1, 2. How does Tony’s experience show that it is possible to make changes in life?

TONY grew up without a father. He was a high school student, but he was not very interested in school. In fact, he was thinking of leaving without graduating. On the weekends, Tony would go to the movies or spend time with his friends. He was not violent or a drug addict, but he did not have a purpose in life. He was not even sure if God existed. One day, Tony met two of Jehovah’s Witnesses and expressed his doubts about God to them. They gave him two brochures to read​—Was Life Created? and The Origin of Life​—Five Questions Worth Asking.

² The next time they visited Tony, his thinking had changed completely. He had read the brochures so much that they were folded and wrinkled. Tony told the Witnesses: “There has to be a God.” He began to study the Bible, and little by little his view of life changed. Before he started studying, Tony was not a good student, but he became one of the best students in his school! Even  the school principal was amazed. He said to Tony: “You have made major improvements in your attitude and your grades. Is that because of your association with Jehovah’s Witnesses?” Tony said that it was and shared what he was learning with the principal. He graduated from high school and today is a regular pioneer and a ministerial servant. Tony is so happy that he now has a loving Father, Jehovah!​—Psalm 68:5.

3. What advice does Jehovah give to young people?

³ Tony’s experience reminds us that Jehovah really cares about young people. He wants you to have a truly successful and satisfying life, so he advises you to remember “your Grand Creator in the days of your youth.” (Ecclesiastes 12:1) This is not always easy, but it is not impossible. With God’s help, you can have a successful life both while you are young and later when you are an adult. To help us understand this better, we will discuss what helped the Israelites to conquer the Promised Land and what gave David the power to conquer the giant Goliath.

4, 5. What valuable lesson can we learn from how the Israelites conquered Canaan and how David conquered Goliath? (See opening pictures.)

⁴ When the Israelites were about to enter the Promised Land, what instructions did Jehovah give them? Did he tell them to become better soldiers or to train for war? No! (Deuteronomy 28:1, 2) He told them to obey him and trust in him. (Joshua 1:7-9) This advice might not have made sense to humans, but it was actually the best advice for the Israelites. Over and over again, Jehovah helped his people to conquer the Canaanites. (Joshua 24:11-13) It takes faith to obey God, but that faith always leads to success. This was true in the past, and it is true today.

⁵ Goliath was a mighty warrior. He was almost three meters (9.5 feet) tall, and he carried dangerous weapons. (1 Samuel 17:4-7) David, on the other hand, had only a sling and his faith in God. A person without faith would have thought that David was a fool to try to fight Goliath! But in reality, Goliath was the fool.​—1 Samuel 17:48-51.

6. What will we discuss in this article?

⁶ In the previous article, we discussed four things that can make us happier and more successful in life. We learned that we need to care for our spiritual need, make good friends who love God, set meaningful goals, and value the freedom God gives us. In this article, we will discuss more ways we can benefit from doing these good things. To do this, let us consider some principles we find in Psalm 16.

7. (a) How would you describe a spiritually-minded person? (b) What was David’s “portion,” and how did this affect him?

⁷ A spiritually-minded person has faith in God and tries to see things as God does. He lets Jehovah guide his  life and is determined to obey him. (1 Corinthians 2:12, 13) David is a good example of a spiritually-minded person. He sang: “Jehovah is my portion.” (Psalm 16:5) David was thankful for his “portion,” his close relationship with God, and he took refuge in him. (Psalm 16:1) As a result, he could say: “My whole being is joyful.” Nothing made David happier than his close friendship with Jehovah!​—Read Psalm 16:9, 11.

8. What are some things that can make your life truly satisfying?

⁸ People who focus on money or pleasure can never have as much joy as David had. (1 Timothy 6:9, 10) A brother in Canada says: “True satisfaction comes, not from what we can get out of life, but from what we give to the Giver of every good gift, Jehovah God.” (James 1:17) If you develop faith in Jehovah and serve him, you will have a truly meaningful and satisfying life. So, what can you do to make your faith stronger? You need to spend time with Jehovah by reading his Word, observing the beautiful things he created, and thinking about his qualities, including his love for you.​—Romans 1:20; 5:8.

9. How can you allow God’s Word to mold you?

⁹ Sometimes God shows his love for us by correcting us when we need it, just as a loving father does. David valued this correction and said: “I will praise Jehovah, who has given me advice. Even during the night, my innermost thoughts correct me.” (Psalm 16:7) David meditated on God’s thoughts and made them part of his own thinking. He allowed God’s thoughts to mold him, that is, he let them change him so that he could be a better person. When you do the same, your love for God and your desire to please him will grow, and you will become a mature Christian. A sister named Christin says that when she does research and meditates on what she reads, she feels that Jehovah had those things written just for her!

10. As we learn from Isaiah 26:3, how will being spiritually-minded help you?

¹⁰ When you are spiritually-minded, you will see the world and its future as God does. Jehovah gives you this extraordinary knowledge and insight. Why? He wants you to know what is important in life, to make good decisions, and to look forward to the future without fear! (Read Isaiah 26:3.) A brother named Joshua, who lives in the United States, says that if you stay close to Jehovah, you will see clearly what is important and what is not so important.

11. How did David choose his friends?

¹¹ Read Psalm 16:3. David knew how to find good friends. He chose as his friends those who loved Jehovah, and this gave him “great delight.” He described his friends as “holy ones” because they tried to follow Jehovah’s clean moral standards. Another psalmist felt the same way about choosing friends and wrote: “I am a friend of all who fear you and of those who keep your orders.” (Psalm 119:63) As we  discussed in the previous article, you too can find many good friends among those who love and obey Jehovah. And of course, your friends do not need to be the same age as you.

12. Why were David and Jonathan good friends?

¹² David did not choose only those who were the same age as he was to be his friends. Can you name one of David’s close friends? You might think of Jonathan. The friendship between David and Jonathan is one of the most beautiful ones we can read about in the Bible. But did you know that Jonathan was about 30 years older than David? So why were they such good friends? Their friendship was based on their faith in God. They also respected each other and valued each other’s good qualities, such as the courage they each showed when they fought God’s enemies.​—1 Samuel 13:3; 14:13; 17:48-50; 18:1.

13. How can you make more friends? Give an example.

¹³ Like David and Jonathan, we can have “great delight” when we are friends with those who love Jehovah and have faith in him. Kiera, who has served God for years, says, “I’ve made friends with people from around the world, people of many different backgrounds and cultures.” When you do the same, you will see for yourself how the Bible and holy spirit make us one worldwide family of worshippers.

14. (a) How can you set meaningful goals in life? (b) What do some young ones say about their goals?

¹⁴ Read Psalm 16:8. For David, serving God was the most important thing. If you imitate David when you set goals and always think about what Jehovah wants for you, then your life will be satisfying. A brother named Steven says: “Working toward a goal, accomplishing  it, and then looking back on the improvements I have made brings me satisfaction.” A young brother from Germany who now serves in another land says: “When I’m old, I don’t want to look back on my life and see that everything I did was just about me.” Do you feel the same way? Then use your abilities and talents to bring honor to God and to help other people. (Galatians 6:10) Set goals in Jehovah’s service, and ask Jehovah to help you reach those goals. You can be sure that he will answer your prayer!​—1 John 3:22; 5:14, 15.

15. What goals might you set for yourself? (See the box “ Some Goals to Think About.”)

¹⁵ What are some goals you could set? What about trying to give comments in your own words at the meetings? Or why not make it your goal to pioneer or serve at Bethel? You could also try to learn a new language so that you can use it to share the good news with more people. Barak is a young brother in full-time service who says: “Waking up every day knowing that I’m giving all my strength to Jehovah is a feeling that no other activity can produce.”

16. How did David feel about Jehovah’s laws and principles, and why?

¹⁶ Read Psalm 16:2, 4. As we learned in the previous article, when we live by God’s laws and principles, we become truly free. We learn to love what is good and hate what is bad. (Amos 5:15) David said that Jehovah was his “Source of goodness.” Goodness is moral excellence, or virtue. Jehovah is good in everything he does, and anything good we have comes from him. David worked hard to imitate God and to love the things Jehovah loves. But David also learned to hate what God says is bad. One of these things is idolatry, which is the worship of anyone or anything other than Jehovah. Idolatry degrades humans and takes the glory that belongs to Jehovah and gives it to someone or something else.​—Isaiah 2:8, 9; Revelation 4:11.

17, 18. (a) What did David say about the bad results of false worship? (b) What causes people today to “multiply their sorrows”?

¹⁷ In Bible times, sexual immorality was often part of false worship. (Hosea 4:13, 14) Many people liked false worship because they enjoyed being immoral, but did such worship make them happy? Not at all! David said that those who worship false gods “multiply their sorrows.” Those people even sacrificed their children to false gods! (Isaiah 57:5) Jehovah hated their cruelty. (Jeremiah 7:31) If you had lived in those days, you would have been very grateful that your parents worshipped Jehovah!

¹⁸ Today, many false religions accept sexual immorality, including homosexuality. An immoral lifestyle may make people feel that they are free, but in reality they “multiply their sorrows.” (1 Corinthians 6:18, 19) Have you noticed this? So, young ones, listen to your heavenly Father. Prove to  yourself that it is good for you to obey God. Think carefully about the bad results of immorality. You will see that no temporary pleasure is worth the harm it causes. (Galatians 6:8) Joshua, whom we mentioned earlier, says: “We can use our freedom any way we want, but misusing it isn’t satisfying.”

19, 20. What blessings will come to young ones who have faith in Jehovah and obey him?

¹⁹ Jesus said: “If you remain in my word, you are really my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31, 32) Thanks to Jehovah, we are free from false religion, ignorance, and superstition. In the future, we look forward to having “the glorious freedom of the children of God.” (Romans 8:21) You can enjoy some of that freedom even now when you follow Christ’s teachings. In this way, you will come to “know the truth” not only by learning about it but also by living it!

²⁰ Young ones, cherish the freedom that God gives you. Use it wisely. It will help you make decisions now that can give you the best future. One young brother says: “Using freedom wisely as a young person really helps when later you are faced with bigger decisions, such as finding a suitable job or choosing whether to marry or to remain single for a time.”

21. How can you gain “the real life”?

²¹ In this old system, even what people call the good life is short. No human knows what tomorrow will bring. (James 4:13, 14) So the best thing you can do is make choices that will help you gain “the real life”​—everlasting life in God’s wonderful new world. (1 Timothy 6:19) Jehovah does not force anyone to serve him. It is up to each one of us to decide what we will do. So make Jehovah your “portion” by working every day to draw closer to him, and cherish all the “good things” he gives you. (Psalm 103:5) Be sure that Jehovah can give you abundant joy and happiness forever!​—Psalm 16:11.