1-2. (a) Wat Paul was going thru wen he had write da letta to da Efesus peopo? (b) Wat questions we going go ova?

 WEN da aposal Paul was one prisona in Rome, he wanted fo give good kine words to his braddahs an sistahs. He no could go see dem so he wen write lettas. He wen write one of da lettas in about 60 o 61 C.E. to da Efesus peopo.​—Efe 1:1; 4:1.

² About ten years befoa, Paul wen spen plenny time in Efesus, preaching an teaching da good kine tings. (Jesus Guys 19:1, 8-10; 20:20, 21) He wen love his braddahs so much an wanted fo help dem fo stay tight wit Jehovah. But how come he wen write to anointed Christians about da dark an da light? An wat all us can learn from wat he wen write? We go look da ansas to dese questions.

FROM DARK TO LIGHT

3. Wat words Paul wen use in his letta to da Efesus peopo?

³ Paul wen write to da Christians in Efesus, “You was in da dark befoa, but now you stay in da light.” (Efe 5:8, NWT.) Paul wen use da words dark an light fo show how much dey wen change from befoa to now. We go look how come Paul wen tell da Efesus peopo was in da “dark befoa.”

4. How da guys in Efesus was in da dark wit pilau religion?

 ⁴ Pilau religion. Befoa da Efesus guys wen come Christians dey wen follow wat da pilau religions wen teach an wen believe in kahuna kine stuff. Efesus had da famous temple of Artemis, dat plenny peopo had tink was one of da mos unreal buildings eva, an wen call um one of da seven wondas of da world. Da peopo dat wen go dat temple had worship idols. Guys wen make choke money by selling an making idols of da temple an da wahine god Artemis. (Jesus Guys 19:23-27) An plenny guys in Efesus wen do kahuna kine stuffs.​—Jesus Guys 19:19.

5. How da guys in Efesus was in da dark wit pilau kine living?

⁵ Pilau kine living. Da Efesus peopo was known fo doing pilau stuffs an dey no moa shame fo live dat kine way. Plenny times da plays at da theaters an even da religious kine stuffs dat dey wen do, was all about sex. (Efe 5:3) Plenny of da Efesus peopo “no mo shame” an dat wen mean dey neva feel hurt o notting. (Efe 4:17-19) Befoa da Efesus peopo wen learn wat was right o wrong, dey neva feel bad wen dey do bad kine stuff, an dey neva kea wat Jehovah feel about wat dey do. Cuz of all dis, Paul had tell “dey try fo see inside one dark place an no can see . . . an dey get cut off from God foeva.”

6. How come Paul wen say dat da Efesus peopo was now “in da light”?

⁶ But some of da Efesus peopo neva stay in da dark. Wen Paul had write about dem he tell, “now you stay in da light cuz you stay tight wit da Lord.” (Efe 5:8, NWT.) Dey wen start fo live by Bible truts an it wen guide dem like one light. (Songs 119:105) Dese guys from Efesus wen bag from pilau religion an pilau kine living. Now dey had “make jalike God” an was doing dea bes fo worship Jehovah an make him happy.​—Efe 5:1.

7. How we stay like plenny of da Efesus Christians?

 ⁷ Same ting wit us, befoa we wen learn da trut we was in da dark. Some of us wen celebrate holidays dat come from pilau religion, an oddas wen live one pilau kine life. But wen we had learn wat Jehovah tell az right an wrong, we wen make changes. We started fo live da way Jehovah like us fo live. Cuz a dat, we get fo live one good life. (Isa 48:17) Still yet, we get problems we gotta deal wit. We gotta “keep living az ones dat stay in da light,” an no go back to da dark. How we can do dat?

STAY AWAY FROM DA DARK

8. In Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:3-5, wat da Efesus Christians had fo stay away from?

⁸ Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:3-5. Fo da Efesus Christians stay away from pilau kine living, dey had fo keep shutting down da tings Jehovah no like. Dose tings no ony was pilau kine sex stuff but even pilau kine talk. Paul wen tell da Efesus peopo if dey like “get da right fo Christ an God come dea king,” dey had fo stay away from dose tings.

9. How come we gotta stay away from anyting dat can make us do pilau stuff?

⁹ Us too gotta keep fighting fo no get caught up in “Da kine stuff . . . ony wase time” dat come from da dark. (Efe 5:11) Is clear fo see da moa somebody look at, lissen to, o talk about pilau kine tings, da moa easy going be fo do someting bad. (Start 3:6; Jam 1:14, 15) In one country, one big group of braddahs started fo talk on social media in one chat group. At firs, plenny of dem wen talk about Jehovah an da trut. But litto by litto, dey wen start fo talk about tings Jehovah no like. Dey wen end up all da time talking about sex. Bumbye, plenny of dese braddahs had tell dat cuz a dis pilau kine talk dey had end up having pilau kine sex.

10. How Satan try fo bulai us? (Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:6)

¹⁰ Satan’s world try fo bulai us an make us tink dat wat stay pilau to Jehovah is okay fo do. (2 Pet 2:19) Dis no shock us. Fo long time Satan try trick peopo so dey no can figga wat stay right an wrong. (Isa 5:20; 2 Cor 4:4) Make sense why plenny movies, tv shows, an websites stay pilau. Satan bulai us fo try make us tink dat living pilau no ony stay okay but az good fun an notting bad going happen.​—Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:6.

11. How wat Angela had go thru show dat we gotta lissen wat tell in Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:7? (Go look da picha.)

¹¹ Satan like us hang out wit guys dat make um moa hard fo live da way Jehovah like. Az why Paul wen tell da Efesus peopo, “No go hang out wit dat kine peopo,” dat do wat Jehovah tell is bad. (Efe 5:7) We gotta watch out even moa den da Efesus peopo from befoa, cuz today we can spen time wit guys not jus in person, but on social media too. Angela, a who live in Asia, wen find out how sketchy social media can be. She tell, “It can be one trap. Litto by litto, it can start fo change yoa tinking. Pretty soon I had get to da poin dat neva bodda me fo have “frenz” who no  kea about da Bible. An layta on I wen start fo tink az okay fo live da way Jehovah no like.” But good ting, some eldas in one loving way wen help Angela fo make da changes she had need. She tell, “Now I try my bes fo focus on spiritual tings radda den social media.”

12. Wat going help us fo stick to wat Jehovah tell az right an wrong?

¹² Da world tink dat living pilau az okay, but we gotta fight hard fo no tink lidat. We know dass not right. (Efe 4:19, 20) Still yet az good fo ask ouaself, “I make shua fo no spen extra time wit guys I work o go school wit, o oddas dat no respeck Jehovah’s way fo live? I no sked stan up fo wat Jehovah tell az right even if going get guys dat look down on me?” Like tell in 2 Fo Timoty 2:20-22, maybe we even gotta watch out fo who we choose fo be close frenz wit in da hui. Az good fo rememba dat some of dem might not help us stick tight to Jehovah.

LIVE “AZ ONES DAT STAY IN DA LIGHT”

13. Wat dat mean fo “keep living az ones dat stay in da light”? (Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:7-9, NWT.)

¹³ Paul wen tell da Christians in Efesus fo no jus stay away from da dark but fo “keep living az ones dat stay in da light.” (Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:7-9, NWT.) Wat dat mean? It mean we live az Christians all da time. One way fo help us do dis is by reading an studying da Bible real good wit oua Bible tools. Is supa importan we look real good da teachings an da exampo of Jesus Christ, “da light fo da peopo inside da world.”​—John 8:12; Smart Guys 6:23.

14. How God’s spesho spirit help us?

¹⁴ Anodda ting we need fo “keep living az ones dat stay in da light,” is da help of God’s spesho spirit. How come? Cuz not easy fo stay clean in dis pilau world. (1 Tess 4:3-5, 7, 8) Da way da world tink stay all diffren from da way  Jehovah tink, so his spesho spirit help us fo fight dat tinking. God’s spesho spirit can help us “do wass good an right.”​—Efe 5:9, NWT.

15. How we can get Jehovah’s spesho spirit? (Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:19, 20)

¹⁵ One way we get Jehovah’s spesho spirit is wen we pray fo um. Jesus wen tell dat Jehovah “goin give his Good An Spesho Spirit to you guys cuz you go aks him fo um.” (Luk 11:13) We get God’s spesho spirit wen we worship Jehovah togedda at oua meetings. (Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:19, 20.) God’s spesho spirit going help us live in one way dat make Jehovah happy.

16. Wat going help us fo make good choices? (Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:10, 17)

¹⁶ Wen we get big choices fo make, we gotta figga out wat God like us fo do an den go do um. (Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:10, 17.) Wen we look fo Bible truts dat help us wit wat we going thru, dat show we trying fo see God’s tinking on um. An wen we use da Bible truts, we going be able fo make one good choice.

17. Wat we gotta do fo no wase oua time? (Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:15, 16) (Go look da picha.)

¹⁷ Paul wen tell da Efesus Christians fo no wase dea time. (Read um Fo Da Efesus Peopo 5:15, 16.) Satan like keep us so busy wit da tings in dis world dat we no going have time fo worship Jehovah. (1 John 5:19) Would be easy fo one Christian focus on money, school, o work radda den da plenny tings he could do fo Jehovah. If dat start fo happen, dat would show dat da world’s tinking stay rubbing off on him. All dese tings no stay bad, but dey neva should be da mos importan ting in oua life. Fo “keep living az ones dat stay in  da light,” we gotta make shua dat “erytime [we] get chance fo do good kine stuff, do um” an focus on wass mos importan.

18. Wat Donald wen do so he could do moa fo Jehovah?

¹⁸ Try look fo ways you can do moa fo Jehovah. Donald, from South Africa, wen do dat. He tell, “I wen tink about my life an had pray real hard to Jehovah an beg him fo help me do moa in da ministry. I had pray fo work dat would give me moa time fo go preach. Wit Jehovah’s help, I was able fo find dat kine work. An den me an my wife wen start fo work full-time fo Jehovah togedda.”

19. How we can “keep living az ones dat stay in da light”?

¹⁹ Fo shua, Paul’s letta to da guys in Efesus had help dem stay faithful to Jehovah. An da words Jehovah had him write can help us too. Like we wen learn, it can help us fo choose wat we do fo fun an who we hang out wit. It can help us fo keep studying da Bible moa regula so dat da light of trut can keep showing us wat fo do in oua life. An it wen show us dat Jehovah’s spesho spirit is importan an can help us do wass good. Wen we use wat Paul wen write, dat can help us fo make good choices dat match up wit Jehovah’s tinking. Wen we do all dis, we can stay away from da dark an keep living in da light!