“Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show out of his right conduct his works with a meekness that belongs to wisdom. Moreover, the fruit of righteousness has its seed sown under peaceful conditions for those who are making peace.”—Jas. 3:13, 18.
IT IS Jehovah’s will that his happy witnesses continually produce an abundant crop of spiritual fruitage. This product of God’s spirit consists not alone of goodness, faith, joy, love and kindness, but also of peace, mildness, long-suffering and self-control. Now, if such delicious fruit as this is to be brought forth, then not only must the seed be sown under the right conditions, but, of equal importance, the right kind of seed must be planted. Jehovah’s ancient law forbade Israel to plant mingled seed or two kinds of seeds together. And Jesus said: “Never do people gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles, do they? A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, neither can a rotten tree produce fine fruit.” So make sure to plant only the good kind, the right kind of seed. “For whatever a man is sowing, this he will also reap; because he who is sowing with a view to his flesh will reap corruption from his flesh, but he who is sowing with a view to the spirit will reap everlasting life from the spirit. So let us not give up in doing what is right, for in due season we shall reap by not giving out.” The apostle then adds this significant point: “Really, then, as long as we have time favorable for it, let us work what is good toward all, but especially toward those related to us in the faith.”—Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:9; Matt. 7:16, 18; Gal. 5:22, 23; 6:7-10.
In the theocratic arrangement of things certain servants of the Lord are placed as overseers of God’s flock. (Acts 20:28) In such positions of responsibility they must take the lead in bearing peaceable fruitage and working what is good toward all, especially toward those related to them, their faithful brothers and sisters in the congregation of God. It is a commendable thing, the Scripture says, for a dedicated servant of the Lord to seek appointment to the office of an overseer. This is because the very highest requirements must be met before one is qualified to serve in this capacity. Among the prerequisites to receiving a stewardship from Jehovah as an overseer a person must “have a favorable testimony from people on the outside,” being “not a drunken brawler, not a smiter, . . . not belligerent.” He must never be pugnacious, never bossy or dictatorial or domineering, never an overbearing browbeater of the flock, never irritable or quarrelsome. Rather, to meet Jehovah’s high standard he must be “moderate in habits, sound in mind, orderly.” He must “speak injuriously of no one,” and he must be “reasonable” toward all, understanding other people and their problems, “exhibiting all mildness toward all men.”—1 Tim. 3:1-3, 7; Titus 3:2.
The young man Timothy was such a qualified overseer in the early Christian congregation, and to him the apostle and overseer Paul gave some good advice on what to do when envy, jealousy and violent disputes broke out. Certain ones would arise in the very midst of the congregation, Timothy was told, who would be puffed up with pride and mentally diseased over doctrinal questions. “From these things,” the apostle said, “spring envy, strife, abusive speeches, wicked suspicions, violent disputes about trifles on the part of men corrupted in mind and despoiled of the truth.” Under such circumstances what was Timothy to do? He was told to have nothing to do with these troublemakers or their poisonous venom. He was to hasten and flee from their wickedness and pursue after “righteousness, godly devotion, faith, love, endurance, mildness of temper.” Here Paul placed mild-temperedness in the same class with the other five essential requirements.—1 Tim. 6:4, 5, 11.
Another overseer of the first century, named Titus, was told that it was his responsibility as superintendent to “continue reminding them [of the congregations] to . . . speak injuriously of no one, not to be belligerent, to be reasonable, exhibiting all mildness toward all men. For even we were once senseless, disobedient, being misled, being slaves to various desires and pleasures, carrying on in maliciousness and envy, hateful, hating one another.” (Titus 3:1-3) As a reason for being mild-tempered toward all other men, Titus was to remind the congregations how kind and loving God himself had been to us, saving us not because of any activities of righteousness that we had performed to obligate God to us, but saving us according to his own divine mercy toward us through Jesus Christ, his self-sacrificing Son. What mildness this displayed to an unparalleled degree on the part of the Most High God toward us! Along with this mildness, how long-suffering God has been toward us of humankind throughout the centuries till now! It is not because God is slow or indifferent, but because he does not desire us to be destroyed. He has desired us to have the needed time to come to repentance leading to salvation. Thus we can consider God’s mild patience with us as spelling our salvation.—Titus 3:4-7; 2 Pet. 3:9, 15.
Today no less is required of faithful Christian overseers. They too must continually remind the congregations to be in humble subservience and willing subjection to “our Savior, God,” and to imitate him in our conduct toward others in the matter of mildness of treatment. His Son, “Jesus Christ our Savior,” imitated his heavenly Father in this respect, and we should also.
