By Tingting, China

Dong Xin and her daughter Tingting were going out. When she saw Tingting was rolling up her pant legs before the mirror, Dong Xin asked confusedly: “Come now, why are you rolling them up?” Tingting didn’t pay attention to her mom’s question. She looked at her rolled-up pant legs and smiled with satisfaction, thinking: Hum, after rolling them up, I really look different. My legs look thin and long, and I look tall. Nice! As she enjoyed her beauty, she responded to her mom, “Dressing like this I’ll look slimming and pretty.” At Tingting’s words, Dong Xin felt that teenagers’ thoughts were strange today. She said frowning at her daughter, “Look at you. Rolling up your pant legs, you look like a hoodlum. It’s strange. Let them down.” At the moment, Tingting’s smile froze in a flash and a big question mark appeared before her eyes: Oh, my gosh! How can my mom have this thought? Don’t my contemporaries all dress this way? It’s normal. How can my mom describe me like this? She is really outdated. I wouldn’t like to listen to her. So she said, “No. I like this style. It’s in fashion.” Dong Xin saw Tingting didn’t give in, so she played her trump card, saying, “If you don’t let them down, I won’t take you to go shopping.” Tingting thought gloomily: If I don’t meet her requirement, my buying clothes will fall through. Ah, it seems the older the wiser. For the sake of my beloved clothes, I have to be aggrieved and listen to my mom. So she unwillingly let down her pant legs. As a result, Dong Xin was satisfied while Tingting wasn’t content in her heart. She thought: My mom’s so outdated. She doesn’t understand fashion nor can she keep pace with social trends closely. It seems as if she and I belong to different worlds, and we can’t simply communicate with each other.

From food, clothing and shelter to their networks of friends, it seemed that Tingting’s opinions about them were never in tune with Dong Xin’s. As long as they talked about something, they would argue and they each would insist on their own opinions, ending up parting unhappily. Therefore, even if Tingting had something on her mind, she would rather suppress it in her heart or tell others than tell Dong Xin. Although they lived under the same roof, sometimes they even wouldn’t say a word to each other in a day, so that the distance between them increased and they became the most familiar strangers. Dong Xin said Tingting didn’t understand how to do her a favor nor was she willing to be near to her. There was the saying, “The daughter is the apple of the mother’s eyes,” but Tingting fell far short. After she heard this, Tingting felt very uncomfortable and thought to herself: Don’t blame me. Regardless of what I say and what I do, they are all wrong in my mom’s eyes. Since there is no common language, then we have nothing to communicate with each other. Just like this, they complained against one another and wouldn’t put themselves aside, and thus they were always locked in this kind of stalemate.

The generation gap between them didn’t disappear but was even widening. When Tingting hit the market, she met a boy student and said hello to him. Seeing this, Dong Xin would ask her who the boy was, and warn her against calf love; when Tingting sometimes made a facial mask, Dong Xin would also say she was pursuing world trends; every time when Tingting went to shop for clothes with her mother, Dong Xin would be unsatisfied with each dress Tingting picked out, either saying the clothes were too tight, or had plunging neckline, or saying they were offbeat and didn’t fit a girl. In short, Dong Xin’s opinions were all different from Tingting’s, so Tingting felt very wronged and uncomfortable. Nevertheless, she didn’t dare argue with Dong Xin, because she never spoke but Dong Xin scolded her by saying that all she knew was to seek the trends of the world all day and that she wasn’t engaged in honest work. In the aspect of life, she was a bit picky and she liked vegetarian foods and hated meat. For this, Dong Xin often kept dinning in her ears: “It’s more difficult to feed you than feed ten children. If you visit others, will you act like this? If a famine occurs, you’ll absolutely starve to death.…” At these words, Tingting felt like she had a headache. So, what Dong Xin said often went in at one ear and out at the other.

Until that day, under the guidance of God’s words, their relationship began to change silently.…

One day, Dong Xin came to Tingting and said, “Tingting, let’s have a meeting together.” Hearing this, Tingting agreed reluctantly. She thought: Well, in any case, everything is for you to decide. If I don’t listen to you, you’ll nag me again. Then, they sat together and began to read God’s words, “Parents raise their children from infancy to adulthood, nagging them and looking after them throughout. How do parents see time? Whether twenty or thirty years later, their attitude toward their children is the same as when they were born, it doesn’t change. The child has, in fact, long since grown up, he’s long since established his own way of thinking, state of mind, insight, and viewpoints—he’s long since had these things—yet the adults never realize this, they can never keep up, they always talk and interact with the child as if he’d just been born. So what issue does the child have? As soon as the parents start nagging, the child objects. He stays away from them, he avoids them, saying to himself, ‘How I wish there was no nagging, how I wish that no one nagged me, then I’d be free.’ He doesn’t know how to open up to them, or look for the chance to tell them what’s in his heart, which would allow his parents to understand him, and know what he needs, what he’s thinking in his heart, whether there is any problem with what’s in his mind, or anything erroneous about it; whether, if he carries on thinking like this, it will make him do something wrong. He suppresses these things, he doesn’t know how to have a heart-to-heart talk, with the result that the two generations reach an impasse.”

Having finished reading God’s word, Dong Xin looked at Tingting and said, “Tingting, by reading God’s words, I know I’m wrong. I think it’s necessary for me to say I’m sorry. Since you believed in God, in order to let you believe in God properly, for fear that you are attracted by various evil worldly trends and keep far away from God, I, in accordance with my own will, have controlled you and obstructed you from doing this and that. I thought I was doing this for your own good, but I have never expected our relationship becomes more strained for this. Now, through God’s words, I came to realize I’m too arrogant. I regard what I believe is right as the standard and control you in my position as a parent all the time. I always treat you as a child and want you to live in line with my thoughts. When you don’t listen to me, I’m angry with you and still complain about your not understanding things. In hindsight, there’s such great estrangement between us and I should bear much of the blame. In fact, just as what God says, you’ve grown up. You have your own way of thinking and your free space. I shouldn’t always impose my thoughts on you. I ought to talk with you more and understand your ideas. When we understand each other and know what the other think of, can’t we know each other? Then there won’t be such great estrangement between us.”

At Dong Xin’s words, Tingting was lost in thought: Things have progressed to this point today. It wasn’t all my mother’s fault and I was also wrong. If I was supposed to see every matter I encountered from the perspective of the truth, always acted in accordance with God’s words in everything, learned to chat with my mother, and said what was in my heart so that we understood each other, then there wouldn’t happen these things.

Tingting bowed her head and right saw a passage of God’s words, “When some young people are talking, they keep rolling their eyes, they hold everyone in contempt, and everything they say is filled with a note of disdain. If you have a word with them but it’s not to their liking, they will just ignore you. It is rather hard to be a parent nowadays and very hard to get to know the mentality of young people. If they say one wrong word, their child will throw a tantrum and storm off, and it is very difficult for them to communicate with adults. This is to say that there are problems with the thinking of many young people today. Is this situation not created by evil trends and this evil society? The things of people’s normal humanity are becoming fewer and fewer. … Then there is ‘they can’t tell a four from a six.’ This is a dialect expression. Have you heard it before? (Yes.) Explain to Me the literal meaning of these words. (It means that they cannot discern between good or bad. Whatever they think is good is always good. Whatever they think is bad is always bad. No matter how you explain something to them, they don’t listen.) (It means that they are unable to know what is good for them, they have no discernment, they have no understanding about anything and are all mixed up.) This is roughly the literal meaning, that is, not being able to know what is good for them, not knowing what is positive or what is negative and not being able to tell good from bad. Because they are young, brash and arrogant, they don’t listen to anything anyone says. ‘Anything anyone else says is wrong, what I say is right. Don’t anyone try to say anything to me, I won’t take anything in. I know I’m right. Even if I am wrong, I’ll still stick to my guns. Though I know perfectly well that I’m wrong, I’ll still persist with my opinions.’ They have this kind of disposition, of not being able to tell a four from a six. From the outside it is hard to tell whether the child is being clever or stupid; they can put forward ordered arguments. When arguing something, they know better than anyone and they understand more than anyone else, so how come they always do things in such a befuddled way? Though they know perfectly well that a certain way of doing something is right, they don’t listen, they do as they wish and do things however they want—they are willful and muddled.”

After reading God’s words, Tingting felt shamed and humiliated. She thought: All along, although I’m a child believing in God, many of my thoughts and actions were no different from that of nonbelievers. Just as God said, “They are young, brash and arrogant, and they can’t tell a four from a six.” Every time my mother pointed out my mistakes, I either retorted or opposed her with silence; each time she did something that wasn’t to my liking, though I didn’t throw a tantrum, I pulled a long face and gave a dirty look to her. In fact, I obviously didn’t change my views on pursuing, paying much attention to following the trends of the world, but instead I put all the blame on my mother. I think it was my mother who was autocratic and her thoughts were outdated and she always tried to control me. So I was unwilling to communicate with her and opened up to her. As a result, we became the most familiar strangers. In fact, although my mother always tried to control me, that was because she was afraid my heart was attracted by the world, for the evil world is full of sensual pleasures, and we young people will face too many and too great temptations. If we stop paying attention for a moment, we will be seized by Satan. Then she recalled: Each time I went shopping with my classmates, they would talk about how to eat, drink, and have fun and which two classmates fell in love. Every time after I listened to what they said, I would descend into negativity and didn’t thirst for God’s words as before. Didn’t my mother control me because she feared that I kept far away from God and that I was seized by Satan? But I was often muddled and misunderstood her intention. I was really unable to know what was good for me.

After Tingting understood this, she began to apologize to Dong Xin, “Mom, this is not your fault. I should say I’m sorry. I myself follow the trends of the world, even saying you’re outdated. I oughtn’t to put all the blame on you.”

At her words, Dong Xin gently said, “Tingting, I’m wrong, too. I shouldn’t always try to control you. Your growing in life has a process and I shouldn’t ask too much of you. I haven’t considered your feelings, nor have I expected that I brought you such hurt.”

Tingting said, a little embarrassed, “Mom, in the past I didn’t understand your heart and regarded your concern as controlling me. What’s more, I always blamed you for nagging me, ignored you and didn’t know how to get on with you. Now thinking this over, before, I really couldn’t tell a four from a six and didn’t know you doing this was good for me. Mom, I see this passage of God’s word is very good and shows us the path of how to get along. Let’s read it together.”

Dong Xin responded happily, “Okay! Read it.”

Tingting carefully read, “You must endeavor to take the initiative in changing. Put yourself aside, don’t pit yourself against them, don’t contradict them. Don’t always say to yourself, ‘I’m their child, I can do whatever I want.’ When you act from this perspective, such an attitude is inherently wrong. You must put this attitude aside, it must be changed. When you interact with your parents like you would with an ordinary brother or sister, their attitude toward you will most certainly change. … If parents don’t act high and mighty, and the children can open up to them, and treat them as intimates, could there still be the estrangement between them?” “Tell them this: ‘It’s actually very simple. You don’t always think of yourselves as my parents, and I won’t think of myself as your child. The relationship between us will be that of ordinary brothers and sisters. If something’s up with you, tell me. Don’t suppress it or hide it. I won’t laugh at you. If you see something wrong with me, you can point it out to me. Tell me what you understand, so that I can put it into practice and not walk the wrong path.’ What’s it called when two people confer in this way? It’s called speaking heart-to-heart. And what is the purpose of speaking heart-to-heart? Is it to maintain a proper relationship between parents and children? Let Me tell you, narrowly speaking, the purpose of speaking heart-to-heart is for there to be normal human communication, having an exchange of minds. That’s narrowly speaking. Broadly speaking, it is for people to understand each other’s state, learn from each other, support each other, and help one another—that’s the effect. And thus, isn’t the relationship by which people interact with each other normal? … In short, the most proper relationship between children and parents is for them to understand each other, support each other, help each other, and make up for each other’s shortcomings. If you can practice this and achieve this, the conflicts between you and your parents will surely be resolved, and there will be no longer any problems.”

Having finished reading God’s word and pondering for a moment, Tingting said, “Mom, through God’s word, I know why I couldn’t communicate with you before. I always thought since you’re my mom, I could do what I wanted. When what you said wasn’t to my liking, I would be unreasonable before you without the slightest consideration for your feelings. Sometimes I would rather tell what’s in my heart to my brothers and sisters than tell you, and always pitted myself against you, with the result that we reached an impasse. I think about when my brothers and sisters communicated to me, sometimes though their communication didn’t accord with my will, I still could accept it from God and learn a lesson. Nonetheless, with regard to you, I thought your thoughts were too outdated and you were too nagging. Even if what you communicated was right, I wouldn’t like to accept it, and I’m really that kind of a child who sticks to his guns in God’s words. Mom, through this passage of God’s word, I have found the path to practice. Afterward, I just treat you as an ordinary sister. When we have different viewpoints, I’ll no longer suppress my viewpoint in my heart. I’ll have a heart-to-heart talk with you to have an exchange of our thoughts. As a result, we two will understand each other.”

When Dong Xin heard what Tingting said, she felt very gratified. With nodding, she said, “I’ll no longer control you later on consciously. Afterward, when my opinion is different from yours, let’s seek the truth, communicate about the truth and act according to God’s words. In our family, we should let Christ and God’s words reign and shouldn’t stick to ourselves.”

Hereafter, when encountering the matters, they both practiced implementing God’s word. When Dong Xin wanted to make demands on Tingting in accordance with her own will, she would consciously come before God to pray, put herself aside and no longer acted high and mighty in her position of a mother. On the contrary, she would place her in Tingting’s place and try to understand what she thought, and gradually, she wouldn’t control Tingting with intention; when Dong Xin discussed something with her, Tingting would learn to regard her mom as a sister and respect her opinion instead of being unreasonable as before. When she had a different viewpoint, she would open up and speak heart-to-heart to let her mom know her genuine thoughts, in order that they understood each other.

Later, Tingting went shopping with her mother. When choosing the clothes, Tingting no longer held to her viewpoints as before but learned to listen to her mom’s opinion and allowed her mom to give her some advice. Once, an assistant said to Dong Xin, “Present-day young people are of character and assertive. Your daughter is already this big. When she goes shopping with you, she still can listen to your advice. It’s not easy and your daughter is really obedient.” At these words, Tingting and her mom looked at each other and smiled, and they both clearly knew it was God’s words that changed them. They tasted the sweetness in practicing in accordance with God’s word and experienced a happiness they had never felt before in their hearts.

Gradually, their relationship has changed obviously. They dispute less and speak hear-to-heart more; they worry less and smile more; besides, their hearts are closer. Through the true experience, Tingting has tasted that only by practicing according to God’s word can she truly be the apple of her mom’s eyes. She has even more experienced the feelings between her and her mom should be based on practicing God’s words. This kind of affection between them, though without the fragrance of carnations, was simple and genuine like fruits, bringing them the tang of happiness.

By Yiyi

Seeing many people around her followed the evil social trends and thus led a double life, she, like many women, was also afraid that her husband would cheat on her. So she was often suspicious of him. When they gave each other the cold shoulder due to her misunderstandings and suspicions of her husband, what power dispelled all her suspicions and saved their marriage which was on the brink of separation? Please read this article, and you’ll know the best way to solve the marriage crisis.

Feeling Anxious on the Bus

One afternoon in July, the sun, like a big furnace, was baking the earth. Yiyi was waiting for a bus. Although under her parasol, she could still feel the dazzling sunlight streamed through the parasol and shone on her. This made her mood even more irritable.

Yiyi felt oppressed because she just learnt that her friend’s husband had led a double life. She thought: My friend is young and beautiful and has a cheerful disposition, and moreover, they loved each other a lot before. How could her husband cheat on her?

At the thought that her friend sighed and groaned and became speechless after her husband cheated on her, Yiyi felt both annoyed and anxious. She was scared: Will my marriage also break up? How should I keep my love fresh and alive? If my marriage turns loveless over time, how should I deal with it?

At this time, the bus arrived. Yiyi furled her parasol, got on it and sat in a window seat. The moment the bus started, a young woman’s voice came which was heard distinctly in this quiet bus, saying, “Recently my husband always said that he was busy. He neither came home after his work, nor allowed me to go to his company to visit him. One day, I went to his company and met his mistress. Both of them acknowledged their love affair. What should I do?”

Hearing these, Yiyi got a shock. Looking up, Yiyi saw that the woman on the phone was in her thirties. Yiyi didn’t know whether it was her family or her friend answering her phone, nor did Yiyi know how the woman was told to resolve this matter. Yiyi but clearly heard this woman crying as she said the last words. Alas, who can withstand the cruel blow of her husband’s cheating on her? Yiyi, powerlessly leaning her head against the window, closed her eyes and let out a long sigh.

Evil Trends Brought Her Hidden Sadness About Her Marriage

Yiyi was a perfectionist in both marriage and love. She considered it unacceptable that the married couple cheated on each other. And she couldn’t even tolerate the spiritual infidelity. She and her husband were both Christians, and they knew that God’s righteous disposition allows no offense. But in daily life, Satan’s temptation everywhere really made Yiyi feel worried.

Also, Yiyi is inferior to her husband in appearance, which let her feel the same. Her husband is tall and gentle; though not very talkative, he is attentive and patient. In contrast, Yiyi is small and plain. When they walked together, Yiyi felt she wasn’t good-looking enough for her husband. When they went to have their wedding photos taken, the photographer didn’t praise her, but instead praised her husband for his handsome features. Yiyi had a strong sense of loss after that experience.

After they got married, their life went smoothly. Recently there were some changes in his work. Yiyi thought: Now he spends most of his time working with his female colleagues of his age, who pay attention to skin care and dress well. Will he and his female colleagues develop some affections for each other after spending a lot of time in their company? Moreover, today’s social conduct is so depraved and corrupt that extramarital love has become a new trend revered and followed by people. Will my husband be affected by such trends? Sometimes, the more Yiyi thought about these things, the more she felt as if her marriage was on the verge of collapsing.

The Family Conflict Arose From Suspicion

When Yiyi chatted with her sister recently, her sister’s words made her much more miserable. Her sister said: “In today’s society, extramarital affairs are very common. If a couple wants to have a good life, they have to turn a blind eye to this. So you shouldn’t take it to heart. It’s alright.” Her sister then gave Yiyi examples that many friends around her sister betrayed their marriage.

Faced with these facts, Yiyi fell into Satan’s temptation and snared unconsciously. So she began to be on her guard against her husband, and always tried to see whether her husband was faithful to her and whether he cared about her from his words. If he spoke in somewhat cool tones, she felt he had deliberately snubbed her; if he showed some consideration for her, she thought he did so just because of having a secret and feeling guilty. Yiyi then began to read text messages on her husband’s phone to pay close attention to the interaction between her husband and his female colleagues. Once she found any clue, she would question him thoroughly like a detective, attempting to know all the details and the background of those who made comments on her husband’s WeChat moments.

Before long, her husband helped one of his female colleagues repair her computer. However, he didn’t timely report it to Yiyi, which became the apple of discord. So they had a huge verbal fight.

“You are simply making groundless accusations. I didn’t tell you such a small trifle just because it would only make you more thin-skinned.” said her husband indignantly.

Yiyi answered him back: “You didn’t dare to tell the truth all because there’s something fishy about you. Moreover, it is out of womanly nature that I’m suspicious and jealous. That’s because I care about you. And you? You even kept a secret like this from me. How can I feel a sense of security?”

In the end, her husband slammed the door and left, while Yiyi stayed in the room in a huff and cried. Thereafter, their relationship reached an impasse, and the family cold war began.

Relying on God, They Went Through Their Marriage Crisis

There was no liveliness or happiness of times past in their home. It seemed as if the bear lovers’ smile in the picture hanging on the wall was awkward. Seeing that her husband was curling up in the corner of the sofa in low spirits, Yiyi’s heart was stung. She thought to herself: Am I really unreasonable? If I were in his shoes, perhaps I also couldn’t put up with myself. Will I be first reconciled with him? Nope, it isn’t only my fault. … But this cold war is really not what I want. She struggled and struggled in her heart, yet had no courage to put herself aside.

So, she came before God and poured out her heart to Him. She felt He had been observing her actions and that He couldn’t bear watching her being afflicted and bound by her corrupt satanic disposition. Therefore, she regretted not having come before God, or having relied on Him to solve the problems with the truth as soon as possible.

Then, Yiyi told a sister that she was in her torment. The sister patiently pointed out that Yiyi relied on her corrupt satanic disposition to suspect her husband, and that she needed to reflect on herself and put truth into practice according to God’s words to change herself as soon as possible.

Through the reminding of the sister, God enlightened Yiyi and she thought of His words: “I take pleasure in those who are not suspicious of others, and I like those who readily accept the truth; toward these two kinds of people I show great care, for in My eyes they are honest people.”

God is faithful. He does things all according to the facts and never does wrong to anyone. So He requires that we should not be suspicious of others based on our own imagination, and should become honest people. Thinking back, she reflected on herself: It was because of her own suspicion that she regarded her imaginations as facts and imposed them on her husband. This was unfair to him. In fact, her husband once explained to her why he helped his female colleague and the whole story. However, due to her cunning nature she didn’t trust him, and often made trouble out of nothing, so that their relationship reached an impasse. At that time, Yiyi understood that all their pain was caused by her corrupt disposition, and that because of her suspicion of her husband, the discord crept into their stable relationship. When thinking of these, Yiyi was somewhat steady and at peace in her heart and wasn’t fooled by Satan. Then, unconsciously, their relationship began to improve.

Later, she read these words of God: “If people have no verbal or spiritual communication, then there is no possibility of intimacy between them, and they cannot provide for each other or help one another. … Do not put on a disguise, and do not package yourself; instead, lay yourself and your heart bare for others to see. If you can lay your heart bare for others to see, and lay bare all your thoughts and plans—both positive and negative—then are you not being honest?”

Yiyi realized both of them didn’t know how to open up to each other. Her husband was introverted and not good at expressing himself. Many of his thoughts were deep inside him, and he kept them to himself. Besides, Yiyi was arrogant and capricious, and she would close the door of her heart if she was unhappy. After their marriage, though seldom raising Cain, they always repressed their emotions and didn’t have much real communication which could promote the intimacy and understanding between them. Through reading God’s words, Yiyi knew: God requires us humans to be honest people. When we lay our heart bare to others through verbal or spiritual communication, we will become intimate with each other. She believed that as long as she acted according to God’s words, their marriage could be saved.

By Opening Their Hearts, They Saved Their Marriage From the Brink of Divorce

On a quiet night, their room was snug in the warm light. Yiyi and her husband poured their hearts out to each other and shared their recent knowledge and gains. She apologized to him, and confessed that she had been suspicious of him those days. She misunderstood him and even didn’t let him explain what had happened. She thought she did all this for the sake of love. However, after coming before God and seeking the truth, she realized that it was a corrupt disposition, and an expression of self-righteousness. Then, Yiyi sincerely asked her husband to forgive her. And he also opened himself and told Yiyi that he had sulked at her for he couldn’t accept her suspicions and misunderstandings of him. But when thinking of God’s requirements that people should learn to be tolerant and patient and to understand others, he did not sulk anymore.

When hearing these, Yiyi felt ashamed that they both had lived in misery and fallen into Satan’s scheme because of her corrupt disposition. Her husband then said he, when facing evil social trends at work, kept away from temptation through praying for God to protect him. Hearing these words, Yiyi smiled involuntarily and kept thanking God within. It was the truth expressed by God that watered and supplied them. And it was God who led them step by step and watched them grow. And He helped them know how to live and conduct themselves, so they didn’t follow the evil trends.

God’s words say, “Whenever Satan corrupts man or inflicts unbridled harm upon man, God does not stand idly by, and neither does He brush aside or turn a blind eye to those He has chosen. God understands with perfect clarity all that Satan does. No matter what Satan does, no matter what trend it causes to arise, God knows all that Satan is trying to do, and God does not give up on those He has chosen. Instead, without attracting any attention—secretly, silently—God does everything that is necessary.”

Contemplating God’s words and integrating her recent experiences with them, Yiyi felt more of God’s love. They lived in this evil society, but because of God’s protection, she and her husband could be faithful to each other, and didn’t get divorced when their marriage was on the rocks, but instead reflected upon themselves according to God’s words and found the way to save their marriage. It was because of God’s grace and protection that they saved their relationships and marriage. After pouring their hearts out to each other, Yiyi and her husband offered a prayer of thanksgiving to God together.

By Xiaowu

“He that despises his neighbor sins: but he that has mercy on the poor, happy is he” (Proverbs 14:21).

To get along with others, apart from being tolerant and patient, what’s even more important is to understand: “And be you kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake has forgiven you” (Ephesians 4:32). It is because we are all sinners without the distinction of high and low. To live out the image of the Lord is the common objective of our pursuit.

In the Past, I Was Such a Person

My next-door neighbor raised over 10,000 quails in his yard. Every time he sold the quails’ droppings, he could earn over 1000 yuan. His yard was somewhat narrow while there were many quails’ droppings. In order not to lose money, he came to my home to borrow my land. He said that he would only occupy the place as wide as a floor slab behind my house, so I granted his request.

My husband and I went to another place to work for a while. When we came back, I was dumbfounded: My neighbor actually not only occupied the place as wide as two floor slabs but also built a small alleyway by bricks in the lane we shared together, covering the roof with fibrotiles and fixing a door, with the aim of stacking straws. Seeing all of these, I was really disturbed in my heart, feeling injured and resentful. Furthermore, I was dying to demolish the small alleyway at once and then argue with him. When I nearly lost my sense, God enlightened me: You are a believer in God. You should first quiet yourself to pray.

However, not long after, my neighbor thought of another road to prosperity: He didn’t grow rice but engaged in sideline production (planting pear trees) in the fields. After a period of time, when I went into the fields, I was immediately dumbfounded again: My neighbor had dug a deep ditch, lying close to my field, which was like the tunnel dug by guerrilla forces. The ditch being so deep, if it rained heavily, my field would collapse. I really felt bad within my heart. But, thinking that I was a believer in God and that I should love my neighbor as myself even if he was my enemy, I endured it. Yet, the thing didn’t end at that.

My neighbor was going to drive cement piles into the ground of his pear orchard. And he again came to my home, telling us his intention to drive cement piles along the ridges in our field. On hearing that, I sort of couldn’t submit to this environment, and replied: “If the cement piles are driven along the ridges, it will make the field impassible. And how can I go to spray pesticide?” But he smiled and said: “Will you not have a road if you vacate a twelve-inch-wide place alongside the ridges?” Hearing what he said, I was angry and resigned, thinking: You are too crafty. If I do that, won’t my field area be reduced? And it means that I will lose over one hundred catties of grain every year. Thinking this way, I just couldn’t accede to his request. And since I didn’t agree, he couldn’t do it forcibly.

However, after that, I was so agitated and felt tortured inside. I thought to myself: The son of my neighbor has leukemia. My neighbor has spent all his savings treating his son and moreover he also runs into the external debts of several hundreds of thousands of yuan. It is understandable that he only thinks of earning money but doesn’t take my interests into consideration. But if I agree to his request, will he become insatiable later because of thinking that we are easy to be taken advantage of? How, exactly, should I practice?

Under the Guidance of God’s Love, I Was Changing

God’s words say: “Cruel mankind! The connivance and intrigue, the snatching and grabbing one from another, the scramble for fame and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end?”

“God is forever supreme and ever honorable, while man is forever base, forever worthless. This is because God is forever making sacrifices and devoting Himself to mankind; man, however, forever takes and strives only for himself. God is forever taking pains for mankind’s survival, yet man never contributes anything for the sake of the light or for righteousness. Even if man makes an effort for a time, it is so weak that it cannot withstand a single blow, for the effort of man is always for his own sake and not for others. Man is always selfish, while God is forever selfless. God is the source of all that is just, good, and beautiful, while man is he who succeeds to and makes manifest all ugliness and evil.” Because I lost some personal interests, I hated my neighbor and even wanted to demolish the small alleyway built by him. Reflecting upon myself, I was bridled by Satan’s poisons “Fight for every inch of territory and wrest every ounce of gain,” and “Nice guys finish last,” which made me lose my conscience and reason. Suddenly, I remembered my father-in-law who had passed away. He was once at loggerheads with his neighbor for some of his personal interests suffered; their relations became strained to a certain extent, and in the end my father-in-law didn’t even say one word to his neighbor straight up to his death. In fact, I could see it was very painful for my father-in-law. Didn’t I almost walk the path of my father-in-law today? When encountering things, I just wanted to protect my own interests and treated others depending on my hot blood. These are not displays of normal humanity. God’s essence is beautiful and good. In order to save us, God became flesh and was subjected to great suffering, and He finally redeemed us through being nailed to the cross. God is always devoting Himself to us mankind selflessly. God’s love is so great and so real. I thought: As a follower of God, I should manifest God and glorify Him; I should understand and accept His love but not force myself to be tolerant and patient, for only when I know God’s love, can I truly put the love of others into practice.

I read another passage of God’s words: “When you rebel against the flesh, there will inevitably be a battle within you. Satan will try and make people follow it, will try and make them follow the notions of the flesh and uphold the interests of the flesh—but God’s words will enlighten and illuminate people within, and at this time it is up to you whether you follow God or follow Satan.” This time, I didn’t want to live by Satan’s poisons to make a fuss and contend with others. Instead, I wanted to practice according to God’s words, learning to let go of this thing, putting a little more understanding, consideration and love into my interactions with my neighbor; in this way, I could get along with my neighbor harmoniously. If I still lived by my selfish nature in real life, just protected my own interests but didn’t practice according to God’s words when facing things, then I was still a person who only spoke doctrines but was incapable of living out the truth. Living by Satan’s poisons, I had no normal humanity and no change in my disposition, and lived in suffering. This time, I was resolved to reject Satan and practice God’s words to satisfy Him, no longer being a person who only talked about doctrines but didn’t practice truth.

Thanks to God’s Love, We Today Live in Harmony

Having thoroughly put down the hatred for my neighbor, I readily agreed to his request that he drive cement piles along the ridges and I promised that we would vacate a twelve-inch-wide place to be the road. Seeing I granted his request, my neighbor grinned from ear to ear. I was also very gratified to see his happy smile.

Once, there was a break in the circuit in my house. After knowing that, my neighbor came to my home and helped me find the cause of that. But because he didn’t know the electricity very well, he helped me call an electrician. After checking, the electrician found that the reason was that our electric shock protection didn’t work and needed to be replaced. Hearing that I was to buy a new one, my neighbor hurriedly said: “Don’t buy it first. I may have one at my home. Just let me go to get it.” Afterward, my neighbor came and gave his electric shock protection to me. When I was to pay for it, yet he said: “You have helped me a lot. What is this small thing I did for you?”

“He that has my commandments, and keeps them, he it is that loves me: and he that loves me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him” (John 14:21).

By He Xin

What Caused My Mild Anxiety?

In one evening, the breeze gently blew to the face, and made people feel cozy. Around a sparkling lake with several geese singing, there were many flowers among the grasses, and occasionally a few butterflies would gently touch the blooming flowers. Tourists around were all praising the beautiful scenery incessantly.

But at this moment, Nair had no heart to appreciate the scenery. While she was in her reminiscence, someone tapped hard on her shoulder, and she was suddenly brought back to reality. She turned around and saw her long-lost friend Yuan Li. Nair hurriedly wiped away her tears, afraid her friend would see them, but how could Yuan Li not notice Nair’s obvious behavior? But Yuan Li asked nothing. After greetings, she said: “How about going to the gazebo and taking a rest there?” Nair nodded. Yuan Li happily told Nair all the things that happened to her, but Nair only smiled slightly while listening to her stories. Afterward, Nair’s smile disappeared. Yuan Li followed her gaze and saw someone in royal blue admiring the scenery at the opposite. Yuan Li touched Nair’s arm and asked: “What is going on Nair? Who is she? Were you sad because of her just now on the bridge?” Nair at first did not want to open her heart, but Yuan Li was being so sincere, Nair told her that girl was her table-mate Mary, who was a transferred student. Before she came to Nair’s class, Nair was always the best in class, excelling in almost every category, and teachers and classmates all liked her. No matter where she went, everyone would look at her in admiration and with envy. She felt like a princess with a bright future lying ahead.

But (Nair’s started to look a bit down), Mary broke it all on her arrival. Mary’s studies, backgrounds and other aspects were all better than Nair, and teachers and classmates instead started to like Mary more. Nair felt uncomfortable and miserable because of envy, she thought that everyone no longer liked her because of Mary. Nair worked hard wanting to surpass Mary, but she was always the loser. Gradually, her envy grew and made her dislike Mary, even hate her, and wish not to see her at any time. Envy tortured Nair to be physically and mentally exhausted, she often wondered why God gave the best to Mary, but not to her. As a Christian, Nair knew she should not complain about God, should not be jealous of others, but she couldn’t put it into practice. From the day she became envious of Mary, Nair lost her smile and lived painfully, having no idea of what to do. Speaking of that, Nair was already crying sadly. Yuan Li patted on her back to comfort her.

Beautiful Smile Bloomed for the First Time

Later, Yuan Li said: “Nair, I can feel your pain, but as Christians, we all know that what God creates is good. We need to learn how to properly treat others and ourselves, and should not complain about God and envious of others. God said: ‘The functions are not the same. There is one body. Each does his duty, each in his place and doing his very best—for each spark there is one flash of light—and seeking maturity in life. Thus will I be satisfied.’ ‘Why does God orchestrate all these things? It is not to reveal you for who you are or to expose you; exposing you is not the end goal. The goal is to perfect you and save you. How does God do that? He starts by making you aware of your own corrupt disposition, of your nature and essence, of your shortcomings, and of what you lack. Only by knowing these things and having a clear understanding of them can you pursue the truth and gradually cast off your corrupt disposition. … God works in every single person, and no matter what His method is, what kind of people, matters, and things He makes use of in His service, or what kind of tone His words have, He only has one end goal: saving you. Before saving you, He needs to transform you, so how could you not suffer a bit? You are going to have to suffer. This suffering can involve many things. Sometimes God raises up the people, matters, and things around you so that you can come to know yourself, or else you might be directly dealt with, pruned, and exposed. Just like someone on an operating table—you have to undergo some pain for a good outcome. If every time you are pruned and dealt with, and every time He raises up people, matters, and things, it arouses your feelings and gives you a boost, then this is correct, and you will have stature and will enter truth reality.’

Nair, we are all created by God and given different talents, everyone has their own functions and missions. We need to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and do what we should do. You’re placed in this situation to experience, this contains God’s good will. God arranged people who are better than us around us, first to give us space to grow so that we can learn from others’ strengths to remedy our weaknesses, second to reveal our corrupt disposition: We’re envious of others’ strengths, this behavior shows our lack of normal humanity. When we are struggling in pain, we’ll realize that Satan has corrupted us so deeply; this is a good opportunity for us to know ourselves and get rid of our corrupt disposition. Nair, let’s pray more often to God. I believe God will lead us in our experiences, let us understand the truth and overcome our envy. Actually, God has also given us many things, we should learn to be content.”

After hearing what Yuan Li said, Nair was left in deep thoughts: “It is true that God has given me a lot, though I’m not so excellent as Mary, I still understand somewhat of the situation. God created me and my existence has value and meaning. Just like what Yuan Li said, I should not be too ambitious and need to learn to be content.” With that in mind, Nair smiled again and said happily to Yuan Li: “Thank you so much Yuan Li. Now I know God’s creation of me is meaningful, the situation arranged by God today is to save me, I should not escape but should face it. Every time when I’m envious, I should pray more to God, and not let envy take over me.”

With the sun setting, the sky started to get darker. They bid farewell and agreed to meet at Yuan Li’s house next Friday. After the gathering, Nair walked home cheerfully. There were few people on her way back and the cold wind was even blowing, but Nair did not feel cold at all because her heart was warm. She found a way to walk out of the misery and her envy of others!

Trace of Anxiety Still Remains in Heart

The next day, Nair woke up early. She came before God and prayed to God sincerely. Afterward, Nair crooned her way to school. Her classmates were surprised to see her smile, Nair smiled at them and did not say a word. A while later, Mary came into the classroom, some classmates ran to her and asked her to help them with some math questions. Nair’s quiet heart became disturbed and she became envious again. Nair realized she was wrong and quickly prayed to God silently, wishing God could protect her heart and thoughts. After praying, Nair felt her heart calmed down. A moment later, the teacher came in and greeted Mary warmly but gave Nair an impatient look. Nair felt upset, she prayed silently to let God quiet her heart. In class, when the teacher asked questions, Mary answered them actively, but Nair could not quite understand them. During the art and craft lesson, Mary made nice crafts but Nair’s was horrible. Classmates were looking at Nair with a puzzled look, which made Nair feel more awkward.

Finally, a day of lessons was over and Nair quickly ran back home. At home, Nair could not hold her tears anymore and cried out. Nair was clueless: Why couldn’t she break free from envy after having tried so hard to pray to and rely on God? Nair said in her prayer: “God, envy always happens to me, and I do not know how to practice. O God, what can I do? Why am I firmly gripped by envy? How can I break free from the bondage of envy? O God….’’

Nair hoped the next Friday would come faster, she expected Yuan Li to fellowship with her.

Inner Shackles Finally Released

At last, Friday came. After school, Nair rushed to Yuan Li’s house. Yuan Li saw Nair was very upset, she asked puzzledly: “Nair, what happened?” Nair cried and ranted to her. Yuan Li asked: “Nair, why are you jealous of Mary?” Nair thought and said: “Because she took over my spotlight and is better than me in everything.” Yuan Li then said: “Nair, have you ever thought why do you compete with others? Is it necessary? Let me read you a passage of God’s words.”

Nair nodded, Yuan Li read: “When you see someone stand out, you feel jealous, hatred, and that it is unfair. ‘Why can’t I stand out? Why is it always that person who gets to stand out, and it’s never my turn?’ You then feel some resentment. You try to repress it, but you cannot. You pray to God and feel better for a while, but then as soon as you encounter this sort of situation again, you cannot overcome it. Does this not display an immature stature? Is not a person’s falling into such states a trap? These are the shackles of Satan’s corrupt nature that bind humans. If a person has cast off these corrupt dispositions, is he not then free and liberated? Consider this: What sorts of changes must a person make if he wants to refrain from becoming ensnared in these conditions, be able to extricate himself from them, and become liberated from the vexations and bondage of these things? What must a person obtain before he is truly able to be free and liberated? On the one hand, he must see through things: Fame and fortune and positions are but tools and methods that Satan uses to corrupt people, to entrap them, to harm them, and to cause their depravity. In theory, you must first gain a clear understanding of this. Furthermore, you must learn to let go of these things and set them aside. … If you are always focusing on these things, always struggling for these things, if your heart is fully occupied with these things, if you always harbor them and never want to put them aside, then you are being controlled by and bound by these things. You have become a slave, and you cannot give them up. You must learn to let go and set aside these things, to recommend others, and to allow them to stand out. Do not struggle or rush to take advantage the moment you encounter an opportunity to stand out or obtain glory. You must learn to back off, but must not delay the performing of your duty. Be a person who works in quiet obscurity, and who does not show off to others while you loyally perform your duty. The more you let go your prestige and status, and the more you let go of your own interests, the more peaceful you will become, and the more space will open up within your heart and the more your state will improve. The more you struggle and compete, the darker your state will be. If you do not believe it, try it and see!”

Afterward, Yuan Li said: “From God’s words we can see that we would be envious of others because we are not satisfied with our position and fame, having lost our chance to stand out or obtain honor. This is also Satan using fame and position as a method to torture us. If we lived in this kind of situation, we would only feel more and more tired and painful. Now the only thing we can do is to practice in a way that God wants us to. Do things before God rather than before people, accept God’s examination, and don’t focus on how others see us.”

Nair nodded and spoke reflectively: “You’re right, I always focus on how others see me and is envious that Mary has taken my spotlight and is better than me in everything. I want to leave others a good impression, wishing everyone to listen to me, pay attention to me and pamper me. Isn’t it like how the archangel fought with God for position? Now I’ve understood that I need to accept God’s examinations in doing things and conducting myself, living before God, and then I can live free.”

Yuan Li nodded and said: “Absolutely, we do need to deal with envy. I remember it’s fellowshipped in the Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life: ‘People filling with too deep envy are narrow-minded and too wicked in nature! They will not attain salvation.’ ‘Being envious of people who are better than them and apt to envy is rather common among young people. As for those who are forty to sixty years old, they usually do not harbor bitter envy of others. We should admire and advocate those capable ones who are better than us, and learn from them. It’s no big deal, isn’t it? The younger the people, the stronger their envy and competitiveness are. Therefore, the young people having severe envy should restrain it. What will be the likely result of feeling envy? (Discrimination, suppression, and judgement of others.) For people with good humanity and kind heart, if they were unhappy with others, they will only hate them awhile; if you judge others, exclude and depreciate them because of envy, then you’re attacking them, and aggression out of envy is evildoing. … So would serious envy ruin your life? You must learn to be generous and tolerant, not fighting for power and position, as they are vanity.’ From the fellowship, we’ve understood the importance of getting rid of envy, which will ruin us, will make us complain and misunderstand God, and lose the guidance and the work of the Holy Spirit. We could even be rejected by God. So, we must put God’s words into practice and live before God, not letting envy control us again.

Nair, I actually experienced this kind of bad situation before. I was envious of my classmates, lived in pain and complaints, and had no idea of what to do. So I came before God and told Him my difficulties. Afterward, I was able to understand with my cousin’s help. The book “Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life” has two passages which I found helpful, and they helped me to overcome envy. Nair, would you like to read them as well?”

Nair nodded, received the book and read: “Some people said: ‘Sometimes we cannot overcome the situation. When we see people who’re better than us, we will become envious and angry. Even on seeing them, we feel like it’s no way to live. What should we do facing these problems?’ How about praying to God to curse yourselves? How to pray? You say: ‘I cannot stand people doing better than me. I’m such a bad person! These types of people don’t deserve to live. I’m envious of people who are better than me, how evil my heart is! This is not normal humanity. May God discipline and deal with me.’ Afterward, pray again: ‘God, please save me from being narrow-minded, let me become more generous and forgiving and live with normal humanity, so as to not humiliate You.’ Just pray like this. Pray for a period of time and you will probably realize you have become more and more generous. When you face people who are better than you, you will not feel as envious as before, you will be more tolerant, able to get along with them and be normal again. We’ll be blessed and live abundantly when we have normal humanity; we’ll be in pain and exhaustion if we are too narrow-minded. No matter what kind of corrupt disposition, problems, or deficiencies we have, we must pray. On one hand, we need to seek the truth, using truth to treat everything. On the other hand, we need to pray and call upon God for salvation. Once we pray, our attitude would change, we would be more sensible. It won’t do without praying.” “Do you think if it’s possible to change envy into admiration? You just try to think wisely: ‘Isn’t it a good thing that some people are better than us? We can learn from their strength, we can ask them our doubts and learn from them, isn’t this another path for us!’”

Then, Yuan Li said: “At that time, I understood that in order to get rid of envy, I first need to pray to God with a heart of searching the truth, telling Him my difficulties and entrusting them into His hands instead of requiring Him, and second, I needed to search the truth of this aspect, treating people and things around me with the truth. In this way, my envy could become weaker and weaker and I would not live in such deep exhaustion. Furthermore, with someone better out there, I would have a role model, who can clear my doubts, and I could gain a lot from the process.

After knowing all those points, I started to practice. When I was envious of my classmate, I would pray to God sincerely, entrust my difficulties to God, and find related truths when I came back home. I began to observe her strengths and learn from her. Unknowingly, I gained a lot of qualities which I lacked. For example, having patience and love, being helpful, and etc. When I was willing to learn from her strengths instead of having envy of her, I felt released and free, living no more in pain and exhaustion, and our relationship was getting better.”

Nair listened and said: “Thank God! After reading all those words and listening to your experiences, I know how to practice now. Someone better than me around can act as an encouragement to me, and I should learn to accept the fact, treat properly everything and everyone, including my classmate Mary, and pursue transformation in my corrupt dispositions. Recalling the ancient Zhou Yu, he always competed with Zhuge Liang, but was always defeated. He was not willing to lose to Zhuge Liang again and again, and sighed out of envy: ‘Since Yu was born, why was Liang ever born?’ Zhou Yu was tortured to death because of his envy and jealousy. I see that envy will only ruin us and will not bring us any happiness at all. God has given us different qualities and we have different functions to perform. I should obey God, treat others and myself with correct attitude, this is something required for normal humanity.” Yuan Li and Nair both smiled in joy.

So Relived Without Envy

Soon it was Monday again, Nair carried her backpack and went to school delightfully. Mary came as Nair just got to her seat. Nair greeted Mary happily, Mary was kind of surprised, but she still greeted back. Later, classmates arrived one after another, all greeted Mary. Nair started to feel a little upset, but she quickly came before God to pray and quiet her heart. During lessons, Mary was able to answer a question from the teacher while Nair was still in doubt. Classmates all looked at Mary with envy in their eyes. Nair felt kind of bad, but she thought again: Since Mary knows, I should ask her, this is something I should do. Afterward, Nair took the courage to ask Mary, and Mary was very happy to help her. Nair realized when she put down her envy, her heart was very steady, she didn’t have that kind of feeling before. Since then, Nair asked Mary whenever she was in doubt and felt she gained so much, feeling happy from her heart. They also became from classmates to best friends.

On Saturday, Nair alone went to the white stone-arch bridge, looking at the same sparkling lake and those geese. But now she felt released and peaceful, because she had broken free from envy.

From the time when she was willing to put down her envy and started to learn from Mary, Nair found that she had learned how to be more patient, tolerant, and helpful during the process. Furthermore, she knew how to quiet herself before God. These are all things Nair never experienced before. She opened her arms, feeling completely released and sighed with emotion: Now I see that I can live so happily as well!

By An Qi

My name is An Qi. Before the age of six, I was living at my grandmother’s house. At the time, my grandmother was the person with whom I felt closest to. Each day when I went to the kindergarten, my grandmother decided which clothes I would wear and how I would comb my hair. I felt that my grandmother did these things the best. Gradually, I grew up and I started to disapprove of some of the things that my grandmother did. My grandmother also started to disapprove of me as well. Each time I went to her house, she would scold me. If she wasn’t nagging me on one thing, she would be nagging me about something else. I felt very upset.

In 2016, it became very popular to wear a necklace around one’s collarbone. I had also bought one of these necklaces. One day, after school, I went happily to my grandmother’s home. When I got there, she squinted at me and disapprovingly said, “Look at what kind of gadget you have around your neck. It’s like a dog collar. Do you feel comfortable with it so tight around your neck?” Originally, I was feeling quite happy but after hearing her say this, I was no longer happy at all. I disgruntledly replied, “You’re so old. What do you understand? This is called fashion. Even if I explained it, you would not understand!” For this reason, I was still moody in the evening.

The next day, I told my grandmother, “Grandma, you haven’t combed my hair in a long time. Can you comb it?” When she heard me say this, she happily combed my hair for me. After she finished combing my hair I took a look: My goodness! My hair was bunched up so tightly that it was lifting my eyes up. On top of that, she moistened my hair with water, so it started to look greasy.” I could not help but yell, “What did you do? Who combs their hair like this now? It’s hideous! Look how when you comb it with water, it looks like a cow licked my hair.” My grandmother said, “This doesn’t look great? A young girl looks good when her hair is combed neatly and elegantly! In the past, you used to be happy with the way I combed your hair. Now, you just seem to have your own notions about what is fashionable!” When I heard my grandmother say this, I became even more angry. I thought: “How can you keep up with the times if you look at things with your old eyes? In the past, you did not even have a cell phone, but now you can use one. Can your past compare to the present time?” I left my grandmother’s house in a fit of fury.

From then on, I did not like going to my grandmother’s house because each time I went, she would find something to nag about. One time, I wore baggy jeans when I went to my grandmother’s house. When she saw me, she said, “Look at those pants. They are so baggy. And you rolled up your pant legs. You look like a little hoodlum!” Another time, I put on beggar pants and went to my grandmother’s house. When she saw that my pants were a little dirty, she washed them for me. The result was that the next day I put on those pants, I saw that the hole in the pants was missing. Puzzled, I asked, “What happened to the hole in these pants?” My grandmother unhappily grumbled, “I sewed it up! There was a hole in your own pants, but you did not even know to give it to your mother to sew. How can you wear worn out pants so enthusiastically?” At that time, I was furious and I angrily told my grandmother, “These pants were originally like this. When I bought them, there was already a hole. They are called ‘beggar pants’!” My grandmother said, “Do you think it is easy for your mother to make money? How can you spend money on worn out pants? You have money yet you do not know what you should spend it on. If it’s not your entire ankle then it’s your entire knee….” Afterward, she started to rant a lot. Before she could finish, in a huff, I said, “Are you finished yet? Whenever I come over to your house, you will nag me. Perhaps I won’t come over from now on. Look at some of the people on TV. Aren’t they wearing the same thing? You really should change your old-fashioned view, otherwise I won’t have anything to talk to you about!” When my grandmother heard this, she was angry. She mumbled to herself, “You only know how to give me a nasty look.”

When I returned home, I told my mother, “From now on, I will no longer go to my grandmother’s house!” My mother asked, “Why? Didn’t you use to like going to your grandmother’s house?” I told my mother what happened at my grandmother’s house. My mother said, “You’re so picky. Now, you start ignoring your grandmother. When you were twelve years old, you started attending gatherings and reading God’s word. You have already believed in God for a few years. You must view this situation in accordance with God’s words. Do not always look down on your grandmother.” I did not say anything, yet, in my mind, I thought, “You two are the same. Your thoughts are outdated!”

Afterward, I opened up God’s words and read what God said: “What aspect of disposition does the manifestation of ‘the brashness and arrogance of youth’ refer to? Why do I say those of about 16 or 17 and those in their twenties are young, brash and arrogant? Why do I use these words to describe the young people in this age group? It’s not because I am prejudiced toward those in this age group, or that I look down upon them. It’s because the people in this age group have a certain kind of disposition within them. Because the people in this age group are inexperienced in the matters of the world and have little understanding of the affairs of human life, when they just begin to come into contact with the affairs of the world and of human life, they think, ‘I understand. I understand thoroughly. I know it all! I can understand what adults talk about and I can keep up with all the fashionable things in society. Now mobile phones are developing quickly, with functions that are so complicated—I know how to use it all! You bunch of old women don’t understand anything. You even can’t turn on the TV, and if you do manage to turn it on, you can’t switch it off again.’ There are some young people, when their grandmothers speak to them and say: ‘Do this for granny,’ who reply: ‘Humph, you can’t even do this. Old people really are useless!’ What kind of way is that to talk? Don’t forget, you will also grow old one day. Can being able to do some things like this be considered a skill? Can it be considered an ability? People may say no, but when they encounter some issue, they will express this kind of disposition. What is this? This is what is meant by ‘the young are brash and arrogant.’ This is what people express” (“Believers Must Begin by Seeing Through the World’s Evil Trends” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After I finished reading God’s words, I thought: Aren’t these words of God describing me? This is exactly how I am. I always ignore my grandmother and think that she is stupid. She gets me to help her do many things. When she can’t find a number on her phone, she needs me to help her find it. When she puts her phone on silent, she makes a big fuss and gets me to check whether her phone is broken or not. I remember one instance that made me even more embarrassed. I wanted to connect to the neighbor’s WiFi but I did not know the password. I asked my grandmother to go and ask. In the end, she asked the neighbor, “What is the password for your take-out[a]?” When my grandmother came back, I scolded her. Also, my grandmother has no clue about society’s popular trends and as a result, I view her as foolish. … In fact, this is the manifestation of the brashness and arrogance of youth! If I did not read God’s words, I would still believe that what I was doing was correct and that my grandmother’s thoughts were too outdated and that she was unable to keep up with the times. Today, I believe in God. I cannot be as arrogant and unruly as I was in the past. I must change! Thereupon, I prayed to God, “God. I always look down on my grandmother and think that she is foolish. When she nags me, I become angry. I always feel that my grandmother is unable to understand my thoughts. God, I do not want to be like this. However, I really cannot rely on myself to change. God, please help me!”

Afterward, there was another time when I went to my grandmother’s house and since there was nobody there to play with me, I played with my cell phone. However, the battery level of my smart phone was very low and after a while, it ran out of power. As a result, when I wasn’t playing with my cell phone, I would charge its batteries. Who would have thought that after charging my cell phone for only ten minutes that my grandmother pulled the plug. At first, I believed that perhaps my grandmother thought the cell phone was already fully charged. I did not say anything and I simply plugged it back in. The result was that my grandmother pulled the plug once more. This happened two or three times. Finally, I became impatient and angrily told my grandmother, “My cell phone hasn’t finished charging. Why do you keep unplugging it?” My grandmother grumbled, “I know that it hasn’t finished charging. How much electricity do you need to waste in order to fully charge it? What’s more, why do you always have to charge your cell phone? My cell phone can last an entire week on a full charge!” After I heard my grandmother say this, I could not help but shout at her, “Your cell phone is for old people and it is completely outdated! Mine is a smart phone. Can you even compare your cell phone to mine? My cell phone does not require a lot of electricity to charge. What’s more, your living expenses are paid by my mother, so I am not wasting your money! You are so miserly!” After my grandmother heard me tell her off, she unhappily said, “You truly are an ungrateful brat! How dare you talk back to me! When you were little, I carried you and held you. Have you forgotten?” After she finished saying this, my grandmother left in an angry rage. After my grandmother left, I felt a little unwell. Meanwhile, I became very depressed: I did not want to yell at you, but why do you always try to make me conform to your generation’s rules? You are so outdated!

After I went home, I told my mother about this situation. My mother said, “You must not always rant at your grandmother. She is very old and you should speak to her nicely. Moreover, you are a Christian. You must not be so arrogant that you lose your sense. You can only honor God by living out a normal humanity!” My mother spoke at the same time as she opened up God’s words, “Take a look at what God has said about it!”

I took the book of God’s words and started reading what God said, “When some young people are talking, they keep rolling their eyes, they hold everyone in contempt, and everything they say is filled with a note of disdain. If you have a word with them but it’s not to their liking, they will just ignore you. It is rather hard to be a parent nowadays and very hard to get to know the mentality of young people. If they say one wrong word, their child will throw a tantrum and storm off, and it is very difficult for them to communicate with adults. This is to say that there are problems with the thinking of many young people today. Is this situation not created by evil trends and this evil society? The things of people’s normal humanity are becoming fewer and fewer” (“Believers Must Begin by Seeing Through the World’s Evil Trends” in Records of Christ’s Talks). After I finished reading God’s words, it was very difficult for me to bear. I felt like I was receiving chastisement. God’s words were referring to me. This was the way I interacted with my grandmother. When she said that I was wrong, I would throw a tantrum. When she did something that was not to my liking, if I did not rant at her, I would embarrass her. My temper is quite bad. I thought about how my grandmother loved me all along. When there was something good to eat, she was not willing to eat it. She would wait for me and let me have it. However, if I was not hostile toward her about this, I would be hostile toward her about that. If we switched positions and I was the grandmother and my granddaughter treated me like this, I would feel very awful! The more I thought about this, the more I felt regret. At this time, my mother said to me, “People nowadays follow the trends of the world. They seek material enjoyment. They seek whatever is popular in society. The trends of society are not the truth and they are not positive things. If we become influenced and manipulated by the trends of society, our life perspectives and the way we see things will become seriously distorted. It would be in complete violation of God’s words, the truth and normal humanity. This would cause God to loathe us. However, we believe that we are following precisely with society’s trends and that we are standing in the forefront of our age. It is as if we understand everything. We know everything and there is nothing that can stop us. We believe that we ourselves are very capable. Gradually, our dispositions become more and more arrogant, conceited and condescending. We look down upon everyone and nobody dares to provoke us. These are the consequences which result when people nowadays are secretly influenced by societal trends.” After my mother said this, I could see that my own manifestations were exactly the same as that which God’s words revealed. Just as God said, “The things of normal humanity are becoming fewer and fewer.” I felt it extremely difficult to bear. I started hating myself: How could I be so wretched? My grandmother was correct when she said that I was an ungrateful little brat! When I thought back to how I talked to my own grandmother, I started to wonder whether it made her very sad. I really am corrupt and ignorant! Consequently, I prayed to God, “God, I feel really awful about getting angry at my grandmother this time. I no longer want to be this kind of a child. I must change my arrogant disposition, live out a normal humanity and be a well-behaved and sensible child. God, please guide me!”

During that time, I frequently prayed about this situation. When I went to my grandmother’s house, I would pay particular attention to putting this aspect into practice. At times when my grandmother talked with me in a wordy way and made me feel bothered, I prayed to God in my heart. After I finished praying, I did not feel as angry. There was one time when I was getting ready to go out with my grandmother. My grandmother was searching through her wardrobe but could not find anything she likes to wear. She asked me, “What should I wear?” I wanted to say: You’re so old that it doesn’t matter what you wear! Right as I was about to blurt it out, I became aware that this was wrong and that I was revealing an arrogant disposition. At that moment, I recalled God’s words regarding “the brashness and arrogance of youth.” As a result, I said, “Actually, these clothes look quite good. However, today’s weather is quite hot. Perhaps you shouldn’t wear too much. Wear this, it is thinner.” From then on, each time I wanted to throw a tantrum in front of my grandmother, I would recall God’s words of revealing and judgment. Consequently, I consciously forsook the flesh and put the truth into practice. When I started to put the truth into practice in this manner, I felt very relaxed. I was no longer felt as stifled as I did in the past when I was angry at my grandmother. In the past, because of some small matter, I would get angry at my grandmother. I seldom got the opportunity to return to her house, but when I was back, both of us were unhappy because of my anger. Especially when I reflected on my grandmother’s helpless eyes each time I finished ranting, I felt a lot of grief. I saw that I was so arrogant that I no longer had humanity. From now on, I must no longer be so incredibly arrogant. I must live in accordance with God’s words. I must live out a normal humanity and please other people and God!

Afterward, as long as I was together with my grandmother, my heart would not dare leave God because I knew that if I relied on myself, I would not be able to conquer my corrupt disposition. There was one time when my grandmother came over to my place to visit. During lunchtime when we were cooking, she added too much rice. The three of us basically could not eat so much rice. I thought: You’ve cooked for so many years. You do not know how much rice to put in? Just as I was about to give my grandmother an earful, suddenly, I thought of God’s words: “Don’t forget, you will also grow old one day. Can being able to do some things like this be considered a skill? Can it be considered an ability?” (“Believers Must Begin by Seeing Through the World’s Evil Trends” in Records of Christ’s Talks). At this moment, I knew that my arrogant nature was a recurring disease. In my heart, I said to God, “God, once again I want to throw a tantrum and scold my grandmother. I know that this is my arrogant nature flaring up and that it is wrong. This is not Your intention. Please, help me let go of my arrogance and live out a normal humanity!” After I finished praying, my heart quieted down and I half-jokingly said to my grandmother, “You put too much rice. With so much rice in this pot, I do not know how much water needs to be added. If I add too much water, then we will just have congee.” When my grandmother heard me say this, she started to laugh. She praised me saying that I had changed a lot. Not only did I know how to do housework, my temper was no longer as foul as it used to be in the past. She said that I had now grown up and become sensible. I know that now, I no longer say things in accordance with an arrogant disposition. I am a little more wise and a little more sensible. This is all due to God’s words changing me. If I had to rely on myself, I would never have changed.

Afterward, I would frequently get my grandmother to tell me stories about her past. Gradually, I began to understand that my grandmother’s life habits in the present were related to her life in the past. If I were born during my grandmother’s time, I would have been the same as her. When I thought from my grandmother’s perspective, I began to understand her. When I changed the way I viewed things, let go of my own arrogance and started to treat my grandmother appropriately, the generation gap between my grandmother and me disappeared bit by bit. Now, I no longer say that my grandmother is outdated. On the contrary, I can learn a few positive things from my grandmother that I do not possess. I am thankful to God for changing me. May all the honor be to God!

By Li Fan

My father favors boys over girls. Ever since my birth, he began to detest my mother just because I am a girl. As far as I could remember, he often fought and quarreled with my mother. At that time, I thought, “We are girls. So what? Girls can also be the master of a family.” At that moment, I made a resolution in my heart, “After I grow up and get married, I will have my husband obey me. I will never have him bullying me as my father treats my mother. I can’t live being cowardly.” With this will, I often helped my mother with her work when I was at home, not allowing my father to belittle me. As I got older, I came to be the main breadwinner of my family, and was capable in both the housework and the farm work. Through my efforts, I won my father’s praise and no longer did my father complain that a daughter was inferior to a son.

After I got married, I was hopeful about my life. I undertook all the work at home while my husband was away doing business—our life was satisfying. In the first two years, my husband discussed family affairs with me calmly, which delighted me a lot. It was considerate of him to talk them over with me. I felt my wish from when I was a child had been fulfilled and that I was the master of this family.

However, the good days didn’t last long. Once, my husband asked me to give him his ID card. “For what purpose?” I asked him. He equivocated and failed to tell me the reason. After that, I found he went out early and came back home late for several days. When I asked him where he had gone, he still avoided answering me. I thought, “Now you are capable, so you dare do things behind my back? I must figure out what you are doing. If I find out you are doing things without my knowledge, wait and see!” A few days later, I learnt from my sister-in-law that my husband had lent twenty thousand yuan to them. My heart ached when I heard this. But I couldn’t let out my anger in front of her, so I pretended that I knew about it to do her a favor. When my husband came back home that night, I quickly asked him about the matter of the money. Nevertheless, he stubbornly denied it. I then gripped his hand and said, “Go. Let’s ask your brother.” He then got angry, “You, a woman, mind your own business. Do your housework well, that’s enough.” Hearing his words, I immediately felt painful in my heart, as if I was hit by someone with a club. Tears of being wronged kept running down my face. I worked hard for this family, but never did I expect that my husband would speak out such words to hurt me. And he said it was enough for me to only mind the housework. Was I a nanny he hired? I had never expected that my husband would speak the same words as that of my father did to my mother. As it turns out, I was, in my husband’s eyes, nothing but a housewife, who only needed to do house work and had no say in family affairs. The more I thought of this, the sadder I got. I thought: If I can’t even be a master of my family, then what does it mean for me to live like this?

After a bitter cry, I was not willing to live such a life. So I often went to the storefront, which was run by my husband to watch over him. Whenever he had a phone call, I would ask him anxiously “who it was,” whenever he returned home after visiting others at night, I would ask him insistently, “Where have you been? Who else was there?” By my constant asking about these trifles, he often felt irritated very much. Besides, in normal times, I revolted at and distrusted his work no matter what, and I often nitpicked at him, keen to let him listen to me and act according to my standards. For this reason, we often quarreled and fought, frightening my children to the point they hid behind the door. Gradually, as soon as he had spare time, he would go out chatting with others to purposely escape me. He only returned home when he was hungry or sleepy, as if our home to him was merely a restaurant or hotel. In short, he was out of my control. As a result, my temper got worse and worse. Being angry, I screamed and shouted all day long, which, in turn, wore me out. Under the long-term depression, I was diagnosed with depression, and the doctor told me not to stay at home for long, but to go out for relaxation. For the sake of my family, I had tried to restrain my anger, but no matter how hard I had tried, it was just in vain. Once my husband did something not to my liking, I would burst into anger uncontrollably. Our relationship became more and more tense and I did not know how to reverse the situation. At my worrying and helpless moment in life, God’s salvation of the last days came upon me.

One day, a relative came to testify God’s work of the last days. I told her my sufferings and she fellowshiped with me, “This time God has come to express words to rid man of their sins thoroughly and to save us from the corruption and affliction of Satan. God wants to achieve the result that we no longer live by our satanic disposition but live by His word and live as a true man, who has conscience and reason, can forgive, tolerate and understand others, and so on. Only by listening to God’s words can we gain God’s blessings, and can we not be afflicted by Satan.” Having heard her fellowship, I knew I could live like a human and gain God’s blessings through believing in God. So I was willing to investigate and accept God’s salvation. When having meetings with brothers and sisters, I saw that after reading God’s words, all of them could open up to talk about what corruptions they had revealed when encountering something, and how they found the words of God afterward to resolve them. When they fellowshiped about God’s salvation for them, their faces were brimming with joy and happiness. Listening to their fellowship, I felt brightened in my heart and also admired them. How wonderful this kind of life is! Brothers and sisters also fellowshiped that God requires us to be honest people, and that God will listen if we open our hearts to Him and tell Him our true difficulties. So I tried telling my difficulty to God, hoping for God’s help, so that I would not treat my husband that way. Gradually, I did not feel that repressed but was much more lightened in my heart.

One day in a meeting, I told my unceasing conflict with my husband to brothers and sisters. Then, Sister Zheng said to me, “Your difficulty is common to everyone. We all want to take charge in our family and control others. This is satanic corrupt disposition. We suffered because of Satan’s poison. In the beginning, God created man and man lived in God’s blessings with peace and happiness. Adam and Eve could treat God’s words as the basic standard. They listened to God’s words and obeyed God. They worshiped God, exalted God and honored Him as great on earth. Later on, because Satan tempted Eve into eating the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, man betrayed God. From that day on, man has lost God’s blessings and lived under Satan’s domain. Fooled by Satan, we all jostle with each other, refuse to obey each other, and want to control each other. These are the facts that we have been corrupted by Satan. God’s words tell us both the truth and the root of Satan corrupting man. God wants us to see through Satan’s evil substance, cast off the control of our satanic corrupt disposition, and live by God’s words. This way, we will become new people created by God through His words, and we will enjoy God’s blessings.”

Hearing her communication, my heart was slightly released. I came to know my corrupt dispositions, and also had hope of getting rid of them. Then Sister Zheng read to me a passage of God’s words that said, “Cruel mankind! The connivance and intrigue, the snatching and grabbing one from another, the scramble for fame and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end? Despite the hundreds of thousands of words God has spoken, no one has come to their senses. … How many people do not act out of their own interests? How many do not oppress or ostracize others in order to protect their own position?” (“The Wicked Will Surely Be Punished”).

She fellowshiped with me, saying, “We all want others to listen to us, and always want to control and oppress them. This is dominated by our arrogant nature. And we only have it after Satan’s corruption. God created man and He wishes man to live in peace. In the Age of Law, God issued commandments through Moses, requiring man to keep the law and the commandments. In the Age of Grace, the Lord Jesus taught man to have patience and tolerance. However, none but a few of us humans totally acted according to God’s words. Especially in the present time of the last days, as we have been corrupted by Satan more and more deeply, we are all arrogant and conceited, and we consider ourselves most honorable, and are self-centered in doing everything. Once others do something not to our taste, we will keep fussing about it. So not only getting along well with others is hard, but we also live in agony.” Listening to her fellowship, I understood that my wild arrogance and conceit due to Satan’s corruption are totally responsible for my non-stop quarrels with my husband. From when I was young, I wanted to be the master and decision-maker of my family. I didn’t want to be looked down upon by others. After I got married, I finally had my own little world. I treated my husband and my children as the objects that I could bark at. If they all obeyed me, I would be happy; if they disobeyed me, I would be furious, shouting and roaring. I always wanted to control my husband—He must get my permission first in whatever he wanted to do. As a consequence, he kept away from me and avoided me, and I lived in great torment. Now I knew that all my suffering was caused because my satanic corrupt disposition had gotten the upper hand over me.

The sister read to me another passage of God’s words, “Why do many people follow their fleshly preferences? Because they consider themselves to be pretty good, feeling that their actions are right and justified, that they have no faults, and even that they are entirely in the right, they are therefore capable of acting with the assumption that justice is on their side. When one recognizes what one’s true nature is—how ugly, how despicable, and how pitiful—then one is not overly proud of oneself, not so wildly arrogant, and not so pleased with oneself as before. Such a person feels, ‘I must be earnest and down to earth, and practice some of God’s word. If not, then I will not measure up to the standard of being human, and will be ashamed to live in God’s presence.’ One then truly sees oneself as paltry, as truly insignificant. At this time, it becomes easy for one to carry out truth, and one will appear to be somewhat like a human should be” (“To Know Oneself Is Primarily About Knowing Human Nature”). God’s words pointed out the situation I was in. In the past, I thought the viewpoints I clung to were right. I thought myself pretty clever and good, and felt it was right and justified to be a master of others. This was the satanic disposition of arrogance and conceit, which was base and ugly and detested by God. To get rid of this arrogant disposition, I must know myself from God’s words, and must act according to God’s requirements. Only in this way could I live out the likeness of a human. After that, I often prayed to God, asking Him to guide me to practice the truth, so that I wouldn’t take charge of my husband. Under the guidance of God, I gradually learned to put myself aside and no longer controlled my husband. Sometimes when I couldn’t squelch it, I would pray to God and asked for His help, so that I would be free of the control of my own satanic disposition, and would not treat my husband with my own will.

One day, I had just returned home after a trip to perform my duty, when my relative drove his car to my gate. Seeing me, he said, “Oh, this is the pasta maker you ordered. I have brought it to you.” Saying this, he took the pasta maker out of his car at the same time. I was stunned and said, “We bought it? How come that I didn’t know about it? There are only two people in my house and we scarcely steam bun. Isn’t it taking up space? And I won’t use it often.” He smiled and said, “Since it’s bought, just use it.” Again, I began to get angry with my husband, thinking, “Such a big matter you even kept it from me. Humph, I’ll deal with you when you come back home.” At that moment, I was aware of my being wrong and that my satanic disposition was about to burst. Then I thought: No. I must seek God’s will, I cannot still quarrel with my husband. So, I prayed to God, “O God! Today You arrange this matter and it’s against my will. May You keep me from bursting into anger about it. I’m willing to forsake my flesh and humble myself. May You guide me.” After praying, I thought of God’s words that said, “There may be times when you do not satisfy God. That is because you do not understand God’s will; the next time, even though it will take more effort, you must satisfy Him and must not satisfy the flesh. When you experience in this way, you will have come to know God” (“Those Who Love God Will Forever Live Within His Light”).

From God’s words, I understood God’s will. In the past I didn’t practice this truth, but this time I must betray my arrogant nature and live by God’s words. It was permitted by God that my husband didn’t listen to me or consult with me. I must submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. After my husband came back home, I said to him, “The pasta maker you bought has been sent home by our relative. Quickly plug it in.” He cast a glance at me and then said, “You aren’t angry? I bought it because I think you may feel tired when kneading dough since it’s getting hotter.” Hearing his words, I said smilingly, “At first, I was angry and was waiting to deal with you. But then I instantly thought that I’m a believer in God and so I must pray to God, letting Him guide me when something happens to me, so that I will know what to do, and what is according to His heart and to satisfy Him. God’s word says, ‘I will now share with you a simple strategy: Begin by practicing in this way. Once you have done so for a while, the state within you will change without your knowing it. It will turn from that ambivalent state, in which you are neither terribly interested in believing in God nor bored with it, into a state in which you feel believing in God and being an honest person are good things, and in which you are interested in being an honest person and feel there is meaning and nourishment in living thus. Your spirit will be grounded, at peace and gratified. Such a state will be yours, as a result of your having let go of your own motives, interests, and selfish desires. You will have earned it’ (“Give Your True Heart to God, and You Can Obtain the Truth”). Thinking of God’s words, I knew when encountering things, I should set aside myself, my selfish motives, and my own interests first. I shouldn’t satisfy myself. Practicing like this, I will be changed unknowingly. I will have the driving force to be a person like this, I will find putting myself aside is a meaningful thing, and I will feel enjoyment, peace, and secure in my heart. Thank God! It’s God’s words that has kept me. These years, we two don’t get along well. It’s all my fault. I always want you to listen to me and I want to control you. Now I will live by God’s words and let God save and purify me.” Hearing my words, my husband smiled, saying, “God’s words really can change man. I have seen a miracle in you. I really have seen God’s deeds.” Hearing his words, I felt ecstatic and incomparable joy in my heart. I thanked God’s salvation for me from my heart. After a period of cooperation, my husband accepted God’s work of the last days. Together, we lived a church life, read God’s words, and sang hymns in praise of God. Since then, we made God’s words the master and decision-maker between us and then cheers and laughter were heard everywhere in my family. We were living in real peace and happiness!

We could have such a happy life today, this is the result of God’s judgment by His words. I used to live by my satanic arrogant disposition; I used to make my husband listen to me, and if he didn’t listen, I would quarrel with him. This led to our disharmony and my unspeakable agony. It was Almighty God’s words that saved and changed me, allowing me to see clearly Satan’s trickery and affliction to me. I no longer live by my natural character. Instead, I comport myself according to God’s words and to the truth. Now my family all live under the leading of God’s words, enjoying true happiness and peace, and our lives are full of happiness and enjoyment. Thank God!

By Xiatian

In a cool afternoon, by the windows of the classroom crowded students, and they were actively discussing the parents coming to attend the parent-teacher meeting. Pushing his glasses, a student exclaimed as if he had found a new continent, “Wow! Look at Wang’s dad. He is so handsome. He really has a good taste for clothes. He must be a boss!” Other students all looked in the direction he pointed. Another student pointed to another direction and said, “Li’s mom is so fashionable. She looks so rich. Alas, why does Zhao’s mom look so dowdy? Sun’s dad is rather old …” The students were having a lively discussion about their parents as if the campus was a stage. Those whose parents were praised were proud with their heads held high, while the ones whose parents were given a negative comment lowered their heads in embarrassment. The scene like this had been repeated many times on the campus.

Xiatian of Class Two Grade One stared out of the window. How she wished that it would be her mom who came to attend the meeting, but not her dad. Her mom is the prettiest in the village, graceful, fair-skinned, dignified, and generous, having a good taste for clothes. She is always the center of attention wherever she is. Xiatian likes walking together with her mom very much, for her mom is so beautiful that she can make her proud enough before her classmates. But her dad is seven years older than her mom. He never pays attention to dressing. And the most serious thing is that he is bald-headed in his forties, and looks as if he is fifty years old. It had been puzzling Xiatian that why her mom married her dad since she is so beautiful?

While thinking, Xiatian suddenly saw her dad walking slowly through the gate of the school. Immediately, she felt nervous and uneasy, and thought, “How will my classmates view him? If they give him a negative comment, how can I face them? Should I introduce him to them that he is my dad? …” Xiatian was struggling in her heart. This was the first time that her dad had attended the meeting. She didn’t want to make him feel that she was detesting him. But…?

At this time, she suddenly thought of the words of God: “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God”).

Xiatian came to a sudden realization: I’m a believer in God, how could I have the same view on things as my classmates who don’t believe in God? How could I detest my parent? She calmed down and began to ponder God’s words: Since this mankind was corrupted by Satan, people have lost conscience and sense, and man’s thoughts have become distorted. Especially in the society nowadays, as long as you have money or power, people will think highly of you. They don’t care how your character and morality is at all. Even the campus, the so-called pure land, has been polluted. We students always compare with each other, and are graded according to whether our parents have money, power, or beautiful and fashionable appearance. The students who get a higher grade will be crowded by others while the ones who get a lower grade will be ignored. So we are becoming especially snobbish. When many parents whose family conditions are not good come to attend the parent-teacher meeting, their children keep far from them, feeling embarrassed when walking together with their parents. Even some students are cold to their parents with unkind words, which makes their parents sad and disappointed. Although good concepts like “Respect the old and cherish the young,” “Honor our parents,” “Children show no aversion to their own poor families,” and “A mother never looks ugly to his son” are always advocated in the society and at school, they don’t work. On the contrary, this phenomenon was becoming more common.

After comparing to God’s words, Xiatian thought: I was also detesting my dad just now, afraid that he will make me feel embarrassed because he is bald-headed. Actually I have also been poisoned by the view “judging by appearances.” At this thought, she felt very remorseful: My parents have put in a lot of effort into raising me. How can I have no conscience and sense? At that time, she thought of these words of God: “Were it not for the Creator’s predestination and His guidance, a life newly born into this world would not know where to go or where to stay, would have no relations, belong nowhere, have no real home. But because of the Creator’s meticulous arrangements, it begins the journey of its life with a place to stay, parents, a place it belongs to, and relatives. Throughout this process, the advent of this new life is determined by the Creator’s plans, and everything it will come to possess will be bestowed upon it by the Creator” (“God Himself, the Unique III”). Xiatian realized, “Actually God has meticulously arranged that what kind of family I am born into, who my parents are, and what family members I have. Because God has arranged my family and parents, I can grow up healthily and happily under the care of my parents. Everything that God arranges is the best and the most appropriate. Although my dad is not good-looking, he has given me all his love. From my childhood, my parents have been especially loving me and taking care of me, so that I can live a happy life. In addition, if my dad did not bring me before God, I, like many of my classmates, would surely trap into the evil social trends, indulge in the online games, idolize the celebrities, fall in love too early, compare with others, and have no interest in studying. Now, I read God’s words and sing hymns to praise God with my parents every day. Under the guidance of God’s words, I have understood some truths, knowing how to discern between the positive and negative things, and setting up the correct view on life and value. Under God’s care, I have been distant from various satanic temptations and can pursue the truth to walk the true path of human life. Aren’t such family and parents God’s best arrangement for me?” The more Xiatian thought about this, the more she felt content. She was truly grateful to God for loving her too much.

Xiatian’s thought was interrupted by the noise of her classmates. She saw that her dad had already come to the door of the classroom. Her classmates began to discuss her dad. However, she no longer cared about this at that moment. Instead, she was happy with her growth in such a family, and proud of her parents. So she immediately ran to her dad and took his hand. All her classmates asked, “Is he your dad? Why is your dad so old while your mom is so young?” Nodding smilingly, Xiatian held her dad’s hand and walked pass her classmates with her head held high …

By Ruoxi

A home is a heartwarming and desirable place, just like a refuge from the wind and rain. When we are weary and tired, we all want to return home to have a rest. However, at one time in the past, my family always had conflicts, so several times I thought about leaving them. But now, we live in harmony and happiness. How was this achieved? Let me tell you from the beginning.

My Father-in-law is a retired veteran cadre. After my Mother-in-law passed away, he lived in the village of our hometown alone, all the time. Afterward, the house he lived in was to be demolished and he was also sick, so my husband and I decided to ask him to move to the city to live with us. After my Father-in-law moved here, to begin with we lived together in peace, but later I found that many habits of his were unbearable to me.

He usually got up early. Normally, it wasn’t a problem for the old to get up early. However, when he got up, the sound created by him troubled me a lot. Every morning at 4 o’clock, I heard his footsteps walking back and forth between his bedroom and the living room, as well as the sound of opening and closing the door from time to time. Since he moved here, I, a poor sleeper, didn’t get an ounce of steady sleep. The sound he created became the alarm clock for me to wake up. Then I had trouble falling asleep again even though I covered myself with the quilt. Because of this, I once hinted this situation to him, but it didn’t work. Having no choice, I could only call up my husband who worked in another place to share my frustrations with him. He just urged me helplessly: “Just be more tolerant. After some time, you’ll be used to it. Then you’ll feel better.” For the sake of my face and the harmony of my family, I had to tolerate my Father-in-law, but meanwhile, I began to bear a grudge against him. After a period of time, I found he had a more intolerable habit and later we nearly became enemies owing to it.

Once when I cleaned his bedroom, I found the neat room became dirty and disordered. It was piled with all kinds of junk, like milk powder cans, red wine boxes, plastic pipes, shoe boxes, old sacks, broken table lamps, broken fans, used carpets, etc. I didn’t know where these things came from, and only thought perhaps these were useful to him, so I didn’t pay much attention to this thing. Gradually, there was more and more junk in his bedroom. Once, I wanted to put his clean clothes into his wardrobe; when I opened it, I was astonished at what I saw. It was stuffed with shabby bags, old curtains, even children’s old shoes and so on. His bedroom was so messy, just like a waste management station. I wondered: He has a retirement pension of thousands of yuan every month. He doesn’t pick up the junk to sell, does he? When he comes back, I must ask him about it.

At noon, he came back with a full bag in his hand. I asked him whether he was picking up the junk to sell. He answered: “No. I just see those things are still useful. What a pity to see them thrown away.” I disgruntledly said: “They are useless to us and only take up room. Just throw them away. Don’t ever pick the junk up again.” Hearing this, he went to his bedroom without any word. I thought after I said this he wouldn’t do that again. However, I had never thought he would still bring the junk home every day and come back with many things every time. Seeing this, I was angry and felt he was too stubborn, but I felt it was improper to lose my temper in his face. Thus, I asked my husband to talk with him. But my husband urged me: “Just let him alone. Since he wants to do that, let him do so. Anyway, he puts the junk in his own room. Why don’t you shut your eyes to this? He has heart disease. Don’t annoy him.” At these words, I was unhappy and thought he favored my Father-in-law. Therefore, I held more prejudices against my Father-in-law and felt his coming disturbed my peaceful life. Hence, I was disgusted with him. Though we lived under the same roof, we were estranged from one another, with hardly any communication.

Once, I, with my child, stayed with my side of the family for one week. When I came back and opened the door, I was astonished that the house was in a mess.The junk my Father-in-law brought home was all over the house. The whole house was just like a garbage dump. Especially the shopping bags which were picked up from garbage cans, were stacked on the balcony and gave offa rank stench. This turned my stomach. When I, obesessed with neatness, saw such a scene, my anger rose immediately. I thought: That’s too much! Is this still a home? Thus, I rolled up my sleeves and threw away all the junk in anger. I was so amazed that there was so much junk. In order to clean up my house, I went up and down stairs six times. Finally, the garbage cans in the community were stuffed full and I was worn out, lying on the sofa. Seeing the house was clean and tidy like before, I felt a bit happy.

In the evening, my Father-in-law came back. After he knew I threw those things away, he got mad, rebuked me, and said I was a waster and didn’t know how to be economical. I was unbearably angry and refuted him. Unexpectedly, he self-righteously said that it was his Son’s house, so I was not qualified to meddle in his affairs. Then he called my husband and complained against me. Shortly after, my husband phoned to blame me by saying I was ignorant and warned me not to annoy my Father-in-law any longer. Facing their blame, I was so angry that I cried, and in the face of my Father-in-law, I shouted to my husband on the phone: “I will move out. I can’t stay in this house any longer. It’s too dirty to live in and I can’t handle it. Later, you just live with your Father.” At that time, I was very wronged and sad, and really wanted to escape from here at once.

Aside from the pain, I suddenly thought of God. Right. I only felt angry. How could I forget God? So I came before God and prayed: “God, I’m very pained and perplexed now. Facing my Father-in-law, I really have no idea how to treat him. Oh, God! Please guide me to know what I should do.” After the prayer, I thought of God’s words: “Normal humanity includes these aspects: insight, sense, conscience, and character. If you can achieve normality in each of these respects, your humanity is up to standard. You should have the likeness of a normal human being and behave like a believer in God. You don’t have to achieve great heights or engage in diplomacy. You just have to be a normal human being, with a normal person’s sense, be able to see through things, and at least look like a normal human being. That will be enough. … At present the main thing is to cast off the corrupt satanic disposition. You must cast off the ugliness you express. If you have not cast these off, how can you touch upon supreme sense and insight? A lot of people see that the age has changed, so they don’t exercise any humility or patience, and they might as well not have any love or saintly decency either. These people are too absurd! Do they have an ounce of normal humanity? Do they have any testimony to speak of? They don’t have any insight and sense whatsoever.”

From these words, I saw God required us to live out normal humanity, and be tolerant of, patient with, and loving toward others, or we were unworthy of being called Christians. I thought of my attitude to my Father-in-law. There was no tolerance, patience or understanding. Wasn’t I too inhumane? This wasn’t the manner a Christian should have. Thinking of this, I felt a little calmer, but I didn’t iron out the wrinkles within completely. I could only pray to God and ask Him to give me a heart of tolerance and patience. From then on, my Father-in-law had some restraint when picking up the junk. He didn’t do it openly like before, but when I was not in, he would secretly bring the junk home. For fear I would throw those things away if I saw them, every time he went out he would lock his room. Though I no longer quarreled with him, I could still smell the gun smoke from our last “battle.” Because of this, I always stayed in my bedroom to avoid facing him. Unexpectedly, before this thing was over, new conflicts appeared.

As for some of his behavior like being too stingy, though I disapproved, I could usually be tolerant. For example: In order to save water, he often stored dirty water in the washbowl; for saving electricity, he often turned off the mains switch of the water heater, which caused there to be no hot water to use every time I took a shower; he repeatedly used a tissue; he often picked up the rotten vegetable leaves I threw in the garbage. In order to prevent him doing that, every time after I picked the vegetables I would empty the garbage. However, he began to “act against me” in secret. He actually picked the rotten vegetable leaves out of the garbage, washed and stir-fried them and then put this dish on the table. As well as this, when at the table, he often educated my daughter (two years old) to be economical, and said how he went hungry and cold from a young age and how hard his life was, etc. I felt these things were said to me. Though I said nothing, I hated his behavior in my heart and thought: These are things of the past. You never stop saying them, just like chanting. I’m sick of hearing it. Moreover, I’m not extravagant. You really view me as a spendthrift? Finally, one day, he reached my bottom line and this made my only patience give out.

That day, I sorted out the bad sweet potatoes and threw them in the garbage. I only peeled two good ones and boiled them in the automatic rice cooker. Then I went out. When I returned home, I found that there were many bad sweet potatoes in the rice cooker, and that the rice cooker gave forth a strong smell of bad ones. Obviously, my Father-in-law must found the bad sweet potatoes that I threw away and boiled them in the rice cooker.. At this point, all my blood rushed to my head. I angrily went to the living room and questioned him loudly: “Why did you boil the bad sweet potatoes in the rice cooker?” He startled and replied: “I feel it’s a pity to throw them away. Just boil them. I’ll eat them.” I angrily yelled: “Can we eat them? You put all the sweet potatoes together. How are we supposed to eat them? Why don’t you consider our feelings when doing things? Why don’t you consider whether the child can eat them? You can just eat them alone.” After saying this, I picked up my daughter and stormed out of the house.

Besides feeling angry, I rang his daughter and eldest son and wept over his deeds with them. His daughter angrily said on the phone: “If I were you, I wouldn’t be able to bear it, either.” Though I obtained their sympathy, I was still depressed. Then I sat with my daughter in the park of our community. I didn’t want to go home or see my Father-in-law, and had no idea what to do. At this moment, I suddenly thought of a passage of God’s words, “Everything that happens to people is when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Nothing major has happened to you at the moment, and you do not bear great testimony, but every detail of your daily life relates to the testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members, and everyone around you; if, one day, the unbelievers come, and admire all that you do, and see that all that God does is wonderful, then you will have borne testimony.” Pondering these words, I couldn’t help but quiet my heart to reflect on myself. Did I have a testimony in this thing? I thought back to the scene that I lost my temper with and blamed my Father-in-law. Though I was a believer in God, I didn’t live out any humanity. Wasn’t this bringing shame on the name of God?

After returning home, I sat on the sofa disheartened. I recalled that I recently had many conflicts with my Father-in-law, and that I often lost my temper with him. I knew as a believer in God, I shouldn’t have done things that way and I wanted to be tolerant of and patient with him, but somehow I couldn’t control my anger. I saw though I believed in God, I couldn’t practice the truth in everything or bear testimony to Him. So I felt quite ashamed, but I still didn’t know how to completely resolve our conflicts. Thus I came before God and prayed: “Oh, God. I know as a believer in You, when I encounter things great or small, I should seek to understand Your will and practice the truth. But I always dislike my Father-in-law’s living habits and come into conflicts with him. I know that in doing this, I am not bearing testimony to You, but allowing Satan to laugh at and get something on me. Oh, God. Please help and guide me to let go of myself, get on with him normally, and live out normal humanity, thereby shaming Satan.”

The next day during spiritual devotion, I saw the following passage of God’s words, “People live for so many years, and are unhappy with eighty or ninety percent of what they encounter. You frown upon this and disapprove of that, but what do you dislike? Some of these things are actually your own problems, so you should not make a big deal out of them. When people get older, they realize that they are not noble, and that they are no better than others. Do not think that you are superior to other people, or more dignified and distinguished than they are; you must learn to adapt to your environment. To adapt to your environment, you must first realize something: There are all kinds of people out there, with all sorts of living habits. Living habits do not represent a person’s humanity. Just because your living habits are disciplined, normal, and dignified does not mean you possess the truth. You need to get this fact through your head, and gain a positive appreciation for it. Furthermore, God has arranged such a fantastic environment for you. You have too many personal issues; you must learn to adapt, and not pick at the bad habits of others. Moreover, you have to be able to get along with them based on love, and get close to them; you need to see their strengths, learn from their strengths, and then pray to God and overcome your own problems. This is the attitude and practice of submission. … Mind your own business. What does it mean to not mind your own business? ‘I will change that bad habit of theirs, or I will have my surname changed!’ What kind of person are you if this is the way you conduct yourself? Insolent, aggressive, and ignorant. Do not be such a person. … When you do and handle things, or have some thoughts while encountering things, do not rely on your own intentions or your hot blood. Pray to God and come before Him. This, first of all, is a submissive attitude; it is the first psychological quality you should possess. We implore God to do His work, but if He does not do it or open up a way out, then we just need to keep enduring it and continue living in this environment. We must submit to God’s arrangements and not rush ahead and try to walk in front of God. Only then will our lives have value.”

Weighing God’s words, I couldn’t help but self-reflect: “Yes. It takes two to tango.” We two always had conflicts. In fact, this was not only the problem of my Father-in-law; I was too arrogant and opinionated. I saw myself as too honorable and noble, viewing my own living habits as the standard of humanity. Therefore, when I disliked his living habits, I detested and despised him. When I felt he wasn’t in line with my will, I didn’t want to live with him, without any tolerance and understanding of him. As God’s word says, everyone has his own habits and preferences. I shouldn’t force others to go along with me, otherwise I am too arrogant and have no sense. I quieted my heart and thought: His living habits that I didn’t adapt to were built up when he was little. This was because in his generation, people’s living conditions were very bad. These habits have accompanied him for decades. How could I request him to change them immediately? We humans have been corrupted by Satan for thousands of years. We are arrogant and rebellious, crafty and evil, and often express our corrupt satanic dispositions. Even then, God always speaks to and works on us, guides us and waits for our repentance and changes. I thought of the scene where the Lord Jesus sat among sinners in the Age of Grace. God is so holy, supreme, and great, but He never detested or rejected man because of man’s corruption and rebellion. Instead, He lived and resided with people and worked among them, yet I was deeply corrupted by Satan and deplorably filthy, but I viewed myself as distinguished. I always despised and detested my Father-in-law, and unreasonably requested him to live according to my habits and even shouted and screamed at him. I was too arrogant and evil, without any normal humanity. In comparison with how God is humble and hidden, and kind and beautiful, I felt extremely ashamed and humiliated, and couldn’t help falling down before God: “Oh, God. Thank You for Your guidance which allows me to understand the reason why I couldn’t get along with my Father-in-law normally. Recalling how I treated him, I realize I was too arrogant and inhumane. I’m willing to repent to You, live out normal humanity, and get on with him according to Your requirements. I can no longer be controlled by corrupt satanic dispositions to do things.”

Later, I also came upon the following passage, “Treat your parents and interact with them like an ordinary friend or a brother or sister you know. In this way, your relationship will become normal, and you will have something to say to them. Don’t always say to yourself, ‘I know them too well, it’s been nothing but this for years. Every time they open their mouths they say the same thing, I can even recite it.’ Don’t treat your parents like this, with this viewpoint. There’s actually also a lot else going on in their minds that you don’t know, and if you don’t interact with them, you never will.” “No matter how much the parents suffer, no matter how much concern they show for their child, the child senses none of it. He thinks that’s what parents should do, that his parents can’t feel upset, pain, hurt or sadness. This is wrong, it is not normal humanity. If both sides lived by normal humanity, and if they were able to reach possession of the truth, with both sides putting themselves in each other’s shoes, and taking into account each other’s difficulties, from the perspective of normal humanity, and both sides standing on an equal footing when they interacted, spoke to each other, and did things, would this stop the estrangement developing between them?”

God’s words pointed out the way of practice for me. I understood I should learn to put myself aside and communicate more with my Father-in-law, live out normal humanity, and love, excuse, understand, tolerate, and be patient with him. In this way, there won’t be the estrangement and generation gap. Afterward when I got along with him, I tried my best to understand and communicate with him. In the past, when he spoke, I felt bothered and went away from him immediately. Now I learned to chat with him, know about his story, patiently listen to him, and approve of some correct viewpoints of his. Meanwhile, I also told him that some of the things he did were not appropriate and suggested that he should have a good way of living and a good habit for his own health. Through such communications, I found he was very lonely. Just because of his living habits, his daughter and son were unwilling to live with him, seldom spoke to him heart to heart, and nobody was willing to know about his inner world. Only then did I know the reason why he usually rambled on to my daughter was because she was his only listener, although she couldn’t understand what he said. I thought now there are many old people who are like my Father-in-law. Because their living habits are different from that of young people, even though they have children, they become old empty-nesters and there is nobody they can tell their loneliness to. Though my Father-in-law indeed had some bad habits, I should peacefully communicate and discuss with him, but not blame him based on my hot blood. Moreover, he wasn’t an unreasonable man. Once, he fixed the water pipes of the toilet at midnight. The sound he created was so loud that almost the whole community could hear it. I got up and told him he was bothering people. Hearing that, he returned his room at once. Through communicating with and understanding him this way, I found he actually had some virtues. He was kind, enthusiastic about helping others, and upright. In the past, I was too arrogant. I always fixated on his faults but ignored his virtues. Therefore, I despised and detested him, and even didn’t want to live with him. I saw that I didn’t have any humanity. Though he wasn’t my own Father, he was after all my husband’s Father, that is, he was my Father. Thus I should be tolerant of and patient with him, and be obligated to him, properly supporting him and loving him. This is the minimum that I should have done as a Christian.

When I got on with him according to God’s words, gradually I no longer despised or detested him, neither did I quarrel with him. Unconsciously, I found he changed a lot. Though he was still frugal, he didn’t bring home whatever he thought was useful like before; he liked to discuss with me whatever happened; he often praised me in front of others for being filial to him, saying I was dearer to him than his daughter. Once when our family got together, my husband’s eldest brother and sister said to me: “Ruoxi, I never expected that you could get on with our Father so well. I really admire you.” Hearing these words, I thanked God in my heart. Today I could treat my Father-in-law this way. This wasn’t because I was good, but because God’s words changed me. Thus, I could live a little bit like a real person.

My family becomes heartwarming and harmonious like before. It is forever the home where I can rest and the place I cling to. Thank God! All the glory be to God.

By Jiaoxin

I was raised in 1980s when China was implementing the reform and opening-up policy. Against this backdrop, many people began to worship money and no longer respected marriage. Among my relatives, classmates and friends, some began keeping mistresses after getting rich and divorced their wives; some found rich sponsors and left their husbands; some stayed married but treated their spouses coldly like enemies, causing both parties to live in pain and helplessness. Having seen these unhappy marriages, I thought: “If someone doesn’t have a peaceful family and a loving relationship with their spouse, then they won’t have any happiness to speak of, and their life will be without value and meaning. After I get married, I must try my best to manage my marriage and family to avoid the suffering of family splitting apart.” Therefore, when I was looking for a partner later, I didn’t look at whether he was rich or poor, but only asked that he was kind, honest and of good character.

Later, I found a husband who wasn’t rich but who was honest and well-mannered. My husband interacted with many people in his work unit, among whom many were female, and thus I was really concerned that he would fall in love with someone else. In order to maintain our marriage, aside from taking care of his living, I would follow his wishes in almost everything, fearing that he would ignore me if I made him unhappy. I also paid close attention to the people my husband associated with, especially his female colleagues and friends, and I kept a close eye on his actions to nip the abnormalities in the bud. Despite this, I still couldn’t let go of my worries. In particular, when I went out to work, I would become even more afraid that my husband would cheat on me. Such concerns often left me feeling deeply unsettled.

There was a period of time when my husband would often interact with a girl. Whenever I saw them laughing together, I would feel very jealous and indescribable discomfort. One day, I saw that girl happily playing with my son. Out of jealousy and hatred, I walked over with a darkened face, pulled over my son and then left. Because of this, I had been upset for a few days. One time, my husband lost his temper with me over some trivial things and then slammed the door and left. This left me heartbroken and I thought: “Oh, great. He will give me the silent treatment for days. This really sucks!” At that time, I suddenly came to appreciate what other people said, “Marriage is the tomb of love,” no longer feeling any sweetness of love we had had before.

Several years after our marriage, my husband gained some weight and became more handsome and mature. While feeling happy about this, the worry in my heart grew more intense, and I was always afraid that he would have an affair one day. Not long afterward, my husband was sent by his work unit to the city to learn appliances repair. One month later when he came home for the holidays, there was a joy of reunion after long separation between us, but the next month when he came back, he looked depressed and was cold to me, and even lost his temper for no reason. This left my heart somewhat heavy: “What is wrong with my husband? Is he dissatisfied with me? Will he look down on me when he gets promoted in the future?” Although our marriage was still fine, it didn’t give me any security. Instead, I felt very disconsolate. One week later, a friend saw my waxy yellow complexion and suspected that I had contracted hepatitis. Her suspicion was later confirmed after my diagnosis. Astonished, I asked, “I’ve always been in good health, so how come I got hepatitis?” The doctor replied, “Depression could also impair liver.” Hearing what the doctor said, I recalled that I’d been very depressed and upset over those days because of my husband’s bad attitude toward me, and I then realized that this might have caused damage to my liver.

After that, I also wanted to be optimistic, but I just couldn’t. Especially when I saw a couple that had been admired by everyone get divorced after just a few years of marriage, I had an even stronger feeling that the dream of conjugal affection and family peace I had been pursuing would be destroyed at any time, and so, in spite of myself, I put more effort into maintaining my marriage. On the nights when my husband was out playing mahjong, I would be up all night worried whether he would come home. When he was lukewarm toward me, I would feel lost and have no interest in doing anything. My husband seemed to have become my life—I felt happy because he was happy, felt sad because he was sad, felt joyful because he showed love to me, and felt distressed because he complained about me. It felt as if I had fallen into an abyss of pain and depression. Over and over, I asked myself: For whom should I live? Is my husband really my everything? If family is a harbor where we can find happiness, then why do I feel so tired as if I were tightly bound by shackles? I really wanted to throw off these shackles, but I was too powerless to do that. All I could do was steel myself to hold on, day after day, year after year.

Just when I was feeling totally exhausted, I started believing in God with my parents. From God’s words, I came to know that God created us mankind and made us establish families and multiply one generation after another. His will in doing so is not only for us to fulfill our duties as husbands or wives and pursue marital love and family happiness, but is even more for us to experience His sovereignty, know His deeds, worship Him, manifest Him and glorify Him on earth. After we were corrupted by Satan, God became flesh for the first time as the Lord Jesus to save us and was nailed to the cross as the sin offering for us mankind. Today, God has again come to earth and expressed many truths to save mankind. To me, who was struggling in despair, this came as incredibly inspiring news, so with a heart of yearning, I came before God. God’s words nourished my heart, resolved my confusion and also released the shackles of my spirit. God’s words say: “The Almighty has mercy on these people who have suffered deeply; at the same time, He is fed up with these people who lack consciousness, as He has had to wait too long for an answer from humanity. He wishes to seek, to seek your heart and your spirit, to bring you water and food and to awaken you, that you may no longer be thirsty and hungry. When you are weary and when you begin to feel something of the bleak desolation of this world, do not be lost, do not cry. Almighty God, the Watcher, will embrace your arrival at any time. He is keeping watch by your side, waiting for you to turn back around. He is waiting for the day you suddenly recover your memory: when you realize that you came from God, that, at some unknown time you lost your direction, at some unknown time you lost consciousness on the road, and at some unknown time acquired a ‘father’; when you realize, furthermore, that the Almighty has always been keeping watch, waiting there a very, very long time for your return.” Over and over, I read this passage of God’s words, feeling they are so kind and warm. God’s nurturing words caused tears to run down my face, allowing me to see that I was actually not alone and that He had always been at my side, waiting for me to return to His side and gain His love and protection. Since then, my burdened and depressed heart felt somewhat released.

I saw more of God’s words: “Humans, it would seem, are living in a dark world of terrorism, which none among them seeks to transcend, and none among them thinks of moving on to an ideal world; rather, they are content with their lot in life, to spend their days bearing and raising children, striving, sweating, going about their chores, dreaming of a comfortable and happy family, and dreaming of conjugal affection, of filial children, of joy in their twilight years as they peacefully live out their lives…. For tens, thousands, tens of thousands of years until now, people have been squandering their time in this way, with no one creating a perfect life, all intent only on mutual slaughter in this dark world, on the race for fame and fortune, and on intriguing against one another. Who has ever sought after God’s will? Has anyone ever heeded the work of God?” “In truth, out of the myriad things in God’s creation, man is the lowest. Though he is the master of all things, man is the only one among them that is subject to Satan’s trickery, the only one that falls prey in endless ways to its corruption. Man has never had sovereignty over himself. Most people live in the foul place of Satan and suffer its derision; it teases them this way and that until they are only half alive, enduring every vicissitude, every hardship in the human world. After toying with them, Satan puts an end to their destiny. And so people go through their whole lives in a daze of confusion, never once enjoying the good things that God has prepared for them, but instead being damaged by Satan and left in tatters.”

After reading God’s words, I came to understand that I’d been pursuing to have a happy family, a loving relationship with my husband and obedient children because I had been controlled by the erroneous thoughts and perspectives Satan had steeped us mankind. Satan was just using these thoughts that seemed right to deceive us, corrupt and control our thoughts and minds, and make us blindly pursue these things and regard them as life and as everything. When these things come under threat, we suffer from anxiety about loss and gain, and once we lose them, we no longer have the courage to live on. I thought of how I’d been living for these things since I got married, fearing that my husband would fall in love with someone else and that our marriage would fail and our family would be shattered. For half of my life, my heart had been occupied by these things and I’d always believed that without my husband’s love and care, I wouldn’t be able to have an intact family or a happy life, and my life would be devoid of value and meaning. In order to maintain a blissful marriage and a happy family, I’d led a very tiring life for more than ten years, exhausted both physically and mentally. I then thought of my relatives, friends and classmates—none of them knew what sort of life man should live, but instead all regarded having a happy marriage, conjugal affection and filial children as the happiness of life. In order to keep their husbands from leaving them, many women put a great deal of effort into working on their appearance, and they cared for and accommodated their husbands. But still, their families ended up broken. After that, some of them became pessimistic and disappointed, some was in pain and no longer wanted to live, and some chose to live debased lives. All this was the consequence brought about by us not knowing the meaning behind God creating mankind and being corrupted and toyed with by Satan. Thanks be to God for bringing me back to Him so that I could gain His provision of the water of life and no longer feel pessimistic about my life. My heart was released as if a tremendous weight had been lifted off me. From then on, I often read God’s words and gathered together with my brothers and sisters in the church, and gradually, I was able to treat my husband and family affairs calmly, no longer caring about his whereabouts or how his attitude was toward me. I decided to change my way of living and live to perform my duties as a created being.

Not long afterward, I went to spread the gospel to those who were afflicted by Satan just as me and brought them before God. As my life became busy and fulfilling, I was no longer brooding over my husband’s bad attitude to me, and I no longer felt happy because of his love or felt depressed because of his complaints. With God as my support, I didn’t feel empty anymore and my spirit found immense release. On the nights when my husband was out playing cards, I would be reading God’s words at home. I saw these words of God: “Since the creation of the world, I have begun to predestine and select this group of people—namely, you of today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly.” From God’s words I came to understand that all things in our lives, including our families and marriages, are under God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and that no matter how hard we try, none of us are able to change God’s mastery and predestination. After reading these words, my heart became even more brightened and I had the faith to entrust my husband into God’s hands. Whether or not my husband would cheat on me was not determined by me, and without God’s permission, it wouldn’t happen to me no matter what. I felt so relaxed and at ease to let God take charge of and dominate my life.

Afterward, I often prayed to God and expressed my willingness to bring my husband before Him. Because of the authority of God’s words, my husband later also came before God. Since then, both of us began to accept God’s scrutiny and no longer pursued evil trends or suspected and guarded against each other. I finally emerged from the tomb that had imprisoned me and cast off the shackles that had restrained my heart. There was a period of time when we often went out to perform our duties and were barely together. We would encourage each other when we parted and support and supply each other when we were together. The love between us is no longer established on the flesh, but on the foundation of God’s love. I feel a kind of happiness and joy I never experienced before, and more importantly, my life is now valuable and meaningful. I no longer live for myself, but for fulfilling my duties as a created being—I’ve finally embarked on the right path of life.

By Xiao Yue

Today, I watched a talk show on Youtube that focused on a story between a mother and daughter. The mother is smart and capable, and her family is well off. When her daughter was very young, she has started to take great care of her and even planned her future. Her daughter was very well behaved since she was young and listened to all that her mother arranges for her, living in accordance with her mother’s plans. However, after the daughter grew up and studied in the United States, she was no longer willing to be controlled by her mother and felt that the life without the slightest space of personal thoughts made her feel suffocated. She stopped contacting her mother, no longer studied carefully, and would never be a good girl in her mother’s eyes anymore; instead, she wanted to live the life she wanted and desired to resist and indulge herself. So she resolutely gave up studying abroad and went back to China. She started going to KTV, internet cafes and staying out all night. In the following years, she had not talked with her mother. The once sensible daughter became now a completely different girl. Her mother cried all day long and felt very sad. But no matter how the mother tried to persuade her daughter, the daughter ignored her mother’s existence and deliberately ruined herself, seemingly intended to retaliate against her mother. Being worried about her daughter’s future, the mother had no choice but to ask the TV show for some advice. Although the TV show tried to reconcile their differences from the perspective of familial affection, confusion still could be seen from the look in her daughter’ eyes about how to get along with her mother. And then, the program ended in this way.

After watching this talk show, many thoughts passed through my mind: Nowadays, in this materialistic society where the law of the jungle prevails, there are full of competition everywhere. Not a single parent does not make arrangements for their children, but why is it that their hopes are not fulfilled and many children start to become antagonistic? Why are there the conflicts between parents and children? Wherein lies the problem?

Then I read some God’s words, “Parents raise their children from infancy to adulthood, nagging them and looking after them throughout. How do parents see time? Whether twenty or thirty years later, their attitude toward their children is the same as when they were born, it doesn’t change. The child has, in fact, long since grown up, he’s long since established his own way of thinking, state of mind, insight, and viewpoints—he’s long since had these things—yet the adults never realize this, they can never keep up, they always talk and interact with the child as if he’d just been born.” “In a parent’s eyes, the parent is always a parent and the child is always a child; as such, the relationship between parent and child becomes very difficult to deal with. Actually, in a lot of things, parents refuse to budge from their status as parents. They always see themselves as the elders, and they think that at all times, children must listen to their parents, and that this fact will never change. This leads to constant resistance from their children. Such viewpoints leave both sides miserable, wretched, and exhausted. Is this not a manifestation of not understanding the truth? When people do not understand the truth, they are always constrained by status. How could they not suffer as a result?” “So what issue does the child have? As soon as the parents start nagging, the child objects. He stays away from them, he avoids them, saying to himself, ‘How I wish there was no nagging, how I wish that no one nagged me, then I’d be free.’ He doesn’t know how to open up to them, or look for the chance to tell them what’s in his heart, which would allow his parents to understand him, and know what he needs, what he’s thinking in his heart, whether there is any problem with what’s in his mind, or anything erroneous about it; whether, if he carries on thinking like this, it will make him do something wrong. He suppresses these things, he doesn’t know how to have a heart-to-heart talk, with the result that the two generations reach an impasse.”

After reading God’s words, I understood the reasons for the conflict and gap between parents and children. On the one hand, parents always treat children as insensible ones and feel that they don’t understand anything. So they constantly arrange everything for children in their position as parents; they always think all that they do is for the sake of their children and thus never care about what they really want. In fact, as the children grow older, their thinking gradually matures and they have possessed the ability to think independently. In addition, they have had some knowledge of the world and had their own ideas and judgments about everything. Thus, they need their own space. However, parents often overlook this point and still treat children according to their own plans, making all the decisions for the children rather than understanding how they feel, much less comprehending what they want to express. Just like the mother in the talk show, perhaps from her perspective, everything she did was for her daughter, but such kind of meticulous care based on personal opinions would make her daughter feel suppressed and controlled, feel that she lived without dignity. The feelings of being oppressed, fettered and restrained were so strong that she became rebellious and started to pursue the freedom she desired. In this way, the paranoid thoughts occurred to her and she had done some extreme things.

On the other hand, when parents condescend to get along with their children, they will become antagonistic and unwilling to be controlled by their parents but hope to live a free life they want. Therefore, children will only consider issues from their own point of view: They feel that they have grown up yet their parents do not understand them, even too strict and demanding to them. They do not understand their parents’ good intentions, nor do they tell the parents their own thoughts and needs. Instead, they fight against their parents silently, vent their dissatisfaction on them, and act based on their own temperament. As a result, the relationship between the two generations is more broken. Just like the daughter in the talk show, in order to fight against her mother’s control, she even allowed herself to sink low and followed the evil trend. Even though her mother was very worried about her and tried to communicate with her, she always avoided and used extreme methods to harm her mother, and torture herself too, in fact.

Actually, the current state of the mother and daughter in the talk show is a microcosm of thousands of families. So how can we solve this problem? God’s words say, “In such cases, then, how is the truth to be practiced? (By letting go of yourself.) What does letting go mean? With what sort of viewpoint and attitude should you treat this matter in order to genuinely let go? How do you implement this letting go? It is actually pretty simple. You must be an ordinary person, and not constrained by status. Treat your children and other members of your family the same as you would ordinary brothers or sisters. Although you have a responsibility toward them, and a relationship of the flesh with them, nevertheless, the position and perspective you should have is the same as you should have with friends or ordinary brothers and sisters. You absolutely must not stand in the position of a parent, and must not hold your children back, fetter them, or try to control everything about them. You should treat them as equals. You should allow them to make mistakes, to say the wrong things, to do childish and immature things, and to do stupid things. No matter what happens, you should sit down and calmly talk with them, and seek the truth. In this way, you will be talking to them with the right attitude, and the problem will be resolved.” “You just need to learn to use a normal tone, fellowship from a position of equality, talk calmly, voice the words in your heart, and endeavor to speak clearly and obviously of what you understand and what others need to understand. When you speak understandably, other people will know what you mean, your burden will be released, they will cease to misunderstand, and you will be clearer on what you are communicating. Does this not edify you both? Is there any need to harangue them? In many cases, there is no need to force this upon them. If you do not force any teachings on them, yet they still refuse to accept what you have to say, what should you do? Some of what you say is the truth, and is fact, but could people accept your words as soon as you utter them? What do they need in order to accept these words, and to change? They need a process; you must give them a process by which to change.” “Your parents are the ones that nurture you, but they’re also your helpers. What’s best is when you can make them your friends, intimates, and confidants. They help you, you help them, you support each other, and make up for one another’s shortcomings, and in this way the relationship between you becomes normal.”

God’s words show us the way of practice. To build a good relationship between parents and children, both parties need to make an effort to let go of ourselves, learn to chat with each other, and understand and get to know each other. As parents, we should not regard ourselves as parents and demand our children to listen to us in a condescending manner. Even if our children’s ideas are not mature enough to plan for their future, we still should not force our ideas upon them and make them do anything according to our ideas. Instead, we should consider issues from the perspective of our children, speak out our own ideas to communicate and discuss with them and seek together with them what the more appropriate way of doing is. As children, we must also tell our parents what we think, allowing them to know what we really need. After all, parents’ intentions are good for us. They all want us to be good, so we shouldn’t go against them but learn to communicate with them. In fact, as children, because we are inexperienced in the matters of the world after all, and because our experiences and knowledge in many things are very limited, it’s better to seek advice from our parents so that we will not follow the evil trend and go astray. If both parents and children can put ourselves aside and learn to actively communicate with each other, say our innermost thoughts to and understand each other, I believe there will be no gap between us and the mutual relationship will not break.

Moreover, a real chat is to open our hearts to each other, is to achieve an understanding of the mutual thoughts and hearts’ voice in order to promote the relationship between each other. It is not to try to persuade the other party to listen to us or speak to them sententiously to suppress him. If we do so, it would be counterproductive. Truly chatting with each other and putting ourselves aside is indeed a way to resolve the conflict between parents and children. It is too important for us. Sometimes, perhaps the other party cannot understand and accept our ideas instantly, then it is necessary to give them time to consider, instead of forcing them to accept. At the same time, we must also reflect on ourselves to see whether our own ideas and actions are definitely appropriate. If they are not, we must accept the other party’s advice and correct them in time. In short, it is most important to understand and respect each other and open our hearts to each other. The greatest taboo is ignoring each other or thinking ourselves right, which not only harms ourselves, but also hurts the other party who loves and cares about you most.

When I looked back at the time when I had not yet come before God, my relationship with my mother was not very harmonious. My mother always wanted to control me and impose her thoughts on me; she never asked me of my thoughts. I felt so annoyed that I was unwilling to ignore her and did not want to talk to her. Later, my mother accepted the gospel of God and took the initiative to apologize to me and spoke heart-to-heart with me, saying that it was her fault for taking no heed of my thoughts and forcibly imposing her thoughts on me, and that she was willing to change in the future. After listening to my mother’s words, I was very moved and realized that I actually had problems as well, because I didn’t understand my mother but just cared about venting my own feelings, without any considerate for her. After I realized that I also put myself aside to open up to her, and exchanged my innermost thoughts with her. Gradually, our relationship became more and more harmonious. I felt very thankful to God. It was God’s words that led and changed us and made us live out a humanity. We can see from this that only by practicing God’s words can we solve the gap and conflicts between parents and children and can their mutual relationship gradually become more and more harmonious.

By Cheng Meng

I was arrogant and thought highly of myself from childhood. After marriage, as my husband was not very talkative, and my parents-in-law were humble, everything in the house, great and small, was arranged by me. Thus I established myself as the absolute authority of the family.

My Bossy Way of Housekeeping

In a blink of an eye, several years passed, and my two sons gradually grew up. After graduating from middle school, my elder son wanted to go to senior high school. When knowing that, I immediately said to him: “It isn’t suitable for you as you go overboard on some subjects; if you get into a technical school and learn some skill, it’ll be no problem to find a job.” When I saw my husband was in my son’s corner, I complained at his short-sightedness: “If our son fails the college entrance examination, our money will be wasted. It is enough that he can learn a skill and support himself.” Moreover, I even told my son bossily: “I’ve crossed more bridges than you have done miles of walking, so, just listen to me and you’ll be fine. I have decided to send you to the technical school. That’s final!” Seeing my persistent attitude, my son left in a huff, and my husband, looking at my son, shook his head resignedly.

Later, on the matter of building the house, there was a difference of opinion between my husband and me. He thought the western-style house was new-fashioned, while I felt the Chinese house was practical. At last, the house was built according to my thought, after which my husband was very angry and grumbled at me: “Everything revolves around you. Our sons and I don’t have any say on any matter.”

Soon my elder son was old enough to get married. After many inquiries, I felt satisfied with a girl who was my neighbor’s relative; then I asked my son to date the girl and exhorted him to call her frequently. But later I was told that he didn’t contact her at all. Knowing this, I immediately phoned him and gave him a scolding. Several months later, my elder son brought back a girl who looked pretty, but she had a poor physique, not like one who could manage the household ably. So I told my son unhappily: “She isn’t the right girl for you. If you want to marry her, I won’t pay attention to you.” Soon, my son broke up with that girl.

I Understood My Arrogant Nature After Believing in God

After I believed in God, I saw God’s words say: “If you regard others as less than you, you are self-righteous, conceited, and of benefit to no one.” From God’s words, I came to understand: After being corrupted by Satan, we men are arrogant and haughty by nature; we like to hold a high position and make others listen to us. In retrospect, I realized that I had been behaving just like that. I wanted to seek a change in my arrogant disposition, yet in real life, I was involuntarily dominated by the arrogant nature.

Later, my elder son had a few girlfriends but they all ended up in breakup due to me. From his eyes, I could see that he had some complaints about me. Feeling that there was something wrong, I wanted to talk with him by phone, but I was unwilling to listen to his cold voice; I wanted to complain to my husband but I was unwilling to see his querulous eyes or hear his blaming voice. I was subject to a lot of refinement on this and shed tears in secret. In pain, I came before God and opened my heart to Him, hoping that He could guide me to change my arrogant disposition.

After prayer, I thought of God’s words: “Man should not magnify himself, nor exalt himself. He should worship and exalt God.” I realized that the reason why I always desired to hold power at home was that the satanic poison of arrogance and self-righteousness had become my life rule. Especially on the matter of my son’s marriage, I didn’t consider his idea but thought that I observed matters better than him, and that if he couldn’t find a good wife, he wouldn’t live a good life. When he didn’t listen to me, I would teach him standing as a parent. My arrogant disposition hurt him, resulting in our relationship becoming estranged.

The Bible records: “I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High” (Isaiah 14:14). From Satan’s words, I saw that the nature of the archangel is arrogance. It attempted to stand in God’s place and rule over mankind; in the end, it was cast into midair by God. As for me, if I didn’t change my self-conceited disposition of archangel, the consequences would be dangerous. Therefore, I made up my mind to practice betraying myself, and to no longer be a master of all things at home.

My Changes After I Believed in God

Then I actively called my elder son and said: “In the past, I was too pushy on the matter of your marriage and always asked you to act according to my own mind, which hurt your feelings; I promise I won’t act in that way anymore, and you can choose the girl you like.” Hearing that, my son was very surprised, saying, “Does the sun rise in the west today?” Afterward, I tried to let go of myself and no longer spoke to my husband and sons in a commanding tone; when encountering matters, I could also consult with them.

One day, my elder son called me and said that he had resigned to open his own shop and wanted me to transfer 50,000 yuan into his bank account. Hearing that, I was burning with anger in my heart: He is so hasty that he should have resigned his work without my permission; he even wants to open a shop and asks me to give him 50,000 yuan. I was so angry that I gave him a lecture, and finally, our conversation ended in disagreement.

After putting down the phone, I realized that my arrogant disposition was coming out again. Then I prayed to God silently and saw God’s words say: “You should not talk to them in a lecturing tone; that is fundamentally the wrong position to have.” “You absolutely must not stand in the position of a parent, and must not hold your children back, fetter them, or try to control everything about them. You should treat them as equals. You should allow them to make mistakes, to say the wrong things, to do childish and immature things, and to do stupid things. No matter what happens, you should sit down and calmly talk with them, and seek the truth. In this way, you will be talking to them with the right attitude, and the problem will be resolved. What are you letting go of here? You are letting go of the position and status of a parent, the airs of a parent, and all of the responsibility you think you should assume as a parent; instead, it is enough that you do the best you can in terms of responsibility as an ordinary brother or sister.” Thank God for allowing me to know my arrogant disposition and showing me the way of practice. I should let go of my airs of a parent, stand in the right position, calmly talk with my son, and help him in a right way if he did something wrong. Having understood God’s will, I patiently communicated with my son: “Sweetheart, whatever you do, don’t be reckless or hasty. We should consider the matter thoroughly before deciding….” After the conversation, he admitted that he was wrong. In the following day, after discussion with my husband, I transferred the money to my son’s account; my husband gazed at me with approval, and my son also said that I had changed a lot. I knew that this all is God’s guidance.

A few days later, my husband went out to work. Before he left, I advised him to have some money. But out of my expectation, he said he could use his private savings. Hearing that, I felt a little displeased: I’ve never expected that you actually hide money from me; doesn’t it mean that you don’t think anything of me? As I was about to get angry, I changed my mind and thought that it was God’s work coming upon me. I thought of God’s words: “Everything that happens to people happens when God needs them to stand firm in their testimony to Him. Though nothing major is happening to you at the moment and you do not bear great testimony, every detail of your daily life is a matter of testimony to God. If you can win the admiration of your brothers and sisters, your family members…, then you will have borne testimony.” With the guidance of God’s words, I came to understand that my encountering this matter was God testing me. I was so arrogant that I always wanted to have a place in others’ hearts and hold power at home, which is the reason that my husband has his private savings. After understanding God’s will, I just laughed it away.

Concluding Remarks

From then on, we began to exercise democracy at home, discussing whatever happens together, adopting the advice of whoever speaks reasonably, and allowing ourselves to be governed by the truth instead of me. When I try to let go of myself, my relationships with my husband and sons are getting closer and closer, and there is more laughter in my family. All the glory be to God!

By Jingxin

At the end of October 2016, I accepted the gospel of God. After that, I often had meetings with several brothers and sisters, reading God’s words, sharing experiences, and singing hymns to praise God. I felt that this kind of church life was very joyful and enjoyable. Several months passed soon. Each brother and sister made progress to different degrees. And God also did not mistreat me, allowing me to gain some practical things during that period of time, which made me deeply feel His salvation for me.

In our meeting place, there was a sister whose life grew faster. Although we accepted God’s work in the same period of time, she was better than us at both praying and sharing the knowledge of God’s words, and the other brothers and sisters all complimented her. In the beginning, I agreed in my heart that the sister’s prayer and fellowship were all good, and sometimes I was unable to speak out what she fellowshiped. Sometimes the brothers and sisters and I even talked about her on our way home after meetings, saying, “Sister Wang’s prayer was well organized and there was light in her fellowship about God’s words.” “Yeah. She’s very diligent in her thoughts and could seek God’s will in the environment God arranged.” “Hmm. I feel that she spoke from the heart. What she said is practical and clear and can make us understand easily.” … We talked happily like this. However, as time went on, I felt it was no longer palatable. I thought: Why do the brothers and sisters all compliment her but not me? Have I not made any progress? Is my fellowship not good? I began to feel defiant since I had this thought, which often upset me. I also became estranged from the sister.

My husband also believed in God. One day when we chatted, I said to him what was in my mind thoughtlessly, “Recently, when I heard Sister Wang share her experiences in the meetings, I was jealous of her and felt very uncomfortable in my heart …” Unexpectedly, before I finished my words, my husband opened his eyes wide and said very seriously, “The sister’s fellowship has enlightenment and can help us, so we should learn from her. Others enter from the positive aspect. How can you enter from the negative aspect?” My husband’s words were like a slap on my face, and I immediately shook my head and denied, “No, no. That’s not what I really am.” “That’s what you said just now. Other people enter from the positive but you enter from the negative. How can you think that way?” said my husband. His words pierced my heart, and I couldn’t help shedding tears. I felt very bad in my heart and was extremely unwilling to acknowledge that I was such a bad person. I tried to control my emotions and sobbed out, “Speak no more. Leave me alone and let me think about it.” Afterward, I looked up the word “jealousy” in the dictionary and found the explanation of it was a feeling of grudge and envy for someone who is better than you. I felt it was a very ugly thing and felt too embarrassed to speak. During this time, my husband told my state to a sister and wanted her to help me, but how could I have the nerve to speak out what I had in my mind? I complained that he called the sister without letting me know. How can I show my face to the brothers and sisters in the future? I’m so corrupted; will God still save me? Will the brothers and sisters even more look down on me? Or perhaps, I’d better go to another state alone so that none of them can see me, and I’ll be back when they all have forgotten me. The more I thought, the more upset I became. But I also thought that I wouldn’t have the problems resolved by escaping from reality. O God! What should I do now?

The next day, when I sent my child to school, I reflected on my thoughts of those days all the way and remembered that at ordinary times the brothers and sisters would send the passages of God’s words they felt good to the skype messaging groups, but I just shared God’s words in the meetings for fear that the others would know more than me. I wanted to talk more about something that they didn’t know, so that they would think highly of me and compliment me. I felt uncomfortable while seeing that other brothers’ and sisters’ fellowships were better than mine. I used to feel that I was carefree and didn’t like to make a fuss with others, so I thought I was simple and was a good person. But now I was jealous of others. I could hardly believe I was that kind of person. At noon, I called a sister and asked whether she was jealous of brothers and sisters when their fellowships were good. The sister said she was not, and also added, “I feel enjoyment and happiness while seeing that brothers and sisters can fellowship well.” On hearing her words, I felt even worse in my heart. I cried and prayed to God, “O God! I don’t want to be jealous of others. I feel so bad now, for I can’t stop myself from being jealous of the sister in every meeting. I don’t know what to do now. O God! May You help me get rid of this jealous heart.”

Later, Sister Lili of the church heard of my state and sent me a passage from a fellowship: “So are those who are jealous of others narrow-minded? … Is it good to be narrow-minded or jealous? No good at all. Those who are petty, narrow-minded, or malicious will be laughed at by others and are unworthy to live. It does no good to be narrow-minded, that’s for sure. Some people say, ‘We just can’t overcome it sometimes. Once we meet someone better than us, we’ll feel jealous, get angry, or don’t even want to live as soon as we see him. So, what should we do when encountering these things?’ Pray to God and curse ourselves. Is it okay? How to pray? You say, ‘I can’t bear to see others do well. What kind of person am I? This kind of person like me doesn’t deserve to live. I’m jealous of whoever is better than me. What is my heart like? There is actually no normal humanity in this. May God discipline and prune me.’ Then you continue to pray, ‘May God deliver me from being narrow-minded and make me a bit more broad-minded so that I can live out human likeness, lest I shame You.’ Just pray like this. After praying for a period of time, perhaps you’ll become generous unwittingly. Next time when you meet someone better than you again, your jealousy won’t be that intnese. You can tolerate him and can coexist normally with him. And you’ll become normal gradually. Once you have a normal humanity, you’ll live happily and unrestrained. But if you are too mean, you will feel strained, painful and exhausted.” After reading this passage of fellowship, I felt pricked in the heart. These words were just describing me! When I saw the sister fellowship well, instead of learning from her strengths, I hoped that no one would praise her and agree with her points. I also wanted to talk about something that others did not know so that they would all praise me. I was so petty and narrow-minded; how could I have any normal humanity? In retrospect, I also acted like this before I believed in God. In my dealings with others, be it my colleagues, my neighbors, or my family, I always hoped to get praise from them in everything. Sometimes when my colleagues praised someone who performed well in the work before me, I often felt defiant and said, “There’s nothing great about it. I also can do that.” In order to make others think highly of me, I always tried my best to do things well, regardless of how hard and tiring. I had lived like this before believing in God, but now I realized that it was Satan’s corrupt disposition. This passage of fellowship also said that those who were envious of others were small-minded, short-lived, malicious, and unworthy to live, and their life was painful. It was indeed the fact. During this period of time, I felt that being envious of others really made me distressed in my heart. This passage of fellowship also showed me a path to practice, which was to pray to God and let God make a broad-minded person out of me. Afterward, I prayed in front of God about my jealous heart, “O God! I don’t want to be that narrow-minded. May You deliver me from this corruption and make me more broad-minded, so that I can live out the likeness of man and not bring shame to You. May God help me and transform me.”

After a period of time of practicing this way, I felt that my jealousy of the sister was not as intense as before. However, I had to face the sister in every meeting, and the brothers and sisters who had meetings with me complimented her from time to time, and sometimes even their eyes expressed their approval. At such times, I would be jealous of her involuntarily and couldn’t get along with her normally, feeling that there was always a distance between us. I felt very tired and didn’t know when I could get out of it.

I was embarrassed to lay my state bare to the brothers and sisters, so I could only pray to God. Once, I prayed to God at a gathering, “O God! I’m in the wrong state again today. May You guide me.” Throughout the meeting, I felt very depressed in my heart. That evening, Sister Liu phoned me and talked with me, asking concernedly what difficulties I had recently. I replied hesitantly, “I’m deeply corrupted and too malicious. Will God still save people like me?” I didn’t say more for fear that she might look down on me. Sister Liu read a passage of God’s words to me: “When some people hear that to be an honest person, one must open up and lay oneself bare, they say, ‘It’s hard being honest. Do I have to tell everything I think to others? Isn’t it enough to commune the positive things? I don’t need to tell others of my dark or corrupt side, do I?’ If you do not tell others these things, and do not dissect yourself, then you will never know yourself; you will never recognize what kind of thing you are, and other people will never be able to trust you. This is fact. If you wish for others to trust you, first you must be honest. As an honest person, you must first lay your heart bare so that everyone can look into it, see all that you are thinking, and glimpse your true face; you must not try to disguise or package yourself to look good.” After reading God’s words, she fellowshiped, “Opening up to fellowship is a way to make us released in spirit. If you have difficulties but hide them in your heart, it will easily cause you to be fooled by Satan and prevent you from having progress in your life. If you open up, you will not only be practicing the truth of being honest people but also get help from brothers and sisters. You’ll get solutions to your problems earlier, gain growth in your life, and also have your heart released. Isn’t it a good thing?” After that, she shared her own experience of how she lived in the corruption of being jealous of others and how she freed herself later. Hearing her fellowship, I said in surprise, “So you also have such corruption!” Sister Liu smiled and said, “Yeah. We’re all deeply corrupted by Satan. Corruptions like arrogance, jealousy, and maliciousness are deeply rooted within each of us. God comes to do the work of judgment and chastisement today just for the purpose of purifying and changing us. So we should treat ourselves correctly and not live in negativity. As long as we pursue to be transformed, we’ll be transformed and live out the likeness of a true man one day.” Hearing what she said, I felt much released in my heart. I also understood a little about God’s will: I not only should face my corruption head-on but also need to be an honest person and lay them bare to the brothers and sisters. In this way, Satan will be unable to fool me. This is also practicing the truth and putting Satan to shame. Then I opened up to Sister Liu about my being jealous of others in those days. I felt quite relaxed in my heart after speaking them out, as if a heavy burden was lifted. I tasted that only when I practiced according to God’s words could I be free and released.

The next day, Sister Liu shared another passage of God’s words with me: “Some people are always afraid that others will steal their limelight and surpass them, obtaining recognition while they themselves are neglected. This leads them to attack and exclude others. Is this not a case of being jealous of people more capable than themselves? Is such behavior not selfish and contemptible? What kind of disposition is this? It is malicious! Thinking only of oneself, satisfying only one’s own desires, showing no consideration for the duties of others, and thinking only about one’s own interests. … Those who are capable of putting the truth into practice can accept God’s scrutiny when doing things. When you accept God’s scrutiny, your heart is set straight. If you only ever do things for others to see, and do not accept God’s scrutiny, then is God still in your heart? People like this have no reverence for God.” While reading these words, I examined myself and realized that I hoped to surpass others in everything, whether when I was in society or in the church. Even when I prayed in the meetings, I also wanted to pray better so that the others would compliment me. I couldn’t bear to see someone was better than me. I sought to prevail over others in everything and was unwilling to be left behind. In my thoughts, there were also a lot of malignant expressions which God exposed. I really should not believe in God and conduct myself in this way anymore.

After that, Sister Liu read a passage of fellowship: “Should we say that what talents each of us possesses are preordained by God? (Yes.) Someone is good at writing, he is a natural at this, and can quickly get enlightened by God’s word, then he ought to write articles or scripts; some excels in singing, he has a remarkable voice and is technically proficient, his singing is wonderful, then he can sing hymns to praise God; while some is naturally gifted in dancing, his dance is beautiful, then he can dance to praise God. Don’t you think that each of God’s chosen people’s duties is predestined by God? (Yes.) Is this a fact? (Yes.)” While reading this, I came to understand: God gives different talent to each of us. However, no matter what gift God gives us, His purpose is to let us display our strengths to testify God. Those who can sing well should sing, those who are good at writing should write, and those who have enlightenment in the truth should fellowship more about the truth. That the sister has the talent of fellowshiping the truth is also predetermined by God. I should treat her merits properly and treat my strengths and weaknesses properly, for what God bestows upon us are the best.

The meeting time soon came. I wanted to open up to the sister, but I was somewhat afraid to face it. So I went to pray in the bathroom first, “O God! May You give me courage and strength so that I can consider no more of my face and open up to fellowship with the sister to dispel the estrangement between us.” After the prayer, I calmed down a lot, and then I poured out my recent state and experiences. However, the brothers and sisters not only did not look down on me, but all felt that only when we practiced according to God’s words could we be free and released. They also knew how to practice while encountering such things, and I felt much released in my heart. When we had meetings, I prayed to God inwardly, asking Him to help me forsake myself, absorb the sister’s merits, and accept the enlightenment in her fellowship. After the prayer, I could calm my heart and listen to the sister’s fellowship carefully. I found that the sister had a lot of strengths. For example, when she prayed she could join with her conditions and difficulties, and such a prayer was realistic; she also brought the problem of how to educate her child to God to seek God’s will. These were the merits that I should learn from her. Only then did I realize that the sister was not my rival but my good helper. The sister’s fellowship could make me understand those I did not understand. When I thought in this way, I felt completely released in my heart.

Now, the meeting becomes an enjoyment again, for I’m no longer constrained by the jealous heart. I draw on the strengths of the brothers and sisters and compensate for their weaknesses, and I feel released in my heart. I can enter normally again. I know that my corruptions are far more than this, and I hope I can experience more of God’s salvation so that I’ll be purified by God gradually, live out the image loved by God, and become a person who has truth and humanity. All the glory be to the all-powerful God!

By Shicheng

As a Christian, we all know that we should live out normal humanity. When interacting with brothers and sisters, we should love each other, understand, forbear and forgive each other, and help each other. This is the Lord’s requirement for every Christian and also what we should practice. Thank the Lord for His guidance! Regarding this topic, I’ll talk about my understanding. In my opinion, there are four basic aspects that we should enter into to live out normal humanity. The first aspect is that brothers and sisters should love each other. Second, we should deal with others with wisdom. Third, we should correctly view others’ merits and shortcomings, neither overestimating nor underestimating others. Fourth, we should also possess conscience, reason, and integrity in interacting with others. If we can practice and enter into these four aspects, then we will meet the basic conditions for living out of the normal humanity Christians should possess. Now, let’s talk about the four aspects in detail.

Firstly, brothers and sisters should love each other. The Lord Jesus said, “A new commandment I give to you, That you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another” (John 13:34). This is the Lord Jesus’ requirement for every believer in Him. Because we all can be weak and have shortcomings, it is necessary for brothers and sisters to help and support each other. If we take the Lord Jesus Christ as our exemplar and make our interactions with others established on the basis of loving each other, then we can live in harmony with people. For example, on one occasion, Sister Li and I were to support a weak brother together. I heard Sister Li say, “The brother knows the Bible well and looks down on average people. Every time we visited him, he always talked too much, and we could never get a word in edgewise.” Hearing this, I thought the brother was too arrogant, thus secretly disdaining him. Living in a wrong state, I was incapable of treating him with a loving heart, and thought to myself, “For such an arrogant person, will my visit to him achieve results?” I lost my confidence for a moment. In helplessness, I could only pray and seek the Lord. Then I reflected and realized that I was arrogant too. When I was negative and weak, God not only ignored my corruption and disobedience but also made me come out of the passivity and weakness through brothers and sisters helping me with a loving heart. I thought of the Lord’s love for me. I also thought: The Lord was crucified for saving us. His love for us is so great. But why can’t I imitate Christ to be tolerant and patient toward brothers and sisters, and to help them with a loving heart? When I transformed my condition and faced the brother with a love for man’s soul, the fact was not what I had imagined. The brother was not so arrogant, and he didn’t keep talking to himself. Instead, he spoke heart-to-heart with us. After we communicated and shared God’s words with each other, the brother’s negative situation improved. Thank God for His guidance! All the glory be to our Lord! From this, we can see that only with God’s guidance in our heart can we live by His word and have a loving heart for brothers and sisters. Just as the Lord Jesus said, “By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one to another” (John 13:35).

Second, we should deal with others with wisdom. We are all corrupted by Satan with the result that there are many corrupt dispositions in every one of us. Besides, we don’t love the truth by nature. Therefore, it is inevitable to have difficulties in dealing with others. Not only should we possess a loving heart for others, but wisdom is indispensable. The Bible says, “The wise in heart shall be called prudent: and the sweetness of the lips increases learning. Understanding is a wellspring of life to him that has it” (Proverbs 16:21-22). From these words, we can see that wisdom is positive, and that if we have wisdom we can complete things easily and become a prudent man. Furthermore, we Christians are principled in using wisdom. That is to complete positive things, to benefit the work of the church, and not to bring harm to ourselves, others or the church. Without wisdom, we can’t have some problems solved easily. For example, if we directly say some words to brothers and sisters, it may harm them. In this case, we can do it in a wise way in which we can solve problems and avoid bringing them harm. Thus, under some special circumstances, we need to rely on wisdom from God to speak and act. As long as we do everything on the foundation of God’s love, it will achieve good results. For wisdom comes from God. As it is said in the Bible, “The fear of Jehovah is the beginning of wisdom” (Psalm 111:10).

Third, we should correctly view others’ merits and shortcomings, neither overestimating nor underestimating others. The Scripture reads, “And these things, brothers, I have in a figure transferred to myself and to Apollos for your sakes; that you might learn in us not to think of men above that which is written, that no one of you be puffed up for one against another” (1 Corinthians 4:6). Having been corrupted by Satan, we are all arrogant so we can’t correctly view others’ merits and shortcomings. We either overestimate or underestimate others. For example, if we have some special skill, we will love to reveal ourselves; if others have, we will worship and look up to them, unable to give glory to God. If we have some shortcomings, we will be self-abased; if others have, we will belittle and underestimate them, incapable of treating ourselves and others correctly. Especially seeing others’ shortcomings, we like to judge and belittle them because of our arrogant disposition. If we can recognize our own corruption and shortcomings, and can pursue the truth to change our corruption and take away our shortcomings, then we will be able to treat others correctly. When brothers and sisters’ opinions and views don’t agree with ours, we should humble ourselves, respect their opinions, and seek fellowship with each other to understand more truth, instead of holding to ourselves. Because we are different in caliber given by God and in the time that we have believed in God, we shouldn’t make demands of others according to our own standards. Whether brothers and sisters are clever or stupid, whether they have good caliber or bad caliber, and whether they are rich or poor, we should neither be prejudiced toward them, nor impose our own preferences onto them, nor make a fuss with them, nor look up to them or look down on them; rather, we should help and forbear them with a loving heart and treat them fairly.

Fourth, we should also possess conscience, reason, and integrity in interacting with others. If someone is kind to us, we should repay him. If someone has a loving heart for us, we should treat him with a loving heart in return. When it comes to reason, we should learn how to respect others. Even though someone has shortcomings, we must not laugh at or look down on him. When it comes to integrity, we shouldn’t be a selfish and base person who takes advantage of others. In addition, we must not speak filthy and dirty words. And we must live out the decency of saints. In brief, we should be a qualified creation with the likeness of an honest person. We should be trustworthy in words and actions and do our best to fulfil our promises to others. We shouldn’t be one way in front of people’s face and another way behind people’s back. For God likes honest people and only honest people can enter into the kingdom of heaven. Just as the Lord Jesus said, “Truly I say to you, Except you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 18:3).

The four aspects above are what we Christians should practice and entry into. If we can do these, we will be able to live out normal humanity, have normal human relationships, and have some human likeness, and only then can we glorify God and benefit others.

By Zhuiqiu

I’m a cosmetologist and my husband is a farmer. We got to know each other during a Chinese Valentine’s Day activity found in Malaysia: throwing mandarin oranges. One year later, we had a church wedding in the presence of a priest as our witness. When I heard the priest praying for our marriage, my eyes became moist, and I prayed to God silently, “I hope this man can look after and take care of me without change or pause and can accompany me through my whole life.” At that moment, I was deeply moved; I even felt my heart was weeping unceasingly.

But once our marriage actually started, the conflicts between us began to appear. Every day, my husband went out to sell vegetables at 4 a.m. or so, and came back after 7 p.m., but when I got off work, it was already after 10 p.m., so we seldom had time for each other. When I dragged my exhausted body home, I wanted his concern, care and understanding, such as asking me how my work was going or whether I felt happy or not. However, almost every time when I got back home, I saw him either watching TV or playing with his phone, and sometimes he even didn’t greet me, as if I didn’t exist. All this made me very depressed.

Sometimes, when I experienced some friction with my colleagues or customers, I would complain about it to him. Once, there were some conflicts between a customer and me at work. I felt very troubled, so I complained about it to him after getting back home, but he just responded “Oh” as he played with his phone. Seeing him giving me the cold shoulder, I said in a tone of anger: “Did you hear what I said?” He looked up at me and said, “Yes!” Then he bowed his head and continued playing with his phone. His indifferent attitude toward me made me feel very hurt. So I shouted at him, “Can’t you reply since you’ve heard? Are you a wooden puppet? Can’t you chat? Do I also need to speak with you on the phone?” Seeing that I was starting to nag, he didn’t pay any attention to me anymore. But the more he didn’t speak, the angrier I became in my heart, insisting on forcing him to speak, so I kept speaking. Then, he suddenly yelled, “You’ve said enough!” I was so frightened that I suddenly stopped speaking. But right after that, I continued quarreling with him and my voice was louder than his. Finally, not until he stopped speaking first did our quarrel come to an end. On another occasion, I spoke about my grievances at work to him. I thought he would comfort me, but to my surprise, he actually said, “All you have seen are problems with others, but you are unable to look for fault within yourself. It takes two to tango.” His words made me mad. I thought: “What type of person is he? He even doesn’t know how to comfort his own wife. He’s just like a fool.” Afterward, I seldom told him about the issues I encountered in my company because I thought even if I told him, he wouldn’t be understanding of my feelings. Later, he did try to ask about my job, but I was already in no mood to respond him. Gradually, he asked me no further questions, and the things we could talk about became less and less. When I encountered troublesome matters again, I would go out to drink with my friends and complain then, and sometimes I didn’t go back home until dawn. Seeing I often got home so late, my husband said I treated our house as a hotel, and even my mother-in-law and brother-in-law also put the blame onto me, which made me feel quite unbalanced inside. Hence, I was even more resentful of my husband, feeling he didn’t have the ability to protect me. As a result, we constantly quarreled with each other. Sometimes, after quarreling, he didn’t talk with me for several days or even a week. I was angered even more by this, feeling that he must have grown weary of me.

One night, after supper, I was playing with our child in my arms on the sofa. My husband was playing with his stuff. I asked him, “Do you hate me? Why do you always give me the cold shoulder? If you have some thoughts about me, just speak straight!” He didn’t utter a word, so I continued asking until he really became impatient and then he yelled at me, “Don’t ask anymore. Every day you have so many questions. I’m bored stiff of it!” Seeing his reaction, my anger rose immediately: “You blew your top but you didn’t answer my question. What on earth do you want? How could I have married somebody like you?!” Then, we started to quarrel with each other. While quarreling, he stood up and gave me a push, and I fell onto the sofa. When he actually got violent with me, I couldn’t bear it anymore. I felt there was no way I could continue to live with him anymore, so I put our child down and ran into the bedroom in tears to find our marriage certificate. Upon seeing that I’d found it, he came to grab it off me, but as he tried to do so his body pressed down hard on my wrist. Immediately, I felt a heart-piercing pain—my wrist had fractured. At that moment, my heart almost broke: Was he really the husband I’d selected carefully? Was this the marriage I deserved? I’m his wife! How could he do that to me? From then on, I didn’t hold onto any hope for our relationship.

In April, 2016, by chance, a sister preached the Lord Jesus’ gospel to me and said, “The Lord loves us and for the sake of saving us, he was nailed to the cross.” I was moved by the Lord’s love, so I accepted His gospel. Afterward, I told the pastors of our church about the problems between my husband and me. They told me, “Only when we change ourselves first can we change others. We should love our neighbors as ourselves and love our enemies, just like the Lord.” So I tried to change myself: After work, I no longer went out with my friends to drink; when I saw my husband ignoring me and I wanted to lose my temper, I would pray to the Lord and ask Him to grant me a forgiving heart; sometimes, even if I quarreled with him, later on I would try to get through the impasse. Seeing my changes, my husband also started believing in the Lord with me. After believing in the Lord, the quarrels between us became fewer for a while. Seeing the Lord’s salvation of us, I was moved very much.

However, as time passed, I found that we still couldn’t control our emotions, and fights often broke out between us. Especially when one of us was not in a good mood, we would both have no patience or tolerance. Consequently, we quarreled more bitterly. After every quarrel, I would feel great pain within my heart. So I prayed to the Lord, “O Lord, You taught us to love our enemies, but I really can’t do it. When something that my husband does doesn’t accord with my will, I am full of defiance and dissatisfaction. O Lord, what should I do?” Later, I actively attended all the courses organized by our church, hoping to find a solution, but I failed. Then I asked the group leader for help. But he just replied, “I also often quarrel with my wife. Even Paul also said, ‘For I know that in me (that is, in my flesh,) dwells no good thing: for to will is present with me; but how to perform that which is good I find not’ (Romans 7:18). None of us can do anything about it.” For a moment, I felt dazed: Could it be that we have to go through our whole lifetime quarrelling?

In March, 2017, my husband, who had always been quiet, suddenly came to life and he began communicating the understanding of some verses with me. What was more unbelievable, his sharing allowed me to feel very enlightened. I was somewhat puzzled: How could he suddenly seem to have changed into another person? By accident, I found that he had joined a group on LINE. Because it was already deep in the night, I had to ask him about it the next day. The next morning, we went to our church together. Walking down the street, I asked him what he chatted about with others on the Internet. He told me seriously that he was investigating God’s work of the last days and said: “The Lord Jesus has returned and His name is Almighty God. He is expressing words and doing the work of judging and purifying mankind in the last days. This precisely fulfills the Bible’s words: ‘For the time is come that judgment must begin at the house of God’ (1 Peter 4:17). When we seek God’s work, we should pay attention to listening to God’s voice. If we blindly cling to our own conceptions and imaginings, if we do not seek the truth or pay attention to hearing the voice of God, and merely await the revelation of God, then we won’t welcome the return of the Lord.” Hearing this news, I was shocked, because it was so inconceivable. I recalled an Indian pastor once told us that we should humbly seek everything about the Lord, so I prayed to the Lord: “Abba, heavenly Father, if Almighty God is Your return, may You point out a clear way to me. If not, may You protect my heart so that I won’t abandon You. Amen!”

After the prayer, I opened the Bible and began to read. When I read the words in the Book of Revelation: “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me” (Revelation 3:20), I was suddenly moved somewhat, feeling as if the Lord was speaking to me face to face. I thought: “Has the Lord really returned?” Then I also thought of the verses that the pastor explained on the Lord’s day a few days before. So I turned to John 16:12-13: “I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. However, when he, the Spirit of truth, is come, he will guide you into all truth: for he shall not speak of himself; but whatever he shall hear, that shall he speak: and he will show you things to come.” I was very excited: If the Lord really has returned, then does it mean that the problems about my marriage will be resolved? Hence, I hurriedly asked my husband to help me contact the brothers and sisters of The Church of Almighty God, because I wanted to study Almighty God’s work of the last days, too.

At a meeting, a sister summarized some things in the Bible and fellowshiped with me about the prophecies regarding the means of the Lord’s return, the Lord’s new name and the work done by the Lord’s return, and so on. I really wanted to know about the Lord’s work in the last days, so I continuously prayed to the Lord, asking Him to enlighten me so that I could understand His words. During the time I was studying God’s work of the last days, my husband and I quarreled with each other again because of some small matter. I felt very upset, so I asked the sister, “Why do I always quarrel with my husband instead of getting along with him calmly?” She found two passages of God’s words for me: “Before man was redeemed, many of Satan’s poisons had already been planted within him and, after thousands of years of being corrupted by Satan, he has within him an established nature that resists God. Therefore, when man has been redeemed, it is nothing more than a case of redemption in which man is bought at a high price, but the poisonous nature within him has not been eliminated. Man that is so defiled must undergo a change before becoming worthy to serve God. By means of this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt essence within his own self, and he will be able to change completely and become clean. Only in this way can man become worthy to return before the throne of God” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”). “Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (“What It Means to Truly Believe in God”).

Then she said, “In the beginning, Adam and Eve lived in a happy world of togetherness with God. They could hear God’s words and enjoyed God’s love, and there was no quarrel or pain between them. However, after they listened to the serpent’s words and ate the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, they abandoned God and lived under the domain of Satan, and they couldn’t live before God happily any longer. Then the sorrow and pain began. After we were corrupted by Satan, we became full of the corrupt disposition and poison of Satan, and started to become selfish, treacherous, arrogant, willful, and put ourselves first in all things; people even started to fight and kill each other. Though we also pray to the Lord and repent and follow the example of the Lord Jesus to love our neighbors as ourselves, as we still have corrupt satanic disposition within controlling us, we sin unceasingly. The Lord Jesus just did the work of redeeming humanity, but not the work of eliminating sin. That is to say, after we accept the Lord Jesus’ salvation, we no longer are entirely sinful, and can have the opportunity to pray before God, gain His mercy, and have our sins are forgiven. But the nature of our sins within is still deep-rooted, and we still need God to perform another stage of the work of purifying and changing people. Nowadays, God has once again become flesh and has expressed His word to do the work of judgment and purification. Only if we keep pace with God’s new work, accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words and pursue the truth can our corrupt disposition be changed and can we live out the likeness of a true person. Only then will true harmony be achieved between people.”

Through the sister’s fellowshipping, I came to understand that the actual reason why we always live in a state of sinning and confessing is because we have Satan’s nature. Nowadays, God has become flesh again to do the work of judgment. As long as we accept God’s new work we will have the chance to change. At that moment, I felt somewhat moved, and thought: “There are many brothers and sisters who believe in the Lord enthusiastically in our church, but I never thought that I’d actually hear the news of the Lord’s return first. Thank the Lord! I asked, “But I still don’t really understand. This time God is uttering words to purify and change us. How do words change us?”

Then she read another passage of God’s words to me: “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the substance of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the substance of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, the words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan, and an enemy force against God. In undertaking His work of judgment, God does not simply make clear the nature of man with a few words; He exposes, deals with, and prunes over the long term. These methods of exposure, dealing, and pruning cannot be substituted with ordinary words, but with the truth of which man is utterly bereft. Only methods such as these can be called judgment; only through judgment of this kind can man be subdued and thoroughly convinced into submission to God, and moreover gain true knowledge of God. What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt essence and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the essence of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”).

She fellowshiped this with me, “God’s words have clearly explained how He does the work of judgment. Though God’s words are spoken plainly, they are the truth God expresses and are directed at our corrupt disposition. They are the truths we must practice so that we can be cleansed and saved. They tell us how to obey and worship God, how to live out the normal humanity, what God’s will for man is, what kind of person God punishes, what kind of person He eliminates, what mankind’s satanic nature is, and so on. Though the words are ordinary, they have authority and power, and are a manifestation of the life disposition of God. When we read God’s words of judgment and chastisement, we can feel that God is speaking face-to-face with us and that His words have thoroughly revealed our corrupt satanic disposition, our rebelliousness and resistance toward Him, and our conceptions and imaginings. Only through the judgment of God’s words can we see the truth that we have been corrupted by Satan. Therefore, we will hate ourselves and be disgusted with ourselves within our hearts, and we won’t want to live under the domain of Satan and be fooled by it anymore. Meanwhile, from God’s words of judgment and chastisement, we can see God’s holy and righteous disposition that tolerates no offense. God loathes and hates our corrupt disposition, but when we practice the truth to satisfy Him, His love and mercy will appear to us. As we continuously read God’s words and experience His judgment and chastisement, we will have had a deeper understanding of our corrupt disposition and have a better understanding of the truth expressed by God, so that we even more want to forsake our flesh and practice the truth to satisfy God. Hence, our expressions of corruption become less and less, we practice the truth easier and easier, and gradually we walk on the path of revering God and shunning evil. If we don’t experience the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, we will never have a way to live out the manner of a true person.”

Hearing her fellowshipping, I was very much moved, and felt that God’s work of judgment and chastisement is really practical and that we indeed need such judgment and chastisement. So I also prayed to God in my heart: “God, I wish for You to use Your words to water and feed me so that I can know myself and my corrupt disposition can be changed.”

Once, another sister read a passage of God’s words to me, “Women imagine that their other halves will be Prince Charming, and men imagine that they will marry Snow White. These fantasies go to show that every person has certain requirements for marriage, their own set of demands and standards. … Marriage is an important juncture in a person’s life. It is the product of a person’s fate and a crucial link in one’s fate; it is not founded on any person’s individual volition or preferences, and is not influenced by any external factors, but completely determined by the fates of the two parties, by the Creator’s arrangements and predeterminations for the fates of both members of the couple. … When one enters into a marriage, one’s journey in life will influence and touch upon one’s other half, and likewise one’s partner’s journey in life will influence and touch upon one’s own fate in life. In other words, human fates are interconnected, and no one can complete one’s mission in life or perform one’s role in complete independence from others. One’s birth has a bearing on a huge chain of relationships; growing up also involves a complex chain of relationships; and similarly, a marriage inevitably exists and is maintained within a vast and complex web of human connections, involving every member of that web and influencing the fate of everyone who is a part of it. A marriage is not the product of both members’ families, the circumstances in which they grew up, their appearances, their ages, their qualities, their talents, or any other factors; rather, it arises from a shared mission and a related fate. This is the origin of marriage, a product of human fate orchestrated and arranged by the Creator” (“God Himself, the Unique III”). Then she fellowshiped this with me, “Getting married is predetermined by God, and if we do, the one with whom we will establish a family has also already been predetermined by God. This is God’s wise arrangement. When God arranges our marriages, He doesn’t look at our social status, nor does he look at our appearances and qualities, but instead determines each marriage according to our missions when we come into this world. However, as we are controlled by our corrupt disposition, we always have our own requirements and preferences regarding our partners, so when they aren’t in line with our will, we suffer within. This kind of pain is not caused by others, nor is it caused by God’s predetermination, but instead it is caused by our corrupt disposition.”

I recalled how my husband and I got along with each other: I was never satisfied with his performance and always demanded that he reach my standards. Otherwise, I would blame him, thinking he didn’t care about me and that everything was his fault. Not until the sister’s fellowshipping did I realize that I was really a senseless and selfish person who only thought of my own preferences and interests when doing things. Thinking it over, in reality it was not that my husband didn’t take care of me; he was just not capable of voicing his feelings. However, I forced him to do things he didn’t like, thus causing so many conflicts between us. I also thought about how he once told me, “Back then, you preached the Lord’s gospel to me and now I’m preaching the gospel of God’s work of the last days to you. This is God’s great grace for us. We are the most blessed ones.” However, I didn’t know to give thanks to God, but was full of complaints about my marriage instead. Thanks be to God. Having found the source of the suffering in my marriage, I felt calmer and more liberated in my heart.

Now, my husband and I often read God’s words and fellowship about the truth together, and also do our best to fulfill our duties. We accept the watering and nourishing of God’s words every day, so our life dispositions have changed in some ways and our lives have become fuller and fuller. What moves me the most is that because my husband’s comprehension of the truth is better than mine, he often fellowships with me about the pure comprehension of God’s words and some people’s experiences and understanding of them. When he sees me reveal my corrupt disposition, he will communicate with me about the truth and God’s will. Now that I can feel his concern and care for me, I feel very happy within. Reflecting back on the road we have taken, I am still I and he is still he, but because we have accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days and understood the truth, everything has changed. Thank Almighty God for saving us and resolving our family’s conflicts.

By Lin Qiang

One day, a fashionable lady in her forties came to my shop and directly asked: “I want to have my hair dyed. What’s the price?” I daren’t charge wicked price as before, so I frankly replied: “Forty, fifty, or sixty; you can choose as you wish.” She said: “Sixty. The price here is really low. Others charge one hundred yuan for dyeing the hair.” While I was dyeing her hair, she began to flaunt wealth, saying, “I run a big firm. I often get pretty. It costs over one hundred yuan at a time. And one bottle of slimming drug costs more than one hundred yuan….” Hearing her constantly trivial talk, my heart was stirred: Oh, this is a rich woman, I should have made more money from her. Especially when I heard she said that she didn’t care about money and often gave her mother one thousand or eight hundred yuan at a time, my desire of making money uncontrollably arose in my heart, thinking: Since she doesn’t care about money, why don’t I make some more from her? So, I said hypocritically: “How about having your hair greased?” “How much is it?” She asked. “Thirty yuan at a time.” I replied, thinking: “My cost is only several yuan, charging thirty yuan is a good deal.” She agreed readily, saying: “Great. After greasing, my hair will be shiny and supple, not easy to fade.” At her words, my heart became stirred again: “If I had known she is such an easy target, I should have charged a higher price.” At that time, my eyes were absolutely blinded by avarice. I had long ago pushed the determination of being an honest person out of my mind. However, in my heart, I knew clearly: Grease doesn’t make any difference to the hair; it is just a means used to make money from customers.

Subsequently, I saw God’s word says: “These trends arise one after another, and they all carry an evil influence that continually debases mankind, causing people to lose conscience, humanity and reason, weakening their morals and their quality of character ever more, to the extent that we can even say that the majority of people now have no integrity, no humanity, and neither do they have any conscience, much less any reason. … One after another, such trends cause people, who are not of sound body and mind, do not know what the truth is, and cannot differentiate between positive and negative things, to happily accept them as well as the life views and values that come from Satan. They accept what Satan tells them about how to approach life and the way to live that Satan ‘bestows’ on them, and they have neither the strength nor the ability, much less the awareness, to resist. … Without realizing it, if you do not cheat people when doing business with them, you feel you are worse off; if you do not cheat people, you feel as though you have lost something. Unknowingly, this cheating becomes your very soul, your backbone, and an indispensable type of behavior that is a principle in your life. After man has accepted this behavior and this thinking, has this not brought about a change in his heart? Your heart has changed, so has your integrity changed as well? Has your humanity changed? Has your conscience changed? (Yes.) Yes, every part of this person undergoes a qualitative change, from their heart to their thoughts, to such an extent that they are transformed from the inside out. This change pulls you further and further away from God, and you become more and more closely aligned with Satan; you become more and more alike to Satan.”

God’s word made me know: Under the influence of the evil trends of “profit is the first,” “none of the businessmen is honest,” and “speaking from both sides of your mouth,” I had become insatiable for money and lost the conscience and reason of a normal person. I could remember: When I dyed the hair at first, I only charged ten yuan at a time, and I felt very satisfied. Now, I charged sixty yuan at a time, but I still felt it was not enough, expecting to get more money from customers. The more I earned, the more I desired. Unconsciously, I approved and accepted the deception, believing: In the business field, without cheating and entrapping, we won’t do our business well and make money, but will suffer loss. Playing tricks is my survival law of doing business. Checking the facts against God’s word, I saw what I lived out completely belonged to Satan, without personality or dignity or any human likeness. After knowing this, I came before God to repent: “Oh, God, in the judgment of Your word, I know I am too deceitful. I don’t want to live like this. I want to be an honest person, no longer following the evil trends of Satan. But I am so deeply corrupted by Satan that I couldn’t help cheating others in the face of money and interest. May You save me to get rid of the bondage of Satan’s poison and let me be an honest person.”

In the following days, in order to practice to be an honest person, I took a measure—fixing the price of cutting, straightening, and perming the hair according to the lowest price of the same trade: seven yuan, eighty yuan, and one hundred yuan. I thought: From now on, no matter who comes to do their hair, I will no longer charge wicked prices as before. I make a stable price and let the customers freely select one of them. One day, a nonlocal man came to have a haircut. When he took out his wallet and asked me how much he should pay, I hesitated the moment I saw the dozens of one-hundred-yuan bills, thinking: Now, other barbershops all raise their price; only I still charge seven yuan. He seems like a rich man. If I charge ten yuan, won’t I make three yuan more? He won’t care about three yuan. Just then, I suddenly thought of God’s words: “I do not wish to falsely accuse any one among you, for I have always acted justly, fairly, and with honor. Of course, I also hope that you can be upstanding, and do nothing that goes against heaven and earth or your own conscience. This is the only thing that I ask of you.” God’s substance is holy; His actions are just, fair, and glorious. So, He requires that we should do things uprightly, and speak and act without impurity. The price of having a haircut I have fixed is seven yuan; why can’t I treat every customer justly? Isn’t it to slide into the old ways? No, I can’t let Satan lead me by the nose; I must completely abandon the previous business dealings to start with a new sheet. So, I frankly told him that it was seven yuan. Though this time I didn’t make more money, I was very relieved, and felt incredibly secure and peaceful. No money can buy that kind of feeling. I tasted the joy of being an honest person.

After tasting the joy of being an honest person, I gradually didn’t care about money so much from the depth of my heart, and was willing to practice to be an honest person. One day, a customer came to my shop to straighten her hair. When I saw her hair was unsuitable for straightening, I said to her: “Your hair can’t be straightened, or it will be burnt.” Another time, a female customer came to have a haircut; I saw the length of her hair was suitable, so I said: “The length of your hair is suitable, you’d better not have it cut, or it won’t look nice.” At my words, she left with a smile. One customer said confusedly: “I have never seen such an honest person like you. She came to have a haircut; if you give her a simple cut, won’t you make the money? You’re too honest.” Once, I picked up a pair of gold earrings which was worth more than two thousand yuan; when the customer came to look for it, I gave it back to her without hesitation. The customer said with gratitude: “You’re so nice. Luckily it was lost in your shop; if it were lost in other shops, I wouldn’t have found it back. You’re really a good person.” I thought: It’s not that I am good, but it is God’s word that changes me.

After I practiced being an honest person, to my surprise, my business became more brisk than before. Moreover, not a few customers became my regulars, and they also brought their relatives and friends to my shop. Some customers said: “We all come for the sake of your honesty.” My shop is located on a back street, and there was another big and high-grade barbershop on that street. Afterward, many customers of that shop came to my shop; they said: The charge in that shop is too high. Every service there is more expensive than here. Besides, they use every possible means to cheat us. They are not as honest as you. Your price is just and reasonable. Not before long, that shop shut down, while mine has more customers than before, and my business becomes more and more prosperous. If I had persisted in the former way of doing business, “profit is the first” and “none of the businessmen is honest,” today, my shop would have had the same fate as that one, ending up shutting down. I can’t help offering thanks and praises to God from the bottom of my heart, and meanwhile, I really have tasted:Being an honest person according to God’s word, not only do my business become more brisk, but my heart gets released and freed, and enjoys incomparable enjoyment. Just as God’s word says: “By way of the deeds I do throughout the entire universe, I will show honest people the wondrousness of My actions, thereupon causing their wisdom, insight, and discernment to grow. I will also cause deceitful people to be destroyed in an instant as a result of My wondrous deeds.”

The End.

Part One: After I Conducted My Business With Integrity, I Enjoyed God’s Blessings (I)

By Lin Qiang

I was born in a poor family. Since I could remember things, I had led a life of being discriminated against. So, I promised myself: In the future, I must make a lot of money and live a rich life above others, to let people look at me with new eyes.

After my marriage, I set up a barbershop. At that time, I charged three yuan for a haircut. Every day, I worked so hard that I had a sore back but could only earn tens of yuan at the very most, which could just maintain my family’s expenses. By the end of the year, I couldn’t save any money. I got anxious: If this continues, when can I live a good life above others? As the times progressed, people began to pay attention to food, drink, clothes, and beauty, especially women who sought fashion. Therefore, my eyes were fixed upon perming or straightening or dyeing the hair. I learned that a bottle of hair dye which only cost several or over ten yuan could be used to do the hair for five or six persons, and the price of perming and straightening the hair was from eighty to one hundred yuan at a time. When I saw the fraternity were all making money in this way, I was quite excited. Soon, I hung a sign with the words “Hair Perming, Hair Straightening, and Hair Dyeing.” As might be expected, not a few image-conscious people were attracted to my shop. I seized people’s psychology of liking to hear the flattery, and soon mastered an ability—speaking from both sides of my mouth. I also learned how to observe speech and behavior and size people up. As long as customers entered my shop, I could determine whether they were rich or not just by looking them up and down. And as long as I had a short conversation with them, I could determine whether they were yes-men or difficult ones. Then, I immediately did my own calculation in my heart: The rich care about their tastes but don’t care about the price, so I will try my best to recommend the high-priced service; to the image-conscious people who are not quite rich, I will recommend the low-priced service in order not to let them get away; the yes-men are easy targets, while the difficult people need to be dealt with carefully so as to avoid future trouble.

Once a customer arrived. I took a glance, finding that she was a lady in her fifties who dressed in fashion. By my experience, I knew she was a wealthy woman. So, I came up at once with a big smile and said: “Madam, have a seat, please. How would you like to do your hair?” “I just want to have it cut.” She replied. Hearing that, I thought: Though the charge for a haircut has increased, it only is seven yuan; why don’t I try to make more money from her? So, I pretended to stroke her hair, and then looked at her face and said with a smile: “Sister, you look so refined, but your hair is too soft; if you just have it cut, it will lie flat on your scalp, which looks neither beautiful nor matches for your face. If you have a perm, it will be fluffy and look more beautiful.” “Really? I have never permed my hair. I have no idea whether it will look nice.” She said. “I have seen and made many hairstyles. It must be beautiful….” I replied, and soon I convinced her. After everything was done, she happily paid eighty yuan and then left. I thought: It’s so easy to make money. Just speaking some more words, I can make more money. If I just do according to her original intention, I can only make seven yuan, while now I make eighty yuan at a time, ten times more than it.

Just like this, whoever came to my shop, I would try every possible means to earn money from them. Sometimes, some people just came accompanying their partners who have a haircut, but by my glib tongue I would persuade them to consume willingly. One day, a young girl and her elder sister came to my shop. But only her sister would have straight hair. I thought: Though two sisters come here, only one does her hair and I can only make one hundred yuan. If they two do their hair, won’t I make one hundred more? Then, I tried to persuade the girl: “Beauty, would you like to have your hair set?” “No, Thanks.” The sister refused at once. Seeing that she had no intention at all, I used a psychological tactic, saying, “Beauty, you are not quite high, and have a round face. If you have your hair straightened and dyed, you will be more charming and must look more beautiful.” But she still had no response. I knew women have a weakness that they don’t like others to say they are not beautiful, so I intentionally said to her: “Ah! Beauty, how nice your skin is! Your face is so fair and tender. But the only pity is that your hair is too messy. It really doesn’t look nice unless you have it set. As we all know, people first judge someone by the hair. So long as their hairstyles look good, they are sure to be beautiful.” “I don’t want to do it today. If my sister’s hair looks good after being done, I’ll come tomorrow.” She seemed a little swayed. Seeing the time is coming, I said: “It takes two hours to do your sister’s hair, and you have to wait in vain. Why don’t you do it together with your sister?” Finally, she also had her hair done. At the time, I just thought: “All businessmen are like this; as the saying goes, ‘None of the businessmen is honest.’ A businessman who doesn’t know to make money is a fool. This is the consistent law of the businessmen.”

Afterward, I was fortunate to accept the gospel of the kingdom of God. Once, I saw some God’s words in my spiritual devotion: “You ought to know that God likes those who are honest. In essence, God is faithful, and so His words can always be trusted; His actions, furthermore, are faultless and unquestionable, which is why God likes those who are absolutely honest with Him. Honesty means giving your heart to God, being genuine with God in all things, being open with Him in all things, never hiding the facts, not trying to deceive those above and below you, and not doing things only to curry favor with God. In short, to be honest is to be pure in your actions and words, and to deceive neither God nor man.” God’s word is clear: God is faithful, so God’s words and actions are unquestionable, and He likes honest men. Honest men’s speeches and actions are conscientious; they act straightforwardly and don’t cheat others before or behind them. However, when I did my business, I made money by fair speeches and playing politics, and all I did couldn’t be laid bare. This was obviously not an honest person’s deeds, but was displaying the treachery; this was despised by God. From God’s word, I knew that God wants us to be honest men. But I thought: Now, the business field is like the battlefield. In such a competitive society, if I practice to be an honest person and don’t play tricks, I must make little money, and my shop will be shut down sooner or later. I was on the horns of a dilemma.

One day, a customer said to me the moment she came in: “I have thin hair. I have no idea how to make it look better.” “To firm the roots of your hair up. If it is fluffy, it will look beautiful.” I said. “OK, do it as you said.” She agreed readily. During the process of doing her hair, I thought: To firm the roots of her hair up can only bring me tens of yuan. If I persuade her to have her hair straightened, won’t I make some more? At that time, I clearly knew her hair was unsuitable for straightening, but in the face of interest, I still persuaded her: “If you just have your root firmed, the ends will be too light and messy. You’d better have it straightened.” She agreed. Two hours later, when I excitedly watched my work, I was dumbfounded instantly: The customer’s hair seemed to scorch, becoming curly and completely burnt. I was terribly afraid, thinking: What should I do? In order to make several tens of yuan, I ruined her hair. Alas! I might be scolded and asked for reparation. What should I do? I began to shuffle off my responsibility and said: “Ah, your hair is really not good. It becomes curly when being soaked in the hair dye. Well, I won’t charge you. How about cutting it off?” I had thought that she would complain against me, but unexpectedly, she agreed. Though this matter was a false alarm, I didn’t feel secure and peaceful in a long period, living in reproach and repentance. I knew it was a silent judgment from God. As a believer in God, I went against God’s demand, how could I feel secure?

Later on, I saw God’s words say: “You will be able to obey all that comes from God, and all of your actions, whether done in public or in private, will be presentable to God. If you are an honest person, and practice the truth in all things, then you will be perfected. Those deceitful people who act one way in front of others and another way behind their backs are not willing to be perfected. They are all sons of perdition and destruction; they belong not to God but to Satan. They are not the kind of people chosen by God! If your actions and behavior cannot be presented before God or looked upon by the Spirit of God, this is proof that there is something wrong with you. Only if you accept the judgment and chastisement of God, and care about the transformation of your disposition, will you be able to set foot upon the path to being perfected.” “Many people would rather be condemned to hell than speak and act honestly. Little wonder that I have other treatment in store for those who are dishonest.” From God’s word, I saw God’s righteous and majestic disposition: God likes and saves the honest men, while God hates the deceitful people, whose final ends will be destruction. Thinking about my words and actions, I was a true deceitful person who acts one way in public and another in private. In order to make more money, I didn’t consider whether the customer’s hair was suitable for straightening or perming, just trying my utmost to persuade her to straighten or perm it. And in order to get more money from them, I damaged the customer’s hair, profiting at others’ expense, without any humanity. Facing God’s judgment and dealing, I sank into the reproach and refinement, and felt that I was unworthy to be called a Christian, and that if I didn’t change myself, I would certainly be punished by God. This time, God reminded me by the matter that I damaged the customer’s hair; this is God’s salvation for me. After knowing God’s will, I determined my will before God to be an honest person.

To Be Continued …

Part Two: After I Conducted My Business With Integrity, I Enjoyed God’s Blessings (II)

By Keqiu

Recently, I found a job, doing the cleaning in a hostel. For me who is elderly, it’s no problem to do the work of labor. I wouldn’t cause troubles in work, so I would not be afraid of being scolded by my boss. As you see, I’m a person who cares much about face, as the saying goes, “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face.”

The day being sunny, I happily went to work by bicycle. After arriving at the hostel and saying hello to the landlady, I put on work clothes and began to work. With a mop I entered a room. While cleaning the bathroom, I wanted to wipe the base of the toilet bowl cleaner. Maybe I used too much force that I carelessly broke the tap of the water-pipe under the toilet bowl and the water rushed out instantly. Seeing this, I was very worried, thinking: It’s too unlucky this morning! I cannot let the landlady see this. What if she says that I did work carelessly? So, I hastened to repair the tap. However, no matter how, I couldn’t do it. I was so worried that the sweat poured down my face and wet my clothes. At last, I had no way but to phone the landlady. After getting through, I said to her with a little nervousness, “It’s upstairs … in room 305 … that the pipe under the toilet was broken. I cannot make it. Now the water is flowing swiftly. What should I do?” Hearing this, the landlady said, “Don’t worry! I will come right now!” During the time of waiting for her to come, I thought: I can’t tell the truth. If I speak honestly, even if she doesn’t scold me, she will not be kind to me at least. What should I do if she fires me? Perhaps I can tell her that when I came into this room to do the cleaning, I discovered the pipe had been broken. But when I thought like this, I felt uneasy, and was condemned in my conscience. If I say this, don’t I shift the blame onto others? I thought that I’m a Christian; my thoughts just now are not what an honest person should have; God doesn’t like that. So I prayed to God in my heart: “God! You are the God who looks deep into my mind. I may deceive others, but I cannot deceive You. I’m afraid that the landlady will blame me, so I always want to evade the fact. But I feel uneasy when I want to lie. What should I do? God! Please help me.” After my prayers, I thought of God’s words: “If you cannot transform into the genuine likeness of a child—innocent, lively, guileless, authentic, and pure—and come into God’s presence, and if you do not come before Him, then it will be very difficult for you to gain the truth.” At this time, I understood that God wants me to be a simple and open person who can tell the truth. Only thus can I receive God’s approval. Then, the landlady came upstairs with a wrench. Seeing we couldn’t fix it, she said, “Turn off the tap of the main pipe and wait for my husband to come back and fix it.” Subsequently, she asked me, “When was it broken?” Facing the question, I was a little nervous. But I thought of God’s words and answered, “I broke it just now. When I wiped the base of the toilet bowl, I wanted to wipe it cleaner, but carelessly, I broke the tap.” To my surprise, the landlady said with a smile, “It’s nothing! The pipe has been used for over a dozen years. These plastic pipes will be weathered after a long time. Later, these things in all rooms will be replaced.” Hearing the landlady’s words, I breathed a sigh of relief and my heart was released. I had thought that, after I told her the truth, the landlady would not be kind to me even if she didn’t scold me. It turned out that I had thought too much. From this can be seen that when I practiced being an honest person according to God’s words, the environment God arranged was not what I had imagined.

One afternoon, while it was sprinkling outside, I was working as usual. When I washed the swab after mopping the floor, I wanted to put them away. But, at this time, a swab just fell toward the heating switch and broke it. I thought: How careless I am! Alas! I just broke the pipe several days ago. Now I again broke the heating switch. I looked at the room number, reading 305. I thought: Why is it still this room? If the landlady knows this, she will certainly scold me “Can’t you do anything right?” Last time, I broke the pipe, and it’s understandable to be careless once. But after a few days, I broke the heating switch again. This time the landlady would certainly be angry with me. She would think that I was undependable to do the work and then fire me. If I’m fired after a few days’ work, where will I hide my old face? Looking around, I found there was no one. I thought: It’s a long time before supplying the heat, so the heating switch will not be used right now; I might as well pretend to know nothing about it. At this time, I thought of God’s words: “Do not act one way to others’ faces but another way behind their backs; I see clearly everything you do, and though you may fool others, you cannot fool Me. I see it all clearly. It is not possible for you to conceal anything; all lies within My hands.” It’s true! Even if I don’t tell the truth, God sees it all clearly. Even though I can fool others, I cannot fool God. No! I must admit my fault to the landlady on my own initiative. However，when I saw her and was going to say, I was timid, afraid that I would be scolded and be really fired. Thinking over and over, I swallowed my word though it was on the tip of my tongue. Later, several times I wanted to speak, but failed. I was in agony before I left off work.

After going back home, my heart was occupied by the thing, as if I was carrying a big burden. I couldn’t be released, and felt exhausted, At night, I tossed and turned and couldn’t fall asleep. Once I thought of the thing that I broke the heating switch, I was suffering. So I prayed to God: “God, I know you like honest persons who are simple and open. I also want to admit my fault to the landlady, but I cannot open my mouth. I wish You to lead me and let me understand the reason why I cannot tell the truth.” After the prayers, I opened the book of God’s word, and saw these God’s words: “People are corrupt, they are deceitful, they have motivations, they always have living thoughts, they have selfish ideas, and they always think of their own pride, vanity, and interests. It is onerous for them to speak honestly, even if it was only two words, and they are unable to speak up even after holding back for ages. People are controlled by these things, they live in corruption, and they are surely not beloved by God or wanted by God.” God’s every word speaks to my heart. I am living in this situation now. I don’t dare to tell the landlady the truth, isn’t it because I am controlled by the face and interests? To protect my interests—avoiding being scolded and even fired by the landlady, I did the wrong thing but didn’t dare to admit, and even I wanted to cover it up. In the final analysis, wasn’t it to protect my old face? All the time, I had lived by satanic toxin “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face,” being bound by the satanic philosophy thoroughly. I clearly knew that I should speak honestly, but it was difficult for me to bring the matter up as if my throat were pinched and I was breathless. And I did not have any normal human likeness.

I also saw God’s words saying: “You can see how a person’s prospects are through his daily life, words, and acts. If a person is always acting and putting on airs, then he is in danger and is not on a good path. Which road are you taking? Taking the road of being an honest person is never a mistake!” From God’s words, I saw clearly: The honest persons open up and lay themselves bare to others, don’t tuck or hide themselves away, don’t cheat others for personal vanity, face and interests, and speak their hearts. They are exactly those who God likes and blesses. So, only practicing the truth and being an honest person is a right way, is man’s road to salvation. However, in real life, I completely went against God’s will. My acts and words were all for protecting my interests and face, and not letting others see through me; in the things that damage my interests, I always played games, was deceitful, and told lies. Living like this is hypocritical and dirty. What I protected was my face, but I lost the opportunity of practicing the truth and receiving God’s salvation. I was harming myself and walking the road of inviting my own demise. Thinking of this, I set my determination to be an honest person according to God’s words. So I prayed to God: “God! I’m willing to put my face aside and pursue to be an honest person to tell the landlady the truth. May You give me strength.”

The next day was sunny and cloudless. I went to the hostel happily. When I saw the landlady, I still had some scruple, worried that she would scold me and that if this was seen by other employees, I would be embarrassed. But I knew that today God was looking at me and that God wishes me to be an honest person and walk the right life path. So I inwardly prayed to God and asked Him to lead me. If the landlady dismissed me, I would not be sad. At least, I dared to admit my mistakes and live honestly; only thus could I have personality and dignity. So when I saw the landlady was not busy, I went to tell her that I again broke the heating switch when I washed the swab. And I also said to her, “Please, hurry to fix it and the cost of it can be deducted from my pay.” Having said these, I finally put down the burden in my heart, feeling very relaxed and released. Unexpectedly, after the landlady heard my words, she not only did not scold me, but instead said with a smile, “It’s nothing. Later on, we can buy a fitting and replace it. There’s no need to deduct your pay. Just be careful in future. You are really honest. It’s reliable to use the person like you.” Hearing these words, I thanked God from my heart. It’s God’s words that lead me to live out some likeness of a human being. I couldn’t help offering gratitude and praise to God!

Being quiet, I thought about the things that I encountered these days, if it were not for the leading of God’s words, I would still live by satanic rule “As a tree lives for its bark, a man lives for his face,” cheat and be deceitful for my face, and have no peace and joy in my heart. Now, I make God’s words my direction in my life to walk and I have real release and freedom in my spirit. These are all God’s salvation to me. All the glory be to God!

By Li Fan

People often say, “Things turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme.” Deep love can turn into hatred. The more you love, the more you hate. Only those who have experienced the pain can truly have such feelings. And Xiao Yun is the one who has suffered such extreme pain.

When Xiao Yun was 9 years old, her father brought a pretty auntie home. Xiao Yun liked her because she was beautiful. But later, Xiao Yun found that the sweet smile on her mother’s face disappeared since the auntie came. Several years later, two younger sisters joined her family. They called her father “dad” and called the auntie “mom.” What’s more, with the growth of the younger sisters, obviously her father loved her less and sometimes scolded her for the younger sisters. Xiao Yun just didn’t understand why her father, who once loved her so much, treated her that way for the “outsiders.” Xiao Yun felt extremely aggrieved. She cried out to her mother, hoping her mother, who was fond of her, could do her justice. However, her mother told her a fact that she just could not accept: Her father is having an affair, and the two sisters are the daughters of her father and the auntie as well as her half-sisters. “How does such an event shown on TV truly occur in my life?” Xiao Yun wondered.

Gradually, Xiao Yun found that her status in her father’s heart became lower and lower because of the two sisters. Her father began to spend most of his time accompanying the auntie and their daughters and seldom came back home. Even if he occasionally came back home, he and her mother would come to blows, and sometimes they even confronted each other with a knife or a stool in their hands. Xiao Yun often feared that the knife would fall. Her parents’ quarrel often roused her and her brother at midnight. Her parents loved each other before, but because of the auntie, they often quarreled, and her happy family was broken …

Especially, her father’s favoritism toward the younger sisters made Xiao Yun jealous. “My father’s love belongs to me, but now it is taken away by the two little girls.” The more Xiao Yun thought, the angrier she was. She hated them from the bottom of her heart, because they had stolen her happy family.

Once, Xiao Yun inadvertently heard the auntie asking her father to transfer the house property into her name. Xiao Yun realized that the woman not only had ruined their life, but also wanted to take away everything of them. In this matter her mother was the direct victim. She once found a bottle of toxic liquid in her mother’s room. Xiao Yun knew that because of the auntie’s appearance and her father’s heartlessness, her mother had been feeling world-weariness and if it were not because her mother’s not being able to let go of her and her younger brother, her mother would have already drunk the toxic liquid. Xiao Yun thought: Now mom is depressed, so it is impossible for her to protect the property. I must stand up and protect our interests from harm.

When the auntie came again, Xiao Yun said to her, “Since you don’t respect us, then you don’t expect to get our respect.” From that day on, Xiao Yun often thought of how to transfer the house into the names of her brother and her. She, at such a young age, began to watch law programs and read many law books, learning how the adults protected their own interests with the law. Xiao Yun thought that only the law was her best weapon. If one day the auntie and her father forced them to the end, she would surely resist by legal means.

Xiao Yun, a teenage girl, was laden with anxiety all day long. While her peers still were living in their parents’ indulgence, she lived in fear and anxiety. Especially when Xiao Yun didn’t see her mother after getting home from school, she would hurry to see whether the bottle of toxic liquid was still there, for she thought that her mother would be dead if it was not there. The fear followed her every day and made her have an implacable hatred of her father and the auntie. She thought: If it were not for them, her family would not have become like this; if it were not for them, she would not have been full of hatred at a very young age. Hatred causes grief and pain to oneself, and the pain of hating one’s father who once loved her is even greater. Only those who have experienced it can have a deep understanding about this kind of inner torment.

Xiao Yun learned the legal knowledge as always. She still constantly thought of how to drive the auntie away by legal means and how to transfer her father’s house and car into the names of her brother and her. And so, she lived in anguish, filled with bitter hatred for them.

In the winter of 2009, an auntie she had never met before came to her house. Xiao Yun found that there was a long-lost smile appearing on her mother’s face after the auntie had a talk with her. Xiao Yun hadn’t seen her mother smiling so happily like that for several years, so she liked the auntie from the bottom of her heart. After that, some uncles and aunties often came to her house to have meetings. Seeing that her mother’s mood got better and better after having meetings with them, Xiao Yun began to be curious: What did they say to my mom? How did they help my mom walk out from the pain so easily? Xiao Yun saw clearly that though her mother did not completely put aside the hatred of her father and the auntie, the knot in her heart seemed to be untied and she no longer lived in pain.

When the uncles and aunties came to have a meeting again, her mother asked her and her brother to join them. Xiao Yun heard them read God’s words: “Since the creation of the world, I have begun to predestine and select this group of people—namely, you of today. Your temperament, caliber, appearance, and stature, your family into which you were born, your job, and your marriage—you in your entirety, even including the color of your hair and your skin, and your time of birth—were all arranged by My hands. I arranged by hand even the things you do and the people you meet every single day, not to mention the fact that bringing you into My presence today was actually done by My arrangement. Do not throw yourself into disorder; you should proceed calmly.”

Xiao Yun had never heard these words before, but when hearing them she felt so warm and felt familiar with them. These words were like a mother using her hands to touch her sore spot and softly telling her: The family in which you were born has been predestined by God long before. God knows everything you encounter. Don’t feel sorrowful and painful. God is your reliance! Before, Xiao Yun often thought: Why was I born in such a family? Why did such a misfortune occur in my family? Even herding cattle in a poor and rural area would be better than living such a life in such an environment. The hatred tormented Xiao Yun to be in constant suffering. She always wanted to grow up quickly. She thought only when she grew up could she retaliate against them; only when she grew up could she protect her mother; and only when she grew up could she be free from all these things. But after she heard the words of God, under the guidance of God, Xiao Yun suddenly realized: What if I succeed in retaliating against them? Will I really be happy? Isn’t it the fact that I have already been hurt and it is difficult to heal my wounds?

Xiao Yun began to put down the law books and pick up the book of God’s word. With a great hunger and thirst, she read piece after piece: “God Is the Source of Man’s Life,” “God Presides Over the Fate of All Mankind,” “You Should Know How the Whole of Humanity Has Developed to the Present Day,” and so on. The piece after piece of God’s words delivered to Xiao Yun the truth she had never heard before. These words not only consoled her sorrowful heart but also made her see the origin of mankind’s corruption and understand that all the pain was brought to mankind by Satan. Xiao Yun came to know that the emotional entanglement among her father, her mother, and the auntie was the result of their being afflicted by Satan. Because they had no truth, they could not free themselves from the entanglement but only be tormented by Satan, suffering unspeakable pain with no strength to fight. And she herself was also deeply afflicted by Satan. In order to retaliate against her father and the auntie and protect her mother, she acted according to the satanic poison “It’s never too late to take one’s revenge” and plotted to retaliate against her father and the auntie all day long, living in hatred at a young age. Xiao Yun saw God’s words saying, “Cruel mankind! The connivance and intrigue, the snatching and grabbing one from another, the scramble for fame and fortune, the mutual slaughter—when will it ever end?” She understood: God’s words really expose and analyze the ugliness that mankind expresses after we were corrupted by Satan. For our own sake, we can become enemies. Even the love between a husband and wife or a father and daughter is too fragile to stand any kind of test. Pondering God’s words, Xiao Yun found that all of them, her parents, the auntie, and her, were victims of Satan’s torment. She thought: In the past my mom and I did not understand the truth and lived in hatred. Now, God’s salvation comes upon us. We should believe in God’s word, live in accordance with God’s word, and no longer live in the torment of Satan. When Xiao Yun told her thoughts to her mother, her mother cried. She knew that it was God who saved her and her daughter.

When the auntie and her father came again, Xiao Yun could face them calmly by relying on God. What’s more, her mother asked the brothers and sisters to preach the gospel to them. They both were unwilling to accept. But when her father saw that Xiao Yun and her mother actually put aside the hatred of him and even accepted him and the auntie after they believed in God, he admitted that the One they believed in was the true God and he supported their faith in God.

Gradually, Xiao Yun grew up. As she read more of God’s word, she saw clearly: In present-day society, keeping mistresses has become a social phenomenon. The appearance of a mistress has caused so many harmonious families to be broken or ruined. Not only do the adults get hurt, but the children also suffer unrelieved misery in their hearts. In fact, be it the one who has an affair or the victim, they all live in the torment of Satan. Although they have suffered so much, they are powerless to extricate themselves. It must be said that Satan has really put a certain amount of effort into afflicting people. If it were not for God’s salvation, Xiao Yun and her mother would live in pain and torment all their life, just like many other victims. Thinking back to the past, Xiao Yun felt that God’s love for her and her mother was really so great.

Under God’s leadership, Xiao Yun finally put aside the hatred of her father and the auntie and was freed from the pain. Gradually, her two younger sisters grew up. They considerately helped her mother with the housework, and the elder one of them also had meetings with the brothers and sisters and read God’s word every day. Through her experience, Xiao Yun saw that she could not escape the fate of her life, but she could rely on God’s word to change her viewpoints on things and learn to rationally treat things that happened to her. Now, Xiao Yun has been abroad and is still performing her duty as a created being under the leading of God. Xiao Yun felt in the bottom of her heart that without God’s salvation, she would not be what she is now. She made a resolution that she will perform her duty faithfully to repay the great love of God!

By Xiaoyi

Before I got married, I always saw the sisters-in-law in my neighborhood argued with each other over trivial family affairs, and even created a widespread uproar. I thought: It is often said, “A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,” and “Don’t wash your dirty linen in public.” When I later live my married life, I will never let myself be pointed at by others.

Soon after my marriage, my father-in-law died and then my mother-in-law married again. There are six brothers in my husband’s family. My husband is the firstborn, and his three youngest brothers were then in school, the last of whom was only 9 years old at that time. In this way, the three elder brothers, the second sister-in-law and I had to undertake the difficult burden of supporting this family. As the big sister, I felt it my duty to maintain the family, and I would not allow myself to be laughed at by others. As we live together, our family and the second brother’s family split living expenses fifty-fifty, and our shared living expenses were paid out of a joint checking account. However, my husband earned very little money outside the home, while the second brother earned quite a lot. Thus the whole family mainly relied financially on the second brother. After a discussion with the second brother’s family, we made a decision that they could help to pay more than their share of the family expenses when we were short of money, and then we would put it on our tab and pay back the money we owe them in the future. At the same time, I even undertook all the heavy and tiring housework on my own initiative, while the second sister-in-law did all the cooking. But not long afterward, she mistakenly believed that I had some money but secretly kept it, and she said to my face, “My husband pays all the living expenses of the whole family, thus we will have no money to pay the tuition for my son in the future.” Hearing this, I became extremely upset inside. I thought: Now we indeed have no money. But when we do, we will surely pay it back. Moreover, I do the most family affairs, both inside and outside. How can you say so? You are really too conscienceless! What will outsiders think of me when they hear these words? The more I thought about it, the worse I felt.

It was so awful that what I was afraid of came to me. One day, one of the villagers actually said to me, “I heard that it is your second brother that pays all the living expenses of your family. You have such a good fate that you can count on them to support your family. …” When I heard these harsh words, my face burned. I felt very ashamed and at the same time I was very angry. I thought: I’ve worked so hard, yet she spreads the word to the village. How can she do this?

From that point on, both of us spoke very little to each other. When we had meals, I never ate the meat she bought, but only the green vegetables I grew. When we entered our respective rooms from the living room, we would slam the door behind us to express our dissatisfaction. When hearing her son crying sometimes, I was upset and thus complained in my room, “Noisy child! Can’t you just let me sleep?” In order to avoid such an embarrassing situation, she often went to her mother’s. When she came back, I then left home to work so as to meet her less constantly. Even if we met, we didn’t speak anything but maintained a straight face. Such a life went on for a year until eventually we had to live separately.

After the third brother-in-law got married, I had another sister-in-law. Later, she stood by the side of my second sister-in-law, and said that I took advantage of my second sister-in-law. At that moment, I became very indignant: The second sister-in-law spread the word everywhere. Obviously, she is trying to turn others against me so as to dishonor me. The more I thought about it, the more I hated her. One day, after coming home from work, I happened to see her son throwing a chair at my son. Fortunately, my son dodged in time so that he didn’t get hurt. The two sisters-in-law, however, were watching TV with relish. At this time, all my old grievances erupted uncontrollably. I scolded my second sister-in-law and ultimately we parted on bad terms. As a result, we did not talk to each other much for three years since the quarrel.

We live under the same roof yet we are like enemies. Why? Living like this is too painful! These things kept replaying in my mind like a movie, and tortured me so much that I suffered from insomnia frequently. My weight went down from over 60 kilos to 45, and I was very haggard, looking ten years older than I was.

By 2005, God’s gospel came upon my two sisters-in-law and me. The church arranged for us three to gather together. It was an awkward meeting. We three felt embarrassed, and none of us communicated during the meeting. Then the sister, who came to meet with us, knew that we had problems with each other, so she fellowshiped, “Nowadays, why do people have so much trouble in getting along with others? The root cause is that we men have no truth. And after being corrupted by Satan, we are full of Satan’s corrupt disposition, and thereby we involuntarily develop prejudices against others and are filled with hatred of others. Only if we have the truth can our corrupt disposition be resolved, And only in this way can we live in harmony with others.” Then she found a passage of God’s words and asked me to read, “Only the soul of each person knows how they have experienced Satan’s temptations, affliction, and corruption. These things are unknowable to the flesh of man. Therefore, mankind unwittingly becomes ever darker, ever filthier, and ever more evil, while the distance between man and Myself grows ever greater, and life becomes ever darker for mankind” (“A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)”). After reading, she went on to fellowship about it, “After being corrupted by Satan, we men are arrogant and haughty by nature and do not know ourselves. We all think of ourselves as good persons, and believe that in everything, we are right, while others wrong. Living according to our corrupt disposition, as soon as something touches upon our personal interests, we will fight with each other, and demand from each other a tooth for a tooth. We have not even the basic love, patience, and understanding, so that we cannot get along with others and family members become enemies. This is the result of our corruption by Satan.” After listening to the sister’s fellowship, I understood that my hatred toward my second sister-in-law was due to Satan’s corruption of me. No wonder I had lived in great bitterness.

One day, I saw these words from God, “The Chinese nation, corrupted for thousands of years, has survived until today, every manner of “virus” advancing without cease, spreading everywhere like the plague; just looking at people’s relationships is enough to see how many ‘germs’ lurk within people. It is extremely difficult for God to develop His work in such a tightly closed and virus-infected area. People’s personalities, habits, the way they do things, everything they express in their lives and their interpersonal relationships—they are all in tatters….” (“The Path … (6)”). The Sermons and Fellowship on Entry Into Life says: “If a person doesn’t seek the truth, then it’ll be quite difficult for him to cope with those domestic trivialities. … Having no truth, he suffers in his life. All food seems void of flavor to him and he sleeps badly. Having no truth, he also suffers when contacting others. He is incapable of getting on well with anyone else. Having no truth, he can even give himself a hard time and constantly blame himself. …Lacking the truth, he is unable to socialize with others, as he always finds fault with others, thinking others have this fault or that fault. Over time, he starts fighting with others. Tell me, if a person is without the truth, will he suffer? He’s really suffering. He can’t get along with anyone for long, and is constantly in conflict with everyone around him. That’s quite a disturbing thing.” From this I could see that after we men had been corrupted by Satan, we are all filled with satanic poisons. As a result, everyone lives for his personal benefits, face, and position. We scheme against one another, have jealousy and strife with one another, and make a fuss over every little thing, without any humanity and reason. I thought back to the past. When there was no conflict of interests between my second sister-in-law and me, we could get along well with each other. But when it came to our personal interests, we were not okay. It was due to the household expenses that there was a conflict between us. She misunderstood me and thought that I kept the money secretly, so she had an opinion of me and spread it to our village. And I, who had always gone by the phrases, “A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,” and “A wild goose leaves behind a voice; a man leaves behind a reputation,” resented her because my face and reputation were tarnished. What’s more, I formed a stubborn enmity to her, and I even seized upon the very small matter—our children’s fighting with each other, to vent my wrath on her, and was unmerciful to her with my words, completely losing my reason. For such a long time, I was so tortured by these trivial matters every day that I was exhausted both mentally and physically. I sank into the abyss of suffering, unable to extricate myself. The satanic corrupt disposition really did a great deal of harm to me! Accordingly, I went before God in prayer, “Oh, Almighty God! I’m willing to put aside my hatred to my second sister-in-law. May You help me….” After the prayer, feeling much released and gratified in my heart, I went to sleep easily at night. When I had meetings with her again, I no longer felt so embarrassed.

Later, however, she did not come to the meetings. I thought, “Could it be that she doesn’t come because of not wanting to face me? If I actively go to fetch her, maybe she will come. So I prayed to God, “God! I want to gather together with my second sister-in-law, but I cannot put aside my self-respect to fetch her. I’m very afraid that she will ignore me and my face will be harmed. May you give me faith, so that I can have courage to face her….”After the prayer, I saw the following words of God, “People have a normal relationship with each other, they do not stand alone, and their lives are neither mediocre nor decadent. So, too, is God exalted among all; His words permeate among man, people live in peace with one another and under the care and protection of God, the earth is filled with harmony, without the interference of Satan, and the glory of God holds the utmost importance among man. Such people are like angels: pure, vibrant, never complaining about God, and devoting all their efforts solely to God’s glory on earth.” Through God’s words, I understood that God wants us to maintain a normal relationship with each other, to come together and communicate the truth, and to practice the truth. He hopes that we can conduct ourselves and do things according to His words, put down our personal prejudice to live in harmony together, that we can love, forgive and understand each other, help and support each other and not go it alone, and that we can live out a normal humanity rather than act according to the satanic poisons. Only when we act in this way can we bear witness to God and put Satan to shame.

My second sister-in-law failed to turn up again in the subsequent meetings. I silently prayed to God to give me strength, so that I could let go of myself and practice the truth. After praying, I came to her door and said to her, “We have started our meeting, but you’re not there yet, so I come to call you.” “I’ll be right there,” answered her. I never thought when I was willing to go call her, she didn’t take no notice of me as I had expected. At this moment, I felt a great release in my heart.

From then on, whenever I had time I would go to talk with her, and tried to understand her difficulties. Therefore, our relationship got much closer. When it was time to have meetings, we three sisters-in-law would actively sit together, read the words of God, and communicate our understanding and knowledge of the truth. During a meeting one time, we read two passages of words, “Born into such a filthy land, man has been severely blighted by society, he has been influenced by feudal ethics, and he has been taught at ‘institutes of higher learning.’ The backward thinking, corrupt morality, mean view on life, despicable philosophy for living, utterly worthless existence, and depraved lifestyle and customs—all of these things have severely intruded upon man’s heart, and severely undermined and attacked his conscience. As a result, man is ever more distant from God, and ever more opposed to Him” (“To Have an Unchanged Disposition Is to Be in Enmity to God”). “This kind of person is so selfish and self-interested that he cares about nobody but himself. … With a petty mind, he is always arguing over his own personal gain and loss, and once he stands to lose little, he will be shamed into anger and start railing against Heaven and earth. This is the manifestation of those who are with low integrity.” (The Fellowship From the Above). After reading them, I said to my second sister-in-law with shame, “Only through these words do I realize that I am a selfish person, who is narrow-minded and always fuss over things. Because I always lived by the thinking of ‘A tree lives with its bark; a man lives with his face,’ and ‘A wild goose leaves behind a voice; a man leaves behind a reputation,’ I felt distressed and rarely could forgive once my nature was touched. I always haggled over every penny, and even developed a hatred for you. I was also unmerciful to you with my words. …” Then she also fellowshiped, “Actually, I was also living in reliance on satanic poison, such as ‘Everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost.’ I only counted my money and considered my personal gains and losses. Consequently, my prejudice against you increased by the day. … Today, if it were not for God’s work of salvation that He has done upon us, we would never set aside our prejudices against each other. This is really the salvation of God.”

Afterward, our relationship grew a lot further closer. She knew I didn’t have much money, so she took good care of me in daily life. Sometimes when she went out early, I would do more housework, such as doing laundry, cooking meals, watering vegetables, and so forth. And so would she if I went out early. Later, we three also went out together to perform our duty and then gathered together sharing with each other what we had gained after returning home at night. Our relationship was getting better and better.

One day, one of our neighbors asked me in puzzlement, “Xiaoyi, hasn’t there been any bad blood between you and your second sister-in-law? How could you get along so well now?” “The past is the past, but the present day is not like the past,” said I, smilingly. While I was talking, another neighbor also said with a smile, “In our village, only they three sisters-in-law get along well with each other.” Hearing this, I smiled and thought: All of this is God’s salvation for us. My son also said, “Mom, you’ve changed a lot since you believed in God. You don’t maintain a straight face as you did in the past. And now you smile more.” Thank God! The changes I have attained today are the fruits of God’s words. Just as God says, “The word ‘words’ may be simple and ordinary, but the words spoken from the mouth of the incarnate God shake the universe, they transform people’s hearts, transform their notions and old dispositions…; He does not work wonders or perform miracles, but merely does His work through words. Because of these words, man is nourished and supplied, and gains knowledge and true experience. In the Age of Word, man has been exceptionally blessed” (“The Age of Kingdom Is the Age of Word”).

By Sun Liang

Wang Hao opened the door after a tiring day, what he saw was the messy dining table scattered with some instant noodles packaging and a bowl of leftover soup. Thinking that his son ate instant noodles everyday, Wang Hao felt upset. He kept repeating in his heart: “Why can’t you apologize to me? Wouldn’t it be nice if you apologize early?” At this time, Wang Hao’s thoughts went back to one month ago …

Ning Ning is already twenty plus years old; without discussing with him Wang Hao borrowed money and bought him a new house for his marriage. Then, he also told his son to give him half of his salary to repay for the house. The first month, his son did give half of his salary, which made Wang Hao feel happy. In the second month, Wang Hao thought: As long as my son gives me half of his salary this month, plus the money that I have saved, I can repay some debts. But things didn’t go as he wanted. In the second month, his son refused to give him his money. He then asked his son bewilderedly, his son said: “I just don’t want to pay.” Because his plan was disrupted, Wang Hao felt angry, but he suppressed his anger, and taught his son a “lesson”: “Ning Ning, you’ve already grown up, why are you still immature? Why do you spend money recklessly? Don’t you know how to spend money at the right place? We should learn to save money, and pay our debts as soon as possible.” But unexpectedly, his son replied impatiently: “I earned the money, so I can spend the money however I want. I don’t care if you buy a house. In truth, I didn’t ask you to buy it. I listened to everything you said since I was young and you decided everything for me. You never give me any freedom.” This reply made Wang Hao’s anger explode. He yelled: “Isn’t my buying the house for you? Without you, do I need to buy a house? You are so immature!” After this argument, Wang Hao didn’t want to say anything to his son and he couldn’t calm his heart down. Thinking he has paid so much effort for his son, but his son didn’t understand him and still argued with him, he felt so upset. Before, his son never dared to contradict him. This unexpected argument made Wang Hao feel his dignity as a father had been hurt.

Wang Had recalled: When his son visited his grandfather when he was five, his grandparents loved him so much and let him play whatever he wanted. But Wang Hao thought his son was too naughty. Worrying that his parents will spoil his son too much, Wang Hao decided to take his son back home, but his son started crying and refused to go back home. Wang Hao then slapped his son angrily. Finally, his son had no choice but to apologize to him with tears and pouted back home. When his son was ten years old, he went out with his cousin. Wang Hao set a curfew for him, and asked him to get back home early. That evening his son got back home late. Wang Hao scolded him and forced him to admit he was wrong, and promise not to do it again. Although, his son looked unhappy, he had no choice but to admit his wrong doing. Afterwards, when his son was in junior high school, Wang Hao thought that it was not safe for him to travel on his own; his son would play games when he was home, so he decided to let his son live on campus. His son refused because he didn’t like the environment in school for it was not as clean as his home. But things that Wang Hao had decided were hard to change. Although, his son was reluctant, he had to agree with him. Wang Hao even chose a profession for his son in college. All those years, no matter what Wang Hao asked his son to do, even though his son was reluctant, but he didn’t dare to rebel against his father, so Wang Hao got used to his son’s apology. This time he still waited for his son to apologize to him. But things didn’t go as he expected. Many days have passed, his son always ignored him. His son’s action showed his dissatisfaction against Wang Hao, which made Wang Hao even more angry. He wanted to give his son a lesson. So when his wife was on a business trip, he didn’t cook for his son, because he wanted to force his son to apologize to him. But his stubborn son still didn’t admit his mistakes. The cold war between the father and the son still continued.

Looking at the instant noodles packaging, how Wang Hao longed for his son to apologize, so that he could also find a reason to forgive him, but his son would rather continue this situation than apologize to him. Wang Hao also thought to forgive his son, but he couldn’t put down his dignity as the father. It was too hard for him to reconcile with his son. When he was struggling, he thought of God’s words he had read before, so he quickly opened the book. God’s word says: “Though quite a few people believe in God, may appear on the outside to be very spiritual, but with regard to the views and attitudes of parents toward children and of children toward parents, they are clueless about how to put this aspect of the truth into practice, as well as about which principles should be applied in treating and dealing with these matters. In a parent’s eyes, the parent is always a parent and the child is always a child; as such, the relationship between parent and child becomes very difficult to deal with. Actually, in a lot of things, parents refuse to budge from their status as parents. They always see themselves as the elders, and they think that at all times, children must listen to their parents, and that this fact will never change. This leads to constant resistance from their children. Such viewpoints leave both sides miserable, wretched, and exhausted. Is this not a manifestation of not understanding the truth? When people do not understand the truth, they are always constrained by status. How could they not suffer as a result?”

After reading God’s words, Wang Hao was shocked, thinking: “God’s words are too practical. It’s like the words are referring to myself, isn’t that what I am? I always use my power as a father in front of my son, and force him to listen to me. I always use the tone of blame when I communicate with him, and always think that everything I have done for him is right, is all for his own good, and that he should understand me, and accept it.” Then Wang Hao thought: No matter what his son did when he was young, he didn’t give him freedom, and even set curfew for him when he played outside; when his son made mistakes, he would scold him without asking any reason; now he has already grown up, and has his own thoughts, and he wants to buy things he likes, chooses the profession he likes, however, Wang Hao didn’t respect his son’s opinions, or understood his difficulties, and his feelings. He just forced his son to accept his preferences, but didn’t think to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son, or rely on God’s words to enlighten his son, bringing him before God. He always uses his power as a father, uses his own view to educate his son. No wonder, as the time goes, their relationship becomes more and more estranged, and the generation gap gets deeper. At this time, Wang Hao was awakened. He realized the importance of the problem. He really wanted to remove the generation gap between him and his son and get along well with him. But because of the dignity as a father, he still didn’t have the courage to have a heart-to-heart talk with his son.

When he was struggling, he began to find the right path to practice in God’s words. He saw God’s words say: “In such cases, then, how is the truth to be practiced? (By letting go of yourself.) What does letting go mean? With what sort of viewpoint and attitude should you treat this matter in order to genuinely let go? How do you implement this letting go? It is actually pretty simple. You must be an ordinary person, and not constrained by status. Treat your children and other members of your family the same as you would ordinary brothers or sisters. Although you have a responsibility toward them, and a relationship of the flesh with them, nevertheless, the position and perspective you should have is the same as you should have with friends or ordinary brothers and sisters. You absolutely must not stand in the position of a parent, and must not hold your children back, fetter them, or try to control everything about them. You should treat them as equals. You should allow them to make mistakes, to say the wrong things, to do childish and immature things, and to do stupid things. No matter what happens, you should sit down and calmly talk with them, and seek the truth. In this way, you will be talking to them with the right attitude, and the problem will be resolved. What are you letting go of here? You are letting go of the position and status of a parent, the airs of a parent, and all of the responsibility you think you should assume as a parent; instead, it is enough that you do the best you can in terms of responsibility as an ordinary brother or sister. … Furthermore, many parents think that as long as it is for their children’s sake, whatever they do is right. They truly have such thoughts and points of view. How could you not make mistakes? You, too, are a corrupted human, so how can you determine that you are without error? As long as you admit that you do not possess the truth and that you are a corrupted human, then you have faults and can make mistakes. You are capable of making mistakes—yet how is it that at every turn, you try to take charge of your children and make them constantly obey you? Is this not an arrogant disposition? This is an arrogant disposition, and a ferocious one at that.” Wang Hao pondered God’s words, and realized that he always treated his son strictly, didn’t allow him to go wrong, but he never reflected on himself whether he was right or wrong. He always forced his son to obey him, thinking what he had done was good for his son and that his son should listen to him unconditionally. He never thought of letting go of the position and status of a parent, and listened to any of his son’s opinions. He finally realized that he was too arrogant! From God’s words, Wang Hao saw God’s essence is beautiful, and that the truth expressed by God is all positive, which includes God’s love for man and His thoughtful intention. God wishes to see that all human beings can obtain the truth under His watering, have a better relationship with others, and live out a normal humanity with happiness, not tormented or fooled by Satan anymore. Wang Hao thought: Although he believed in God, he didn’t understand God’s heart, nor did he practice God’s words. He was controlled by satanic disposition, and always did things that disappointed God. The more he thought about it, the more uncomfortable and guilty he felt, so he encouraged himself to put down his dignity as a father and practice God’s words. He didn’t want to live relying on arrogant disposition anymore. He decided to talk to his son, and apologize for all the harm he caused to him in the past few years.

Wang Hao walked to his son’s door, however, he wandered for some time there. Every time when he wanted to open the door, his vanity started to work. He still couldn’t lower himself down. So he went back to his room and prayed: “O God! I want to put down the dignity as a father, and put down the vanity inside me to practice your words, but my corruption is so deep, and it’s too hard for me to lower myself down. O God! Please give me power, so that I can defeat my corrupt dispositions …” After praying, Wang Hao had the power to practice the truth. He took a deep breathe, opened his son’s door, sat beside his son and said gently, “Ning Ning, let’s have a heart-to-heart conversation.” Ning Ning was stunned for a moment. A little embarrassed, he looked at Wang Hao and then lowered his head down, pretending to play with his phone. Wang Hao said, “I have been too harsh on you, never considered or understood your thoughts, but forced you to do things that I asked you to do. If you don’t listen to me, I will get angry. I am too arrogant.” His son listened attentively. Seeing his son’s attitude towards him get better, Wang Hao paused for a while and continued saying: “I always think that since you are my son, I can control you. No matter what I do, as long as I think it is something good for you, you should listen, and I always force to add my own opinions to you, decide everything for you, not listening to your opinions and your ideas. For all these years, I kept controlling over you. But from now on, I will not do this again. If something happens, we can discuss it together.” His son was ashamed of himself, looking at his father with a smile on his face, and the hate in his eyes disappeared. He said, because he bought a new game console, he did not leave much money this month. He didn’t dare to tell the truth, but promised to pay half of his salary next month. After hearing that, Wang Hao felt relaxed. Their relationship got closer. At that time, Wang Hao remembered that his son did not eat well for many days already, then he raised his voice purposely: “Ning Ning, what do you want to eat? I will buy for you!” He never expected that his son replied: “Let us not spend money, just cook at home.” His son didn’t like his cooking. If it was in the past, his son would not hesitate and say what he wanted to eat and let Wang Hao go to buy for him. That day, his son wanted to eat the food that he cooked, which really made Wang Hao touched. He realized his son was not immature, but he and his son lacked communication, and he was not willing to lower himself down. All of these brought harm to his son, and also caused generation gap.

After they had a heart-to-heart conversation, the generation gap between them disappeared. Wang Hao felt relieved, and had an unspeakable happy. He recalled that when he saw his son and his wife talk happily, he envied them very much. Now Wang Hao can also open his heart and talk to his son, their relationship becomes closer. Sometimes they also fellowship God’s words together, and he doesn’t ask his son to do things according to his will. He never expected that his son would become more cautious and obedient than before. After experiencing this matter, Wang Hao knows that only by practicing God’s words can he have a normal humanity, and have a good relationship with his son. It is God’s word that changed him.

By Qainbei

Later, we read another passage of God’s words, “In the last days, Christ uses a variety of truths to teach man, to expose the substance of man, and to dissect the words and deeds of man. These words comprise various truths, such as man’s duty, how man should obey God, how man should be loyal to God, how man ought to live out normal humanity, as well as the wisdom and the disposition of God, and so on. These words are all directed at the substance of man and his corrupt disposition. In particular, the words that expose how man spurns God are spoken in regard to how man is an embodiment of Satan, and an enemy force against God. … What the work of judgment brings about is man’s understanding of the true face of God and the truth about his own rebelliousness. The work of judgment allows man to gain much understanding of the will of God, of the purpose of God’s work, and of the mysteries that are incomprehensible to him. It also allows man to recognize and know his corrupt essence and the roots of his corruption, as well as to discover the ugliness of man. These effects are all brought about by the work of judgment, for the essence of this work is actually the work of opening up the truth, the way, and the life of God to all those who have faith in Him. This work is the work of judgment done by God” (“Christ Does the Work of Judgment With the Truth”).

In the fellowship, my brothers and sisters said that during God’s work of judgment in the last days, God uses various truths to judge and cleanse man. Through the judgment and chastisement of God’s words, God wants us to have a true knowledge of our own corrupt nature and see the fact that we have been corrupted by Satan. At the same time, God also reveals to us His unoffendable, righteous and holy disposition to make us have reverence for Him. Only in God’s words of judgment can we detest and hate our own disposition of Satan, and thus have the resolve to pursue the truth. Meanwhile, we will be willing to pursue practicing God’s words and live out the likeness of a genuine man in accordance with the requirements of God’s words; also, we will be willing to accept the judgment and chastisement of God’s words so as to break away from the bondage of sins and be saved and cleansed by God. All these results are achieved by undergoing the judgment and chastisement of God’s words.

Through this fellowship, it became obvious to me: The root cause of my being unable to get along well with my wife is that we have been corrupted by Satan, and controlled by our satanic nature and that what we have lived out are all corrupt dispositions. If I really want to solve our problem, I must accept God’s judgment and chastisement, through which I will know myself, change myself, and live out the likeness of a genuine human. I was very excited within that I saw the hope of settling the conflicts between my wife and me. Afterward, I testified to my wife about the work of God in the last days. Beyond my expectations, after hearing it, she felt it was rather reasonable. She wanted to know more and asked me to hurriedly contact the church for her. Through a period of investigation, my wife also accepted God’s work in the last days.

The Genuine Peace

When we had just accepted the work of God, we still had disputes. Subsequently, a sister found for us a passage of sermons and fellowship: “Presently, everybody’s interpersonal relationships are abnormal. The main reason for this is that people have been corrupted by Satan very deeply and their integrity is extremely flawed. Men seek nothing but profit and try to benefit at other people’s expense in everything that they do. They are guided by their own individual intentions and goals in all matters. People live for themselves and for their flesh. They are absolutely not concerned at all about others and they do not even have the loving emotions that they should possess. Men fight and scheme against each other and they do so both openly and covertly. There is no way for mankind to get along with one another in a normal fashion. The conscience and rationality that man should possess has vanished from the face of the earth. There is no spirit of cooperation amongst mankind. Without a little bit of patience, people would be enemies with one another. Man’s heart is filled with evil, conflict, hostility and irreconcilable differences. It’s as if man does not have the image of human being at all. He is completely possessed by Satan and his inner heart is filled with Satan’s philosophy. All of this has been revealed by God’s words and there is absolutely nothing wrong about it. These real situations exist in everybody. … In order for people to interact normally with one another, they must possess a few principles of practice. These principles should not only include not taking advantage of others, not harming others, but having some love. They further include having a conscience and rationality, helping one another, showing tolerance to one another, caring for others, letting others benefit in all situations, considering others, not just caring about yourself, showing compassion for others’ weaknesses, and forgiving the transgressions of others. If we have these few principles, we will be able to build a normal relationship with others and we will be able to live in harmony with each other” (“The Fellowship From the Above”).

Through reading the fellowship, we realized that after being corrupted by Satan, our natures are the same—arrogant, selfish, and deceitful. When things happen, all that we consider are our own interests, all that we see are other people’s problems but we seldom examine ourselves. Therefore, we have no normal interpersonal relationships with others. Accordingly, both my wife and I tried to lower ourselves, not asking the other to act according to our own ideas. We learned to understand and show much empathy for the difficulties of each other.

Gradually, we had less and less disputes. Even though there were arguments occasionally, we would sit together in communion and lay bare what we had thought and why we would get angry with each other. By openly communicating, I sensed my extreme arrogance. I never examined and knew myself when things happened, but fixated my eyes on her, always finding fault with her. In the past, I always assumed that the reason for our quarreling was because of the high requirements and bad temper of my wife, but I didn’t realize that I had shown no sincere empathy and consideration for her. At the same time, my wife also became aware that she liked imagining and harboring suspicion when things happened, without any trust in me. Understanding these suspicions were from Satan, she was determined to forsake her own suspicions and imaginations. After that, when she, faced with things, wanted to harbor suspicions, she would pray to God and penetrate Satan’s schemes under the leadership of God’s words, and she would not suspect me or lose her temper with me. At the sight of the fact that she finally relied on God and defeated Satan under the guidance of God’s words, I was full of gratitude to God within.

Nowadays, we communicate with each other more frequently. We have also learned to evaluate situations according to God’s words, respect God above all others and let Him reign in our family; we know that we cannot ask each other to obey ourselves because none of our viewpoints are the truth. When facing issues, we look for relevant words of God to see how God sees them, and then put God’s words into practice. When we do so, our relationship becomes more and more harmonious. This makes me see that God’s work of the last days actually can change us and recover our normal humanity. Thank  God for His salvation of me and of my family!

The End.

Part One: I Have Finally Found the Way of Promoting Marital Harmony (I)

By Qianbei

Sweet Coupledom

In Malaysia, every year during the Lantern Festival, many places have the event “throwing of mandarin oranges.” On that day, many single girls will write their telephone numbers or contact information on mandarin oranges and then throw them into the rivers, in hopes of finding a good husband. If some young man picks one up, then both sides will have a date and gossip over tea, or they will meet each other on the spot and leave their contact information to each other. And it was in this way that I got acquainted with my wife.

Not long after we got to know each other and took to each other, we married. After getting married, I decided to give my wife a happy family and make her no longer feel lonely.

Fights After Marriage

However, things were far from being as simple as I had imagined. Just after our marriage, all kinds of conflicts began to occur between us. In order to have my family live a happy life, I contracted one mu (0.16 acre) of land to grow vegetables. At four o’clock every morning I would leave home to sell vegetables and only at around seven o’clock in the evening was I back home. My wife was also out from dawn till dusk. Because I was tired out after working all day long, I only said a few words to her when she came back home, and then I went to sleep. As for the problems and troubles she encountered during her work, I was less concerned about them. Apart from holidays, we seldom had heart to heart talks with each other at ordinary times. Later, there were some misunderstandings between us, so we often quarreled with each other over some tiny matters. She complained that I didn’t look after her or care about her feelings. Realizing my own mistakes and also thinking of my promise to her in the beginning, I tried to care for and understand her.

Afterward, each time she came back from work, I, seeing her unhappy or worried about something, would actively show concern for her. But every time my wife would fretfully say, “Even if I tell you, you don’t understand. No more questions.” Whenever hearing her say this, I felt very uncomfortable within, and thought: “If I don’t ask, you will say I don’t care about you; I ask but you say it is none of my business. What do you want me to do?” Having hit a wall several times, I no longer asked anything when seeing her unhappy or worried. And when I saw her unhappy, I kept away from her to avoid provoking her.

Gradually, there were more and more estrangements between us. We often quarreled about some tiny matters and it was becoming more and more frequent. For example, sometimes, while I was working, if she asked me about something but I didn’t answer, then we would quarrel; sometimes when I was driving, she would suddenly put forward a question, but because I didn’t react instantly and give her a response, she would quarrel with me. She complained about my paying no attention to her. Accordingly, she would then throw her bag, or other things, and so on. In the beginning I showed patience, but when she quarreled with me unceasingly, I couldn’t help but have a bitter quarrel with her. Consequently we quarreled more bitterly. In the end I was out of options and all I could do was keep quiet and wait for her to recover her temper. Sometimes, we would give each other the silent treatment for two or three days, sometimes for as long as a week.

After every quarrel, she would go to her friend’s place to have a chat and not until early in the morning would she return home. Once, after getting home from work and finishing my housework, my wife still hadn’t come back. So, I called her but the call couldn’t go through. It was after two o’clock in the morning when she came back. At that moment, I was filled with anger. Following that, we started quarreling. She was so angry that she wanted to leave with our marriage certificate. During the process of quarreling, I carelessly hurt her wrist, causing her to suffer a hairline fracture in her wrist. When seeing her in pain, I was deeply remorseful and uncomfortable. I would often think to myself: “Why are we always squabbling? Can’t we live well?” After that, our quarrels were patched up for a while. However, the estrangements between us remained unresolved.

Bitterly Looking for the Good Medicine

In April, 2016, my wife accepted the Lord Jesus’ gospel. In order to have a common topic with her and increase communication between us, I believed in the Lord together with her. In a gathering, hearing a pastor talk about how the Lord Jesus loved man and was even crucified for man, until His last drop of blood was drained away, I was shocked by the Lord’s great love and determined to believe in Him properly. Later on, in the Bible, I saw the Lord’s teachings—to love others as ourselves, and forgive others seventy times seven times; I felt the Lord’s mercy is great. So, I followed the example of the Lord Jesus to live out His love. I tried to tolerate my wife; after each quarrel, no matter who did wrong, I took the initiative to apologize to her and coax her into happiness. However, I gradually found that what I had done didn’t work and that my wife had no change. After some time, I felt very unbalanced in my heart, thinking: “I am a man. I also have dignity. I cannot keep doing this.” From then on, no matter how angry she was, I no longer coaxed her into happiness.

Living in such a situation, I was extremely pained, so I prayed to the Lord, “Lord, only You are tolerant of and have pity on man. I am really unable to do it. I beg You to lead me to find a way to solve the conflict between my wife and me.” After my prayer, I went to listen to some pastors’ preaching about marriage on Facebook. After listening to it, I felt that I understood the way they talked about: Never be angry after a quarrel, put ourselves aside and abide by the Lord’s teachings, just as the Bible says that if a person slaps the left side of your face, you should also show your right side for them to slap, and you should forgive others seventy times seven times. However, I thought that way wouldn’t help me at all. I thought it should be good enough that I could forgive my wife three times. If I was always forgiving her but she had no transformation, how long should I forgive her? Although my wife also strived to practice forgiveness and patience, on facing things, she would still burst out, quarreling uncontrollably. Seeing that the religious pastors and elders could not provide me with the real way to solve the problem, I sank into deep distress: Can my wife and I ever get along well with each other?

The Appearance of the Light

In January, 2017, I came across a sister from Hong Kong on Facebook. The truth the sister fellowshiped about was very beneficial to me and solved many problems which confused me in believing in God. Nevertheless, when the sister asked me to attend a meeting with her and other brothers and sisters, I refused because I thought they couldn’t solve the problem between my wife and me. Two months later, I contacted the sister again. She advised that I should not be a person like a frog in a well, but instead should understand more of God’s work. The sister’s word “you should not be a person like a frog in a well” made me have an awakening: “Right, the external world is so big and I should go out to explore. Perhaps there are some ways that can solve the problem between my wife and me.” Therefore, I began attending the meetings.

One day, in a meeting, my brothers and sisters talked about how to be free from sins. Brother Chen said, “We have been redeemed by the Lord Jesus, but why can’t we break free from the bondage of sin?” I was very interested in this topic and very eager to know the answer to it. Following that, Brother Chen let us read several passages of God’s words, “Before man was redeemed, many of Satan’s poisons had already been planted within him and, after thousands of years of being corrupted by Satan, he has within him an established nature that resists God. Therefore, when man has been redeemed, it is nothing more than a case of redemption in which man is bought at a high price, but the poisonous nature within him has not been eliminated. Man that is so defiled must undergo a change before becoming worthy to serve God. By means of this work of judgment and chastisement, man will fully come to know the filthy and corrupt essence within his own self, and he will be able to change completely and become clean. Only in this way can man become worthy to return before the throne of God” (“The Mystery of the Incarnation (4)”).

“Though Jesus did much work among man, He only completed the redemption of all mankind and became man’s sin offering; He did not rid man of all his corrupt disposition. Fully saving man from the influence of Satan not only required Jesus to become the sin offering and bear the sins of man, but it also required God to do even greater work to rid man completely of his satanically corrupted disposition. And so, now that man has been forgiven of his sins, God has returned to the flesh to lead man into the new age, and begun the work of chastisement and judgment. This work has brought man into a higher realm. All those who submit under His dominion shall enjoy higher truth and receive greater blessings. They shall truly live in the light, and they shall gain the truth, the way, and the life” (“What It Means to Truly Believe in God”).

Then the brother communicated: “Though the Lord Jesus bore and forgave our sins by Him being nailed to the cross, in the Age of Grace the Lord Jesus only did the work of redemption. That is, our nature of committing sins hasn’t been solved, so we still sin and often resist God. From when we were corrupted by Satan, Satan’s poisons had already been planted within us, and thus we have satanic nature. Controlled by the nature of Satan, we have become crafty, arrogant, and consider ourselves to be the most honorable. We have no tolerance and patience toward others, being unable to get along in harmony. What we live out are all corrupt dispositions. The Bible says, ‘For the wages of sin is death’ (Romans 6:23). Thus, in order to rid us of these satanic corrupt dispositions and make us break away from the binding of sin, God has expressed His words to do His work of judgment and chastisement in His second incarnation.”

At that time, I came to realize that the reason I cannot overcome the bondage of sin is actually because I have satanic corrupt dispositions and Satan’s toxins within me and these natures of Satan have become my life. Without God’s judgment and chastisement, my satanic dispositions cannot be cleansed and my life disposition cannot be transformed. Only by accepting God’s judgment and chastisement can I truly break away from the fetters of sin and live out the likeness of a true human. I had benefited enormously from such a fellowship. However, I still did not understand how God does His work of judgment. As a result, I wanted to gain a further knowledge of it.

To Be Continued …

Part Two: I Have Finally Found the Way of the Promoting Marital Harmony (II)