Saturday, November 14 Do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads bald for a dead person.​—Deut. 14:1.

[Ella Mentry]

Saturday, November 14

Do not cut yourselves or shave your foreheads bald for a dead person.—Deut. 14:1.

 

Giving up unscriptural customs and practices can be one of the most difficult prices to pay for truth. (Prov. 23:23) Although some may find it easy to accept the Scriptural basis for abandoning these practices, others may hesitate to pay the price because of pressure from family members, workmates, and close friends. The situation may become emotionally charged, especially if a custom involves rites in honor of dead relatives. The courageous example of others can help us to make the necessary changes. What did newly converted Christians in Ephesus who had been practicing magical arts do in order to put away those unscriptural practices and buy truth? The Bible explains: “[They] brought their books together and burned them up before everybody. And they calculated their value and found them worth 50,000 pieces of silver.” (Acts 19:19, 20) The faithful Christians made this costly sacrifice and gained priceless blessings. w18.11 7 ¶15-16

[Amygdala]

Good text for our bible students that come from cultures where traditional or religious practices are carried out. So-called honoring of the dead practices have included loss of sleep, superstitions, and unwanted fears. In other practices, different forms of self-mutilation has created a host of health complications. But any losses suffered materially from giving up such false practices, or loss of family or friends, is gaining four-fold more blessings from Jehovah. -Prov.10:22; Mark 10:29,30; 2 Cor.7:1