. Christina’s Japanese wen get betta an da wahine wen like fo learn moa about da Bible. If we look ahead an tink good, even if tings come up dat we no expeck, good stuff can happen.

11. How one couple wen hando wen dey had money problems?

¹¹ Do tings fo oddas. One couple dat live in one country wea oua work is kapu wen start fo have money problems wen da country wen go bankrupt. How dey wen adjus? Dey wen try live moa simpo. An den dey neva ony tink about dea own pilikia, but dey wen tink about helping oddas by preaching plenny. (Jesus Guys 20:35) Da husband wen tell, “Cuz we was so busy preaching, we neva have time fo tink about oua problems an had moa time fo do wat God like us do.” If tings change fo us, gotta rememba da bes way fo help oddas is fo preach to dem.

12. How da aposal Paul help us fo be flexible wen we preach?

¹² Wen we preach we gotta be flexible. Da peopo we preach to believe diffren tings, come from any kine place, an wen grow up diffren. Da aposal Paul was flexible, an all us can learn how fo copy him. Jesus wen choose Paul fo be one aposal who go “all ova da place.” (Rome 11:13) Paul wen preach to da Jews, Greeks, peopo who wen go school, country peopo, govament guys, an kings. Fo reach all dese diffren guys hearts, he wen “come jalike dem.” (1 Cor 9:19-23) Da peopo he wen talk to, he wen tink hard about dea culture, how dey wen grow up, an da stuff dey wen believe. Den he wen adjus how he talk to dem so dat dey wen like lissen an learn about God. Us too can come moa betta at preaching if we tink about da bes way fo help peopo an adjus how we talk to dem.

13. If we respeck how oddas tink, wat we not going do, like tell in 1 Fo Da Corint Peopo 8:9?

¹³ If we flexible we going respeck how odda peopo tink. Some sistahs like fo wea makeup, but oddas no like. Some Christians is happy fo drink az long az not too much, but oddas choose fo no drink at all. Erybody like take kea dea health, but dey choose diffren ways fo do um. If we tink oua way is bes an try make erybody ony do wat we do, can jam peopo up o even split up da local hui. Garans we no like do dat! (Read um 1 Fo Da Corint Peopo 8:9; 10:23, 24) We go look two exampos dat show how following Bible truts goin help us fo be balance an keep tings pono.

14. Wat Bible truts goin help us know wat kine clotheses an hairdo fo choose?

 ¹⁴ Clotheses an hairdo. Jehovah no make strick rules wat fo wea, but he give us truts inside da Bible fo help us choose. Da clotheses we wea gotta show dat we flexible, we repeck ouaself, an we “get respeck fo God.” (1 Tim 2:9, 10; 1 Pet 3:3) Dass why we no like wea da kine clotheses dat going make erybody ony like look at us. On top of dat, da Bible truts going help eldas no make dea own rules wen come to yoa clotheses an yoa hair. Like in one local hui da younga braddahs wen all start fo make dea hair short but all messy kine. Da eldas wanted fo help dem witout making one rule. Da braddah fo da circuit wen tell um dey could say dis, “If you on da stage an erybody ony stare at you an no lissen wat you say, den get one problem wit yoa clotheses o yoa hairdo.” Dis wen help fix da problem witout da eldas having fo make one rule. d

15. Wat Bible rules an truts get fo help us choose how fo take kea oua health? (Fo Da Rome Peopo 14:5)

¹⁵ Health. Ery Christian gotta choose fo demself how fo take kea dea health. (Gal 6:5) Wen Christians choose wat kine medical treatment fo get, ony get litto bit rules inside da Bible, like stay away from blood an spirit kine stuff. (Jesus Guys 15:20; Gal 5:19, 20) Odda den dat, dey can choose fo demself. Some ony go doctas, some radda have odda diffren kine treatments. We might tink dat one way is good an dat anodda way is no good, but we gotta respeck oua braddahs an sistahs right fo  make dea own choice wen come to dea health. Dass why we gotta rememba dese tings, (1)  Ony God’s Govament going full on fix oua health. (Isa 33:24) (2) Ery Christian gotta know wass bes fo him an “gotta make shua how come dey tink how dey tink.” (Read um Fo Da Rome Peopo 14:5.) (3) We no judge wat oddas choose fo do o do anyting dat going jam dem up. (Rome 14:13) (4) Christians show love, an dey undastand dat sticking togedda az one hui is moa importan den wat dey tink is da right ting fo choose. (Rome 14:15, 19, 20) If we rememba all dis, we going stay tight wit oua braddahs an sistahs an help eryting be pono in da local hui.

16. How one elda show he flexible wen he work wit odda eldas? (Go look da pichas.)

¹⁶ Eldas gotta be one good exampo fo follow wen come to being flexible. (1 Tim 3:2, 3) Jus cuz one elda moa ol den all da odda braddahs, he no going tink dat erybody gotta lissen to wat he tink. He know dat Jehovah’s spirit can make any elda say someting dat going help da body choose da akamai ting fo do. If mos of da braddahs is good wit wat he wen say an it no go agains any Bible truts, den one elda who flexible going back dem up, even if no was wat he wanted fo do.

17. How come is good fo Christians be flexible?

¹⁷ Plenny good kine tings happen wen Christians is flexible. We get along wit oua braddahs an sistahs moa betta, an eryting in da local hui is pono. We love dat we come from all diffren kine places an cultures, an still yet we worship Jehovah togedda. But da bestes ting is, we copy Jehovah who is flexible.