How to Pursue the Truth (12)

What topic did we fellowship about last time? We fellowshipped about some specific manifestations of three aspects—innate conditions, humanity, and corrupt dispositions. We discussed these specific manifestations, and in this way discerned which of the three aspects they belong to. If you see these manifestations we fellowshipped about in daily life, you can basically characterize and categorize them—whether they belong to innate conditions, to humanity, or to corrupt dispositions. As for the manifestations that were not fellowshipped about, do you now know how to categorize them according to these principles or according to the essence they manifest? (We feel we are somewhat better at this than before—we are able to ponder along these lines, but we have not yet fully reached the point of being able to discern.) You can generally discern the manifestations we fellowshipped about, but as for those that were not fellowshipped about and have no connection at all to the previously fellowshipped manifestations, you do not know whether you are able to discern them. (Right.) In the past few sermons, we fellowshipped about some manifestations of interests, hobbies, and strengths within innate conditions, as well as the issues regarding these aspects that get manifested in people. We also fellowshipped about the attitude and the path of practice that people should have regarding these issues, as well as God’s requirements for people who possess interests, hobbies, and strengths. Fellowshipping about this is mainly to tell people the thoughts and viewpoints they should have—along with the path of practice they should understand—regarding interests, hobbies, and strengths, as well as the intentions and requirements of God involving these aspects that they should understand. Regarding the issues of interests, hobbies, and strengths, we only fellowshipped in a general sense and did not specifically fellowship about what erroneous thoughts and viewpoints people have in these regards, what erroneous paths of practice they may take, or what erroneous understandings they have concerning God’s requirements in this regard. So, let us now fellowship in detail the specific issues that people should understand regarding interests, hobbies, and strengths based on these issues that people have.

Have you noticed what fallacious understandings or distorted comprehensions regarding interests, hobbies, and strengths you have? For most issues, is it the case that you understand only as far as I fellowship, and afterward, you neither ponder nor compare what was said against the things in your lives, yet you feel that you understand everything and regard the issues as very simple? First, think about this question: Is there a difference between interests and hobbies, and strengths? (Yes.) What is the difference? If you can see that there is a difference, in what way are they different? (Having an interest and hobby just means that a person really likes a certain thing, it does not necessarily mean that they possess a strength in that area.) The main points of distinction have been basically stated—that is more or less how it is. From the perspective of humanity, interests and hobbies refer to a person being interested in a particular type of specialized activity or kind of thing, being willing to pay attention to or engage in them. That is, their personal preference is relatively inclined toward the things they’re interested in and passionate about. They don’t just have a slight liking for the professional skills in this regard but are greatly interested in them, surpassing the level of liking or love they might have toward ordinary things. This is what interests and hobbies are. However, regarding the type of specialized activity or thing they are interested in and passionate about, in terms of their caliber, whether they are adept at it, whether they can do it well, and to what level they can do it—none of this is certain. Therefore, interests and hobbies refer to the things people are interested in and like, things they are willing to frequently engage with and willing to spend time and energy paying attention to and doing in daily life. As for how well they can do these things, that depends on their caliber and whether they are adept at them. Suppose this thing is something they are especially interested in and passionate about, and at the same time, they are also adept at it—that is, on top of being interested in and passionate about this thing, they can also do it very well, achieve significant results, and attain great accomplishments. In other words, their adeptness in this interest and hobby surpasses that of the average person, and their perceptiveness, learning speed, and the speed at which they grasp principles in this area exceed those of the average person. When such manifestations are present, this is referred to as having a strength. Other people may need to go through formal, long-term professional training, education, knowledge acquisition, and practice, and receive guidance, leadership, vetting, standardization, and advice from relevant professionals, among other such things, before they can independently do something well. However, people with strengths generally have a certain level of perceptiveness in the professional skills they are adept at without undergoing professional training or systematic learning. They possess some practical understanding, hands-on experience, or personal achievements in this area. And with professional training, their strength in this area can reach an even higher level. In short, having a strength means being highly adept at the things one is interested in and passionate about, surpassing the average person. What does being “adept” mean? (Having a strength in a certain area, being relatively knowledgeable about these things, and handling them with effortless proficiency.) Being adept at something is not just about being knowledgeable about it; rather, it means having an outstanding aptitude and a relatively strong innate talent in this area. Even without pointers from others, they can get things that others cannot comprehend. And combined with formal training or instruction from a renowned teacher, they can do even better in this area. When speaking of having a strength, it means that one is particularly strong in a certain interest or hobby, with an exceptional aptitude in this area. Their comprehension ability, their perceptiveness, and their learning ability in this area are all exceptionally strong, and they grasp it very quickly. They are noticeably adept in this area compared to the average person. This is what is meant by having a strength.

Now that you understand what strengths are, let’s talk about interests and hobbies. What is the difference between interests and hobbies, and strengths? Are interests and hobbies the same as strengths? (They are not the same.) Why are interests and hobbies not the same as strengths? (Because being interested in something does not necessarily mean being able to do it well, nor does it necessarily mean being adept at it; furthermore, it does not necessarily mean that one can comprehend that thing so quickly.) Having interests and hobbies means that you like a certain category of things, but whether it is your strength depends on your comprehension ability, your learning ability, and your perceptiveness as they pertain to this area, as well as your natural aptitude in this area, and whether you are naturally adept at it. If you are adept at it, then it is your strength. If you are not adept at it and it is merely a personal preference—an area you are interested in—but your caliber is poor, and your natural aptitude is lacking, meaning you have little comprehension ability in regard to this interest and hobby of yours, are not adept at it at all, do it clumsily, lack efficiency and obtain no results in this area, then this area is not your strength—it only remains at the level of an interest and hobby for you. Why is it only your interest and hobby and not your strength? Because you are not adept at it. For example, some people say, “I really love singing.” How much do they love it? From the moment they open their eyes in the morning, they play pop songs; they listen to all kinds of songs, including foreign songs and Western and Chinese operas—anything that counts as music, they love listening to. They also want to sing, but there is a big problem—they are naturally tone-deaf or simply do not have a strength in this area. There are also people who, even after studying singing for several years, still cannot find the right techniques. They do not know how to sing in the most pleasant way, how to make their singing moving, or how to achieve good results through their singing. Although they have loved singing since childhood, and it is one of their interests and hobbies, due to the limitations of their innate conditions, their interest and hobby can only remain at the level of an interest and hobby—it is not a strength. For example, when a person who’s adept at singing learns a hymn, they can sing the main melody after only singing it about three times. And after four or five times, they can basically sing the entire song. However, those who enjoy listening to songs but are not adept at singing may still be unable to remember the general melody after listening three times. Even after five times, they may still not be able to sing it yet and constantly need to look at the lyrics or sheet music. When it comes to actually singing, they can’t get a feel for the song or find the right vocal placement. They also fail to remember the lyrics, and sometimes, they even go off melody. Additionally, when singing relatively emotional songs, they can never properly control the expression of emotions. Others say that their singing is unpleasant to listen to and not enjoyable, but they do not get discouraged or give up—they still persist in learning and singing. Of course, singing is a personal freedom and a personal right; no one is restricting them. However, what we are fellowshipping about today is the difference between interests and hobbies, and strengths. Judging from these manifestations, their interest and hobby is not something they are adept at. So why do we have to fellowship clearly about this matter? To help people understand that their interests and hobbies are not the same as their strengths. If, based on all aspects of your innate conditions, you are not adept in a certain area, then even if it is your interest and hobby, the limitations of your innate conditions determine that your interest and hobby is not your strength. Although you really like it, even to the point that you love it as dearly as your own life, unfortunately, it is just not what you are adept at. For example, some people really love dancing. Whenever they hear music, their bodies start moving along with the beat and melody, and they feel quite pleased as they move. However, their natural looks are not good, they are not very tall, their limbs are not particularly long, and their physique is not particularly elegant. Overall, their dancing is not very visually appealing. But they just like dancing, and sometimes, in public places or on the roadside, they dance with complete self-indulgence. Passersby find it silly, yet they dance as if no one is around, completely unconcerned about how others see them, as if they have no awareness at all. They are obsessed with it to this degree. Although they feel that they dance quite well, in actuality, they are not adept at it. They cannot grasp the essence of dancing, nor do they know which movements are appropriate, which movements are graceful, and which movements are better able to convey different kinds of human emotions. That is, they do not really understand many aspects related to dance. Even with the guidance of a professional teacher and training from a professional school, in terms of their own innate caliber, they are not adept at it and cannot grasp its essence. Therefore, considering all aspects of their innate conditions, dancing, which they love, is not something they are adept at. Even though they really like it and are intoxicated with it, often admiring their own movement and presence when dancing in front of a camera or mirror, if we look at the actual situation, they are not adept at dancing. In other words, dancing is only their interest and hobby, not their strength.

Some people really like literature. They like writing articles and reciting and composing poetry, they like literary forums, and they also like reading novels and various literary works, both foreign and domestic, modern and classical—they like all of these works. They like the various vocabulary terms and linguistic styles that authors use in their literary works, and they also like the different ideas that authors express in their works. Is this their interest and hobby? (Yes.) It is very clear that this is their interest and hobby. What a person likes, what they’re interested in in their heart and mind, is innate—it is not something they acquire later in life, much less is it something cultivated by their parents or family. Some people love literature and have read many literary works. Some have systematically studied literature in university. Some have even worked as professional literature professors, or engaged in work and careers related to literature, even engaging in these careers for a long time; they’ve spent most of their lives dealing with matters related to their interest and hobby; practically each day of their lives has included literature, which they are interested in and passionate about. But does this mean that their interest and hobby is truly their strength? Not necessarily—you have to look at whether they possess knowledge or thoughts and viewpoints in literature that surpass or are distinguished from those of ordinary people. If what they have grasped and comprehended in literature is merely what they have learned from books or consists only of conventional common knowledge that anyone can learn and grasp, then this does not count as a strength. For example, if you ask them to write an article, there are no grammatical errors, punctuation is used correctly, paragraphs are well-structured, and the overall structure of the article is quite good. There is even a lot of flowery language used throughout the article. However, there is one issue—when it comes to expressing a certain thing, a certain viewpoint, or a certain plot, they do not have a unique method of expression, nor do they have particularly artistic or clever methods of expression. These qualities are absent in all of their literary works. That is, their articles appear quite well-structured and highly professional, with carefully chosen words, but they lack the unique method of expressing thoughts and viewpoints, phenomena, or plots that an adept literary practitioner should have. Most of their articles are rather mediocre. Their structure and way of expressing ideas are particularly rigid, stiff, and dogmatic; they are neither innovative nor unique, lack wisdom and cleverness, and certainly cannot be considered elegant. What does this phenomenon indicate? (They are not adept at writing and do not have an aptitude for it.) They are not adept at writing and cannot flexibly craft stories based on the background of events or the prototype of such stories. In the end, when people read their articles and literary works, they all feel monotonous and repetitive, following the same formula. Why do we say they feel monotonous and repetitive? Overall, their articles appear quite well-structured, standardized, and professional; when it comes to technical aspects, the average person would find little to criticize—even the structure is basically always the same. Although they can learn various forms of literary works, including foreign poetry, prose, and narrative writing, they are never capable of adapting or applying them to their own literary creation. This is because their level of literary skill and attainment will always remain at the level of interests and hobbies, never reaching the level of a strength. It is possible that they have great knowledge of literature, but they don’t really have any literary attainment. In other words, they don’t really have any innovation in literature, they cannot possibly produce any representative works of their own, and they lack unique thoughts and viewpoints and a unique way of expression. This proves that literature is not their strength. They possess learning and common knowledge about literature only because this area is their interest and hobby, but they do not have a strength in literature. You see, many people read books, including various literary works; many claim to be literature enthusiasts or literary creators, but among those engaged in literary creation, how many truly have their own works? How many have written literary works that can withstand the test of time and become classics? Very few, right? Most of these people have a bit of an innate interest in and passion for literature, and later, they learn, train, and practice at professional schools, and happen to take on work related to literature. Although they engage in work related to literature, which may seem to indicate that this interest and hobby is able to accompany them throughout their lives, how many pieces of completed works they produce, how many contributions they make, and how many original creations they have during their time working in the field depends on whether they possess a strength in literature. Many people engage in a profession they like and are passionate about, and they gain from it a means of livelihood or certain benefits, but they do not achieve good results in this profession. This is enough to prove that the profession they like and are passionate about is not their strength. On the other hand, some people, despite not engaging in a profession related to their interests and hobbies, are able to make real accomplishments because it is their strength. For example, there are inventors, those who have made outstanding contributions in various fields, those who have pioneered their own unique styles in various fields, and leading figures in various fields, among others. So, considering these situations, having interests and hobbies does not necessarily mean having a strength in those areas. However, some people cannot discern the relationship between interests and hobbies, and strengths. They think that their interests and hobbies are their strengths, but after engaging in a field they are interested in and passionate about for many years, they don’t really achieve any results. After gaining clarity on these things, how should people treat their interests and hobbies, and their strengths? It is very simple—they should treat them correctly. If God’s house needs you to do a duty in a certain area that involves professional knowledge, skills, or talents that are related to your interests and hobbies, then you should treat it according to the principles of doing duty—neither rejecting it nor spouting grand-sounding ideas or being rash. If it is something you are not adept at, something beyond your ability that you cannot do, then do not become negative or complain about God; you should be able to treat it correctly. What does it mean to treat it correctly? It means that if you feel your interest in and passion for this area are unique, but when carrying out work related to it, you are never able to meet the requirements of God’s house, nor can you ever attain to the principles required by God’s house, then you should achieve whatever you can achieve. God never forces fish to live on land or pigs to fly. God knows how much you can achieve and how much weight you can bear. With more experience, you will come to know as well. Based on actual circumstances and your innate conditions, achieve as much as you are able to—do not make things difficult for yourself. If you are capable, do not hold back; if you are not capable, do not become negative or force yourself beyond your ability—treat it correctly.

You have believed in God for so many years, and most of you have done your duty for more than three years—it’s not just one or two years that you’ve been doing a certain duty in God’s house. Then, regarding the duty you do or certain professional work you carry out, are you clear in your heart about how much you can attain and what level you can reach, and how much you can put into play and to what extent? (Yes.) You’re basically clear about all this. Some people have not yet reached proficiency in a certain duty because they have had little practice. Others, however, have been doing this work for many years and have practiced a great deal but still cannot attain to the principles required by God’s house. They are not very adept in this area. Although they really like and are passionate about doing this duty and feel honored and happy to do it, they simply are not adept at it. No matter what the requirements of God’s house are, they just cannot meet them. It is not that they are rebellious and disobedient, nor that they don’t do their part; rather, their innate conditions cannot achieve it and have limitations. Then what should be done? Just let things take their course—do not be negative, do not be weak, and do not complain or feel that it is unfair in your heart. Some people say, “I like dancing, but I was born with two left feet and I am not attractive. I want to do dancing duty but cannot do it. Then what should I do? I really want to dance.” Your desire to dance is your personal desire and your preference, but does God have to satisfy your preferences? He does not. God’s house has the principles it requires and its stipulations. The selection of who does which work is based on principles. You cannot forcibly demand, based on your personal desire, personal preference, or personal mood, that God’s house satisfy you—this is inappropriate. If you are not suited to doing duty in this area, then in your heart, quietly wish blessings to those who can do a duty in this area. Just do whatever you can, or you can be an unsung behind-the-scenes worker—helping with guidance and vetting, helping with rehearsals or post-production editing of dance videos, helping to search for various materials, or helping to seek the truth. There is much work that can be done in various areas, and the scope of work related to your interests and hobbies is broad. You do not necessarily have to be the one on the screen—you can take on behind-the-scenes work part-time as well. This is also doing your duty. In this way, you both satisfy your personal wishes and live up to the principle and standard of satisfying God through doing one’s duty—that’s so great! Isn’t this killing two birds with one stone? (Yes.) Since God has not given you strengths in this area as part of your innate conditions, then you have no choice. You cannot complain, grumble, or bear resentment just because you innately lack in this area and cannot meet the standard of talent selection in this area by God’s house, and then become unwilling to do a duty in this area, refusing to do it even if God’s house requires you to—this is inappropriate. This is not the correct attitude in doing duty. Whatever you can do, just do it. You cannot refuse to do it, refusing to do it even if God’s house requires you to, just because you are not suited to it or not adept at it. In doing so, you are not doing your duty—you are satisfying personal desires and carrying out your own enterprise. You are not doing duty with an attitude of submission to God, nor with an attitude of sincerity and loyalty to God. This is inappropriate. This is something people should understand. For one thing, correctly understand interests, hobbies, and strengths; additionally, correctly treat interests, hobbies, and strengths.

Some people like writing articles and engaging in work related to literature. They always want to revise and proofread articles, to deal with articles every day. However, for various reasons—both subjective and objective—they are not suited for this work. For one thing, they lack foundational knowledge in the area of literature; for another, their caliber is relatively poor, and they do not possess comprehension ability. Therefore, even if they are passionate about literature and practice for several years, they still cannot reach the standard of possessing writing ability. However, God’s house requires that people possess at least a basic caliber to engage in text-based work. If their caliber is not suited for doing text-based work, and even their revision and proofreading of articles do not meet the standard, then they can only choose another duty. They may be just about suited for doing some general affairs work or collecting some materials instead. In short, the text-based work that they like in their hearts is something they cannot do—even if they were not dismissed from doing text-based work, they would merely be seat warmers and get no actual results. How should people comprehend such a matter in a pure way? (They must learn to submit to the arrangements of God’s house and be reasonable.) This is the general direction—how should people practice specifically? If it is a person who is prone to distortions, they would say, “Everyone says that interests and hobbies are given by God, that they are innate conditions. Since God has given me this interest and hobby, then surely God ordained me to engage in work related to it. Since it is ordained by God, then in God’s house, the work related to this interest and hobby should be given to me—I should have a share in it. If I am not asked to do this work, then it is a problem with people—it means people look down on me, it means the leaders and workers do not know how to assess people. Here I am, a gifted person, but there is no discerning talent scout to spot me! I love literature so much, and I am really adept at it—revising articles is way too easy for me. Sending me to preach the gospel or do manual labor—isn’t that using a sledgehammer to crack a walnut? Isn’t that wasting a talented individual? Isn’t that like burying gold in the dirt? There’s nothing I can do—under a low roof, one has no choice but to bow their head! But there’s a saying: True gold is destined to glitter eventually. Just wait—perhaps this is God refining me, testing me. One day, I will surely engage in the work that God has ordained for me, the work related to my interest. Good things are worth waiting for. When all of you are eliminated, that will be my time to shine—that will be when I have the chance to put my skills to use! As the sayings go, ‘It is never too late for a gentleman to take his revenge,’ and ‘Where there is life there is hope.’” What do you think of these viewpoints? They are incorrect, right? Such people sure are thinking wishfully and even making long-term plans, but whether they actually have real ability is unknown. Some people even feel wronged, saying, “I am a naturally gifted literary talent, yet I have been sent to do manual labor, covered in mud all day long. And who can I appeal to about this? There’s nothing I can do—this is how God has orchestrated it. What choice do I have?” In actuality, the proofreading team has already tested them, and their writing chops are inadequate. They have no literary foundation, not even using correct punctuation. Wherever a sentence should be broken or a pause should be made, they use a comma. Yet, they still consider themselves a literary genius, believing that doing physical labor is a waste of talent. Their hearts are full of grievances: “I was born with a love for literature. As a child, I loved reading storybooks. As I grew older, I loved reading works written by famous people. I have read many literary classics from both domestic and foreign authors; I have read many works from all genres, including dramas, prose, poetry. Doing text-based work is effortless for me; writing an article is a cakewalk for me. But look at me now—I have been reduced to doing dirty, exhausting labor. My love of literature, which has been with me for half my life, has been denied in God’s house. All the knowledge I have accumulated throughout my life has found no use in God’s house—my literary career has come to an end! I used to think that God’s house was a place where the truth held power, where fairness and righteousness held power. Someone like me—a great talent, a literature enthusiast—was ignored and looked down on in the world, with no chance to put my skills to use. I had thought that in God’s house, I could put my remaining efforts into play. Filled with enthusiasm, I signed up for the proofreading team, only to find that I was not selected. Just look at me—standing here now, who can tell that I am a literature enthusiast, a literary talent? All my literary flair has been worn away by this dirty, exhausting labor. Now, the only things that come out of my mouth are crude and rustic words.” They feel very aggrieved in their hearts. Although they say out loud that they submit to God’s orchestration and will do whatever God’s house asks them to do, in their hearts, they have an inaccurate self-assessment, they have mistakenly taken their interests and hobbies as strengths, as something suitable for God’s use, have not found their place, have not recognized their actual situation, do not know their own measure, and do not know whether their interests and hobbies are actually what they’re adept at—they are unclear and ignorant about all of this, yet still claim to be a literary talent, just short of calling themselves a literary master. What is the final result of this? (They are full of complaints about the church’s arrangements, and in their hearts, they are unwilling to submit.) They constantly feel wronged in their hearts. Although when doing their duty they do not slack off and can put in full effort—just barely submitting—because of their inaccurate self-assessment, they feel wronged. A thought frequently flashes through their mind: “There are many swift horses in the world, but few good judges of horses.” What swift horses? What good judges of horses? Because they have a bit of interest in and passion for a certain area, and later systematically study it, they think of themselves as being unparalleled, thinking of themselves as “swift horses,” believing they are talented. Isn’t this a complete lack of self-awareness? They only believe that interests and hobbies are given by God, but they fail to recognize what caliber God has given them. They are unclear about whether they are actually adept at the things they are interested in and passionate about, and whether they can actually do the work and duty related to their interests and hobbies well, whether they are competent in them, and whether they can shoulder them. They are unclear about this and do not know about this. Isn’t this very troublesome? (Yes.) Because they cannot recognize or find their place, they feel very wronged. What do they display outwardly? They often heave deep sighs and frequently express their resolve before God, hoping that one day God will create an opportunity for them, will redress their grievances, will uphold justice for them, and will allow them to fulfill their wish of doing a duty related to their interests and hobbies. Look at the song they often sing: “I do not think about the path ahead.” What is the next line? (“My only bounden duty is to follow God’s will.”) For those who truly have this stature, who truly have this reality, and who are truly able to follow God’s will, singing this song is perfectly fitting—it is exactly appropriate. But when this kind of person sings this song, what is their emotional state? In what situation are they singing it? (When they are complaining and feeling wronged.) So when they sing, isn’t what they sing full of resentment? (Yes.) What they sing is full of complaints, defiance, and dissatisfaction—it is nothing but sorrow and resentment. When you hear them singing this song, that is when they are at their most melancholic. There is a saying in China—how does it go? “Men express sorrow by singing, women express sorrow by crying, and old grandmothers express sorrow by mumbling nonsense.” You see, different types of people express their sorrow in different ways. Some women, when faced with this kind of situation, just cry, constantly wiping away their tears in secret. They cannot let it go, and every time they think about it, their eyes are red with tears, and their hearts feel wronged and aggrieved. They simply cannot treat this matter correctly. In actuality, this is a very simple matter—interests and hobbies, and strengths, are inherently two separate things. If you have a certain strength, regardless of whether it is your interest and hobby, you are well-suited for work related to that strength—that is, your inborn caliber, talent, or aptitude makes you adept at doing that particular thing, and you can do it well—in that case, when you engage in that work, you can achieve certain results, and it is relatively suitable for you to do it. However, if you only have an interest and hobby in this area but do not possess a strength in it, then you may not necessarily be able to do it well. This is a very simple matter. Because of people’s obstinacy and distorted comprehension, combined with their foolishness and ignorance, when they are unable to engage in the work they are interested in, they become disheartened, despondent, and negative, and complain, brimming with all kinds of negative emotions. Therefore, it is very necessary for people to understand the actual situation of their interests, hobbies, and strengths. Once they understand, they must treat them correctly—this is one aspect. The other aspect is that they must submit to the arrangements of God’s house and fulfill their duty according to the principles required by God’s house. If God’s house requires you to do your duty in a certain area but you are not adept at this area of work, only interested in it and passionate about it, and fond of doing this work, and yet according to the lowest standard required by God’s house, you can be just about competent at it, then you should submit and strive to do your part—do not find all kinds of objective excuses to refuse or decline. Of course, if your innate conditions in various areas are limited or you have certain actual issues, and God’s house cannot allow you to do a duty in this area, then you should not have complaints, nor should you become negative or weak. Whatever you can do, just do it. As for your interests and hobbies, keep them for yourself—the people of the church won’t interfere, nor will they take away your right to be interested in or passionate about certain things. That is your personal matter. However, when it comes to doing duty, you must clearly discern all the various issues regarding interests, hobbies, and strengths, and you must be able to treat them all correctly—this is the most critical thing. Do you understand? (Yes.)

Many people have interests and hobbies in a certain area. There are also some people who have no interests or hobbies at all. That is, they have no particular interest or passion when it comes to any of the occupations or types of specialized activities, or various people, events, and things with which people frequently come into contact in the world—they are just ordinary people. For example, if someone asks them whether they are passionate about literature, whether they usually keep a diary or write articles, they say, “I am not passionate about it and am not adept at it. As soon as I start reading or writing, I get a headache.” If they are given some literary masterpieces to read, they find it overwhelming, and are completely unwilling in their hearts. Some even say, “Staring at text all the time strains my eyes and turns me old, so I don’t like literature.” If you ask them whether they like dancing, they say, “Dancing is not a proper affair, it is something people do when they find themselves idle and have nothing better to do. I don’t like dancing.” You see, they do not like it and even find a reason for this, saying it is not a proper affair. Others dance to praise God—how positive a thing this is! Singing, dancing, playing the harp and lyre to praise God—this has been done since ancient times; it is something God approves of, so how can it not be a proper affair? But for them, they belittle and speak about everything they do not like as something negative. When asked, “You don’t like dancing—then do you like singing?” “What ‘singing’? As soon as I start singing, I go off-key. Even I find it unbearable to hear. I don’t like singing. Only now as a believer in God have I started learning some hymns of God’s words and experiential hymns. Before I believed in God, I never sang; when others sang, I was not even willing to listen.” “Then how do you express yourself when you are in a happy mood?” “When I am in a happy mood, I just take a nap.” “Then what do you do when you encounter painful matters and are in an unhappy mood?” “Then I eat some snacks, or just take a nap.” “You don’t like singing—then do you like listening to music?” “I don’t have that interest, and I don’t understand what is being expressed in music. You all say that music expresses people’s various emotions, that it expresses people’s thoughts and feelings, but I don’t understand these and can’t relate to them. Music is high art—a lowly person like myself can’t relate to music, and I don’t like it.” “Do you like good food?” “I don’t like good food either. I can eat anything. I was born a rough individual. I can eat cornmeal, I can eat cake, I can eat Chinese food or Western food—anything. And if I’m starving and have nothing to eat, I can even eat dog food.” Such people are just this coarse. Ask some women, “Do you like cosmetics?” They say, “I have no interest in them. However I was born is how I look—whoever wants to look at me can look at me, and whoever doesn’t want to look at me can just look away!” Ask some men, “Do you like electronics or mechanical things such as cars?” They say, “What is the use of liking those things? It drains the mind and tires the brain. If I have time, it would be better to take a nap or have a casual chat!” They do not like anything and have no interests or hobbies at all. Whether it is biological, technological, high-end, or low-end, they do not like any of it. When asked, “These things that involve humanity, whether they are refined or of broad appeal—you do not like any of them. Then do you like little animals, such as cats, dogs, and birds?” “I like them even less. Animals can’t talk to people—what is the use of liking them?” Some people are interested in dogs. They often talk to dogs, and dogs can even understand human speech. Some people have no hobbies at all and are not interested in anything—there are many such people. Some people say, “We are born with some interests and hobbies—they are given by God. Especially those among us who have a strength in a certain area, those born with exceptional and outstanding talent in this area—this is all God’s grace, God’s exaltation, God looking upon us with favor. Especially nowadays, taking on a duty related to our interests, hobbies, or strengths in God’s house even more so makes our identity and worth incomparably honorable and extraordinary. Those who have no hobbies or strengths can only do some basic labor and work that isn’t technically demanding, such as hosting, cooking, cleaning, or growing vegetables, raising pigs, and feeding chickens. So in terms of people’s interests, hobbies, and strengths, aren’t people distinguished between high and low, noble and base? Isn’t there a hierarchical difference between them?” Is this viewpoint correct? (No.) You see, God has given some people strengths, has ordained some people with certain interests and hobbies, while for some other people, God has not ordained anything—they have no strengths at all, cannot sing or dance, do not understand literature, and are completely ignorant of all kinds of professional skills. Just as it happens, there may be a host family that keeps two dogs, so having such a person with no strengths feed the dogs should be suitable—this is the simplest task. But apart from feeding the dogs, they do not take them for walks, and do not know how to care for them. After feeding them for a year or two, even the dogs do not recognize them as their master and are not close to them. Tell Me, what kind of person is this? Compared to those who have interests and hobbies or strengths in a certain area, isn’t there a difference? Clearly, these are two types of people who have differences in their innate conditions: One type lives with a strong sense of superiority, leading a rich and full life, while the other type leads an empty life, without any sense of superiority. So if people are distinguished by differences in status and worth based on this principle, is that appropriate? (No.) Then according to what principle is it appropriate to distinguish them? Tell Me, are there differences between people? (Yes.) Where do the differences lie? How should people be distinguished? At the very least, one should look at whether they love the truth—distinguishing their essence, their highness and lowness, their nobility and baseness, and their category based on their attitude toward the truth. Theoretically, can’t people be distinguished this way very easily? (Yes.) Is this way of distinguishing people good? (Yes.) But is it a bit too simple to distinguish them this way? Some people do not have any innate strengths, nor do they have any interests or hobbies—they are very mediocre people, very simple people. However, they love the truth, understand the truth, have experience and understanding of the truth, and when they fellowship about the truth, they can share their understanding of God’s words; in life entry, they are better than the average person. They can help many people. So can you say that such people are lowly and worthless? (No.) Theoretically, people’s essence, their highness and lowness, their nobility and baseness, and their category should be distinguished based on their attitude toward the truth, but how exactly should they be distinguished? That is what we will fellowship about today.

Whether a person inherently has any interests, hobbies and strengths is preordained by God. If God gives them to you, then you have them; if God does not give them to you, then you do not have them—you cannot learn them, nor can you gain them through imitation. However, if you possess a strength in a certain area, and you say, “Doing duty related to this strength is too exhausting; I do not want this strength,” even if you do not want it, you cannot remove it, nor can others take it away. What you have, others cannot take away; what you don’t have, you cannot seize or obtain by vying for it. All of this is related to God’s preordination. However, that being said, God’s giving you a certain interest, hobby, or strength does not mean that God must have you do some duty or work related to your interest, hobby, or strength. Some people say, “Since I am not asked to do a duty in this area or engage in work related to this, then why was I given such an interest, hobby, or strength?” God has given the vast majority of people certain interests and hobbies based on each person’s various conditions. There are, of course, multiple things that are taken into consideration: For one thing, it is for people’s livelihood and survival; for another, it is to enrich people’s lives. Sometimes, a person’s life requires certain interests and hobbies, whether for entertainment and amusement or so they can engage in some proper tasks, thereby making their human life fulfilling. Of course, no matter from which aspect it is viewed, there is reason behind God’s giving, and God also has His reasons and grounds for not giving. It may be that your human life or your survival does not require that God give you interests, hobbies, and strengths, and you can maintain your livelihood or enrich your human life and make it fulfilling through other means. In short, regardless of whether God has given people interests, hobbies, and strengths or not, this is not an issue with people themselves. Even if someone has no strengths, this is not a defect of their humanity. People should comprehend this correctly and treat it correctly. If one possesses certain interests, hobbies, and strengths, then they should cherish them and apply them correctly; if they do not have them, they should not complain. From the perspective of interests, hobbies, and strengths, this is the actual situation. However, whether one has these things does not reflect a person’s worth, status, or identity. So what does this tell people? Even if God has given you refined interests, hobbies, and strengths—these are your private possessions, they are your advantageous conditions—you having them does not mean that you are nobler than anyone else, that you are more advantaged or privileged to do anything than anyone else. This is because in God’s eyes, no matter what innate conditions a person has, they are a member of corrupt humankind. Although innate conditions do not contain elements of corruption, all people, who possess innate conditions, have been corrupted by Satan and live by satanic dispositions. Their life essence is their satanic corrupt disposition. Therefore, regardless of what your innate conditions are like and regardless of whether you have interests, hobbies, and strengths or not, in God’s eyes, since the life essence of all people is the same, your worth is equal to that of others. People should see clearly that even if they have certain advantageous conditions or certain advantages, in terms of human essence and corrupt dispositions, the essence of all people is the same and all people are the same. They must undergo God’s chastisement and judgment, and they are all ones whom God wishes to save. In terms of the life essence of people’s flesh, people are the same. However, from another perspective, there are some distinctions between people, and we need to fellowship in detail about these distinctions. How should these distinctions be identified? They must be examined from people’s origins. What does “origins” refer to? It refers to what a person has been reincarnated from—distinctions are made based on how they came into being and what they came from. Broadly speaking, this humankind is divided into three categories. The first category is those reincarnated from animals, the second is those reincarnated from various devils, and the third is those reincarnated from humans. These three categories distinguish people at the very root. The reason they can distinguish people is that the origins of different categories of people are not the same. So how can one know who is reincarnated from animals, who is reincarnated from devils, and who is reincarnated from humans? This must be determined based on what they live out and the characteristics they display. Have you ever heard such information before, whether in folklore or through other channels? (Yes.) So this topic is not entirely unfamiliar to you, is it? (No, it isn’t.) Those reincarnated from animals, those reincarnated from devils, those reincarnated from humans—which one do you want to hear about first? (The first category.) The first category is those reincarnated from animals. If you truly come to know the truth about this matter, will it have an impact on your lives? Will it bring trouble or hindrances? (I might start wondering what I have been reincarnated from.) For some people, once they truly know which category they belong to and match themselves to a particular category, if they are indeed reincarnated from humans, they feel fortunate and quite good about it. But if they are not reincarnated from humans, wouldn’t they find that upsetting? (Yes.) It would bring certain difficulties and also some unease, wouldn’t it? (Yes.) Since it can bring unease and some difficulties, is it better for people to know or not to know? (I feel like knowing would be better.) In what way would it be better? (By knowing, one can understand the truth in this regard, and additionally, they will be able to discern some of the people, events, and things around them.) Then let’s fellowship about this.

Let’s first fellowship about those who are reincarnated from animals. Reincarnation from animals, as the name implies, means that such a person was reincarnated from an animal. The scope of animals is quite broad—as for exactly how many types of animals can reincarnate as humans, that is not within the scope of our fellowship. In short, there is a category of people whose past existence was as an animal, meaning that their original identity or created category was not among created humankind. Their initial, first biological category was that of an animal. So in God’s eyes, their identity within the biological realm is that of an animal. In this reincarnation, they have become human, meaning that this animal is no longer reborn among animals but has instead reincarnated as a human, being born at a certain time, into a certain family, lineage, and country. An animal reincarnated into a human means that they are born as a human, but their previous existence was not as a human—it was as an animal. Before, they existed within the animal realm, being reborn among animals; now, in this rebirth, they are no longer within the animal realm. Their identity has changed, and they have become a member of humankind. This is what is called animals being reincarnated as humans. When an animal reincarnates as a human, their appearance and instincts are essentially the same as those of any person within humankind. That is, they fully possess the characteristics of a human—they can walk upright, have human facial features and appearance, and possess human thinking, human instincts, and a normal human life, and they also have the unique human ability for language. This is what is known as an animal reincarnating as a human. That is, from their physical form, external appearance, and physical life characteristics, you can only see human traits; no animal traits are visible. So how can you know that they are reincarnated from an animal? This is what people are most concerned about. Of course, it is possible to see that they are reincarnated from an animal. If there were no differences between those reincarnated from animals and those reincarnated from humans, then this category of people would not have any obvious characteristics. Precisely because there are obvious differences between those reincarnated from animals and those reincarnated from true humans, these two categories of people can thus be readily distinguished based on their characteristics. So what are the characteristics of people reincarnated from animals? The first characteristic is that they have distorted comprehension. The second characteristic is that they are especially numb. The third characteristic is that they are especially muddleheaded. The fourth characteristic is that they are foolish. These four characteristics alone are enough to make evident the difference between a person reincarnated from an animal and a true human.

The first characteristic of people reincarnated from animals is that they have distorted comprehension. Firstly, what does distortion involve? It involves problems with their thoughts and viewpoints; it also involves their cognitive abilities to view, comprehend, and understand things. This category of people cannot correctly comprehend anything, nor can they correctly view anything. Their way of viewing people and things, as well as their self-conduct and actions, is especially absurd, obstinate, and ridiculous—completely incompatible with the thinking of normal humanity, and the thoughts and viewpoints of normal humanity on things. Of course, people with distorted comprehension are nowhere close to understanding or coming to know the truth. The truth is wholly beyond their reach, let alone do they understand the truth principles. Their viewpoints are completely distorted when it comes to how they treat any thing or individual. After you fellowship with them, they understand it in terms of doctrine, but their knowledge remains just as distorted afterward. When you then explain things more clearly and specifically, giving examples, at the time, they may understand, but later, when they encounter the same kind of thing, their viewpoint remains just as distorted, and no matter how they’re fellowshipped with, it does not correct their viewpoint. Moreover, this state of theirs—this way of comprehending things—will persist indefinitely without change. No one’s fellowship of the truth can change them; even if I fellowship and give sermons, it still cannot change their distorted thoughts and viewpoints and distorted way of comprehending things. Such people are very troublesome. For example, when they do something wrong, and you tell them, “What you did was incorrect, it does not align with the principles; there was personal adulteration in it,” they will say, “I didn’t do it on purpose. I didn’t intend for it to turn out that way. Since you’re all so good, you have the truth, and you know how to do things, why don’t you do it yourselves instead of having me do it? You say I did it wrong—isn’t that just because you find me displeasing? Since you all have humanity, and I’m the only one without it, I’ll just go to hell and you can all go to heaven!” They may even try to defend and justify themselves with reasoning, and come up with excuses to shirk responsibility. They refuse to acknowledge that they did wrong, do not have the correct attitude, and do not commit to correcting themselves in the future and say that they understand how they should act next time. They will never understand in this way and will never comprehend the matter from the perspective of humanity in a pure way. There are even some people who, when you point out problems in their work and fellowship the truth with them, say, “Aren’t you just looking down on me? Isn’t it just because I’m uneducated and from the countryside? Isn’t it just because my status is low? Even God does not disdain me, so what right do you have to?” They will never admit that they did wrong and then seek the truth, reflect on themselves to see where they went wrong, and look for the correct path of practice to resolve it. Why will they never do this? Because they are not human. They do not have normal human thinking, and they cannot approach mistakes that arise in the way a normal human would. They do not have the attitude that a normal human should have toward mistakes. Have you ever encountered such people? It would be best to reflect on yourself as well, to see if your reason is normal or not. For example, after someone mops the floor, the surface is still quite wet. Someone else, unaware of this, walks over and slips. That person gets up and says to the other, “You didn’t dry the floor properly after you mopped. You should have put up a sign with a few words to remind people! Thankfully, I’m young—if I fall, I can get back up. But if it were an elderly person, wouldn’t they have broken a bone? You really weren’t considerate enough!” Are these words proper and normal? (Yes, they’re normal.) The person mopping was not considerate enough when doing this task, so next time they should be more considerate. Since someone fell because of it, it is clear that they made a mistake in this matter. This was an oversight, and no one is condemning them—they just need to correct it. But they are unable to correctly and rationally consider or approach this matter from the perspective of a human or with the thinking of a human. Instead, they will turn around and say, “Couldn’t you see the floor was wet? Are you blind? You slipped and fell—serves you right! You don’t use your own eyes, and that’s my fault? When you’ve finished mopping the floor, of course it’s going to be wet—why did you walk on it? It’s not like I told you to walk there. Just admit it’s your own bad luck that you fell. It has nothing to do with me!” Are these words rational? (No.) They are not rational—what is a colloquial way of saying this? They’re unreasonable. You mopped the floor but didn’t dry it, causing someone to slip—while it’s not absolutely necessary for you to express guilt and apology, you should at least accept others’ reminders and pointers regarding your mistake. You should ask, “Are you injured? Do you need to go to the hospital for a check-up or treatment? I take full responsibility.” This is the correct attitude. This is how a person should rationally treat and reflect on something they did wrong from the perspective of humanity. However, people reincarnated from animals have no humanity and distorted comprehension. They will never speak this way, nor will they ever consider any issue this way. Instead, they will be willfully unreasonable. They didn’t dry the floor after mopping, causing someone to slip; next time, then, they just need to do it differently, pay more attention, and correct the mistake—that’s it. The issue would be resolved. It’s a very simple matter: No one says anything about it, and no one condemns them for it. They also aren’t required to bear any legal responsibility. But they refuse to accept the facts and instead say, “Oh, so you’re all good people, you’re the only ones with humanity! I must be an evil person! I deliberately harm others! I have bad intentions! You’ll all go to heaven, and I’ll go to hell!” Tell Me, could a normal person utter such drivel? (No.) Only the type of people reincarnated from animals comprehend everything and view everything from a particularly extreme, obstinate, and ridiculous perspective. Over the smallest matter—something completely legitimate—they can spout a whole slew of unreasonable, fallacious arguments, leaving others at a loss whether to laugh or cry. If they are pruned, how do they behave? They go to great lengths to justify and defend themselves, explaining why they acted the way they did and how much they suffered for it, arguing back with all kinds of reasons. When you fellowship with them about why they were pruned, how, when they make mistakes, they should correct them and how they should seek the truth principles, and what the principles for handling the matter are, they refuse to take in a single word. Instead, they hold in their rage and anger, feeling wronged and humiliated. Behind the scenes, they even complain to others, saying, “Hmph! I hadn’t considered those issues, and I didn’t intentionally mean to do it that way. Yet they condemn me and say I was disrupting and disturbing—am I really that evil? Am I an evil person?” When it comes to the truth principles, they will always fall short of them and never understand them; their comprehension is always especially distorted and especially ridiculous. No matter what truth principles are fellowshipped, when it reaches them, it turns into a single phrase, a single way of acting—it becomes a formality, a ritual, a regulation. It is not just a matter of comprehending the truth principles in a one-sided way; rather, their comprehension is especially ridiculous and absurd. The way this type of person comprehends the truth appears especially clumsy and idiotic. To what extent is it idiotic? To the extent that people don’t even feel pity for them but instead feel outright disgust, at a loss whether to laugh or cry, and completely speechless. Things have already been explained to such an extent that saying anything more is redundant—any further words would only be silly. There is no point in continuing to talk about the truth principles with these people. No matter what they handle, even the smallest matter in daily life, they do so in such an abnormal, ridiculous, and distorted way. They are incapable of viewing and handling matters within the bounds of human reason. Their perspective on everything is this obstinate and this ridiculous—the views they could express about any matter would make you feel disgusted for a lifetime after hearing them. If you happened to be eating while hearing them, you might just vomit on the spot. Tell Me, just how distorted must they be? This is one of the primary characteristics of people reincarnated from animals—they are obstinate and ridiculous. From the perspective of humanity, this obstinacy and ridiculousness is primarily a lack of normal thinking of humanity. They are unable to consider any issue according to the normal thinking of humanity—they are extreme, prone to distortions, and obstinate. No matter how you fellowship about the truth, objective facts, or specific situations, they cling tightly to their reasoning and refuse to let go. They think, “I’ve got reason on my side, and I haven’t given you anything you can use against me. I’m just gonna cling to this reasoning, and it will become the truth. Nothing you say will be of any use!” This is one of the characteristics of people reincarnated from animals—their comprehension is distorted.

Another manifestation of people reincarnated from animals is that they are particularly numb in the face of many people, events, and things. Not only do they view matters in an obstinate and distorted way, but they also cannot perceive at all what the nature, essence, or root cause of anything that arises is, what influence it may bring, or what consequences it may cause. They still cannot perceive these things and remain ignorant of them, even when some people have already said or done certain things, or revealed certain signs and indications—it’s like they’re fools. By the time they do perceive them, the matter is already concluded, and the consequences have already arisen. Even after hearing so many truths, they do not know and cannot sense what kind of people those around them are, what their essence is, or what they are capable of doing. Some people say things that are clearly problematic, yet they cannot sense it. For example, when some people boast, talk big, show off, and flaunt themselves, this is obviously a revelation of an arrogant disposition, yet people reincarnated from animals cannot perceive the problem. Instead, they think that these people are capable, they admire and look up to them, and even want to follow such people afterward. This shows they’re numb. Obvious evil people and evil deeds, obvious revelations of corrupt dispositions, the direction in which things are obviously headed—such people cannot perceive any of this. They do not know what the essence of the matter is, or what the root of the problem is; they cannot sense it at all, they do not even have the awareness. They are what we often call corpses without spirits. This type of person falls even further short when it comes to matters involving the truth principles. You tell them which principle they should practice according to, but they do not understand; they only memorize the regulations they are supposed to adhere to. They cannot understand the principles you fellowship about, they are beyond them. You point out a certain state in them, which is a manifestation of their revelation of a corrupt disposition, but they think you are talking about someone else. Even if they verbally admit that they also have this kind of corrupt disposition, they do not recognize which words they have spoken or which actions they have taken that match up to this state or this manifestation. They do not understand and do not know what you’re talking about. When fellowshipping about the truth during gatherings, while others have already moved on to the next topic, they still turn the discussion back to talk about the earlier one. Isn’t this being obtuse and numb? When others speak, they cannot keep up—not because their thinking cannot keep up, but because their caliber is insufficient and falls short. When certain evil people try to deceive them, toy with them, or torment them, they cannot sense it, but instead treat the evil people as brothers and sisters and get along intimately with them, and only after being harmed by them do they realize they have been taken for a ride. Then they think, “I’m so foolish! I don’t know how to judge people, I don’t know how to discern people! This time, I’ve really learned my lesson—going forward, I won’t trust anyone, I’ll only trust myself. That is the highest wisdom!” After being tricked once, they believe they have gained insight and even think they are smarter now, shifting from one extreme to another. People reincarnated from animals are numb to every matter. For example, one such person was in charge of animal husbandry and planting. One day the temperature dropped, and I said to him, “Tonight it will be minus five degrees. Shouldn’t those plants and animals that cannot withstand the cold be taken care of?” After hearing this, he responded, “I have a cotton-padded jacket, and I sleep at night with a quilt and a blanket, so I won’t be cold.” Did he understand what I meant? Based on this response, he clearly did not. Isn’t this being numb? (It is.) If I had said, “Tonight it will be minus five degrees. If the flowers are in the yard, they will freeze to death. The animals that are sensitive to the cold and the weak ones should be kept in barns. You should hang an extra curtain on the door and patch up any drafty areas in the barns.” After hearing this, he would have pondered for a moment and thought, “Oh, You were talking about the animals and plants. Then wouldn’t it be fine just to move the flowers indoors? There are so many animals, and You didn’t say which ones are sensitive to the cold and which ones aren’t, which ones should be brought inside and which ones shouldn’t.” Indeed, I didn’t specify—but can you not act according to principles? You don’t even realize that flowers left outside in winter could freeze to death, and if I don’t assign you to do these things, you won’t do them—what kind of problem is this? Is this not being numb? (It is.) This shows he is numb. For example, it’s sunny out and clothes are hanging outside in the yard to dry, and someone says, “It looks like it might rain in the afternoon. Will the clothes drying outside get wet?”—these words convey a hint of a reminder. A person with normal human thinking would hear this and ponder, “I should pay attention—when the sky turns cloudy, I’ll quickly bring the clothes inside.” But those who do not possess the thinking of normal humanity will not become aware of this. When you say it’s going to rain in the afternoon, they hear this and think, “What’s the point of saying that? It has nothing to do with me. I’ll be inside, so I won’t get wet if it rains. Besides, what can I do about it raining? There’s no use telling me this!” They simply do not realize why they are being told this or why this matter is being brought up. So how must you talk to them for them to actually understand? You have to tell them, “It will rain in the afternoon at such and such a time. Before it rains, when you see the sky turning cloudy, quickly bring the clothes inside. If you don’t, they will get wet and need to be rewashed. Also, when gathering the clothes, check if there’s anything else in the yard that shouldn’t get wet or be exposed to rain, and bring them inside as well.” You must instruct them like this. If you don’t instruct them in this way, they will not realize they need to bring in the clothes, nor will they realize they need to gather any other items that cannot get rained on. They will not do these things. Why? Because they are too numb, they do not possess the thinking of normal humanity, and they do not meet the standard of normal humanity. That is, their intelligence and caliber do not reach the standard of normal humanity. This is what people reincarnated from animals are like. When asking such a person to do something, even though I have already instructed them multiple times, and they have done it many times before, I still have to instruct them again. If I do not instruct them, they will not realize what needs to be done, nor will they be able to do it. So every time they encounter this kind of task, you have to tell them exactly what needs to be done and how to do it, instructing them on each step in the process. If you leave out even a single thing, they will not do that thing, or possibly even mess the whole thing up. And if you then point out their problems, they will respond with a bunch of distorted arguments and start being willfully unreasonable again. This is a manifestation of being numb.

This characteristic of people reincarnated from animals, their numbness, is very obvious. For example, from fellowship on the truth, they understand in terms of doctrine how to discern if a church leader does actual work, whether they are a leader who is up to standard, or whether they are a false leader or an antichrist. However, when it comes to discerning what category their own church leader falls under, even when they witness certain manifestations presented by the church leader, they do not know how to discern them. If you ask them, “Does your church leader do actual work?” they say, “I see them busy every day with gatherings and bustling around organizing things, they distributed books to the brothers and sisters, and they followed up on the gospel work.” Then you ask, “How well do they do their work, then? Are they someone who pursues the truth?” They respond, “They have forsaken their career and family. Even when their parents came to visit, they were too busy doing their duty to see them. They must be someone who pursues the truth, right?” They only look at these outward manifestations of the church leader; but no matter how many evils the leader secretly commits, even if they see this, they do not identify it as a problem, they do not know that it is a problem. Regardless of how many of these things happen in front of them, it’s just like they never saw anything, as if they are not living among people but in another world entirely. Aren’t such people extremely numb? (Yes.) This is being numb. When they encounter someone who has the work of evil spirits, who always pays attention to supernatural matters and always talks about things that they sense, always saying things like, “I heard a voice, God enlightened me, God illuminated me, God guided me, God revealed something inside me again,” numb people think, “They truly love God. They have received revelations—why haven’t I?” They simply do not realize that this is the work of evil spirits. Only when one day that person suddenly goes mad, makes a huge scene in front of everyone, rolling on the ground, and runs naked through the streets do they finally see that this is an evil spirit. Actually, before that person went mad, there were already many indications, and these manifestations would have been enough to characterize them as having the work of evil spirits and for them to be handled early by being cleared out. But they are numb, cannot perceive these things, and do not realize what consequences leaving such a person in the church might bring—isn’t this liable to cause disasters? Some evil spirits and evil demons even reach the point of harming people, yet numb people still cannot perceive them for what they are. They even believe that such individuals really love God and that they are full of zeal, often staying up late at night reading God’s words and learning hymns, not eating or sleeping for days yet still not feeling tired. Even though this is obviously abnormal, they claim it is love for God. Are they not far too numb? Numb people, for one thing, cannot see through matters; they are unable to look beyond surface phenomena to see through to the essence of issues. Thus, it is very difficult for them to accurately characterize any issues. Additionally, numb people do not have normal ways of thinking or the ability to identify things, so they remain completely unaware of many things happening around them. People like this can live in a place for several years, yet when asked, “What’s the climate like there? What are the seasonal patterns? Is it a comfortable place to live?” they are unable to answer. They say, “What about the climate? I don’t know. Anyway, flowers bloom in April, the leaves turn yellow and start falling around September or October, and when winter comes, it’s time for snow.” If asked, “What are the local customs like? How is the social system? Is there racial discrimination? How are the government’s policies? How do they treat people from other places?” they are completely clueless, staring dumbfounded, unable to say anything. Even when it comes to the most important matter—the government’s attitude toward religious belief—they cannot say anything, only responding, “Well, we live there and the government never gives us any trouble.” They are like wooden dummies, completely unaware of anything—this is extreme numbness. There are also some people who say they are too busy doing their duty and have no time to summarize these things—is this not just an excuse? (Yes.) It’s obvious that this is an excuse. Do such simple things require deliberate attention and record-keeping? No, they do not. If you possess the thinking of normal humanity, after living in a place for more than three years, you should basically have a grasp of the local climate, the customs, lifestyle habits, the situation regarding religious belief, and the government’s policies and its attitudes toward people from other places. You would not need to especially learn about, find out about, or gather this information—you would just know. Anyone with the thinking of normal humanity could grasp these things very naturally. If you are even unable to grasp the issues normal people can grasp and see clearly, what does this indicate? It indicates that you do not possess the thinking or rationality of normal humanity and that you do not meet the standard of normal humanity. The fundamental reason this type of person fails to meet the standard of normal humanity is that they are not reincarnated from humans but from animals. Do you understand? (Yes.) If one’s characteristic of numbness is very obvious, this speaks volumes about the problem.

What have you come to understand from our fellowship just now regarding the characteristics of people reincarnated from animals? Have you noticed a fact—that both distorted comprehension and numbness, these two characteristics, are very evident in this category of people? (Yes.) Why do these people have these two manifestations? What is lacking in their humanity? (Normal thinking.) That is somewhat fitting—they do not possess human intelligence. On the surface, it seems like these people have poor caliber—just how poor is it? They are both prone to distortions and numb; when it comes to some issues that those with normal humanity frequently encounter and can independently handle and resolve, they fall short and cannot resolve them, appearing very childish, ridiculous, and immature. More seriously, some of these people do not have the ability to survive independently—they cannot support themselves, and whether they go out to work or engage in any kind of job, they are incapable. No matter where they go, employers either don’t want them or dismiss them. Additionally, the main thing is that when faced with various issues within the scope of their own lives, such as common issues in life and even some trivial matters, they cannot handle them well. They can even make a mess of a very simple issue; they always just blindly apply regulations. The methods and approaches they use to handle things are extremely idiotic and clumsy; they don’t possess the methods and means that an adult would use to deal with things in the world. This makes it very obvious that they do not possess human intelligence. For example, one such person develops an illness and always feels unwell. They look up some information, and it says that it could be a serious disease or major illness; they become terrified, rushing to the hospital for an examination. The doctor says, “This illness is very severe. It has an extremely high mortality rate. If left untreated, it will worsen and result in death. Surgery is the only way to treat it. If you don’t have the surgery, you have three months to live at most.” Hearing this, they become extremely frightened and don’t know what to do. Without undergoing further examinations to confirm the diagnosis, they just listen to the doctor and decide to have the surgery. Before the operation, they don’t even ask what precautions need to be taken, whether there will be aftereffects when the operation is over—they don’t even know to ask these questions, and just get intimidated by the doctor into obediently getting onto the operating table. In the end, after the surgery, they feel discomfort here and discomfort there, and even taking medicine doesn’t help. Later, they hear from others that this illness doesn’t require surgery, that it is not really a severe disease, and that through exercise and taking some common medications, it will gradually improve and not progress or worsen. Doctors, in order to make money, sometimes make alarming statements to scare people, and the numb person has no ideas of their own and cannot make judgments; hearing what the doctor says, they become scared out of their wits, and when the doctor tells them to undergo surgery, they go ahead with it. When such matters befall them, if there is someone around who has their own ideas and is strong-minded, and has intelligence to help them vet things, they will be able to avoid taking detours and they will suffer a bit less. But if they are left to handle such matters on their own, especially major matters, they will either deviate one way or the other, they will either be tricked or be harmed; they always take extreme measures. They are simply unable to comprehensively measure things based on principles or commonly used ways and methods for handling such matters and then find the most reasonable and rational way to treat them. Anyone can cheat them, toy with them, sway them, and mislead them. Some people ask, “Do these people not have their own thoughts or opinions?” It’s actually not that they don’t have their own thoughts or opinions—you see, when they commit misdeeds and spout fallacious arguments, they certainly are opinionated. No matter who says correct things, they do not listen, and even if someone says things that are correct, they are defiant and just persist with their fallacious, twisted arguments. Yet when it comes to actually needing to use normal reason and normal thinking to face and correctly approach and handle matters that arise in daily life, they do not know what method or procedure to use to handle them, do not know how to approach them, have no ways or methods, and have no thoughts or opinions of their own. In the end, they can only be manipulated by others—they do whatever others tell them to do. Not having the intelligence of normal humanity is a characteristic of people reincarnated from animals. So, why are they able to persist with their fallacious, twisted arguments, even able to speak them aloud and spread them all over the place? This proves that in terms of their intelligence, they are incapable of discerning what is the truth and what is fallacious reasoning, what conforms to normal rationality and what does not—they cannot distinguish between these things; therefore, when you share reasoning that is correct, they cannot accept it and do not understand it. They just persist with their own distorted, twisted reasoning, and believe it to be correct. No matter what method anyone else uses to speak to them, no matter how good or full of wisdom their way of speaking is, those reincarnated from animals cannot take it in and do not understand it—they are done for. This shows they do not have the intelligence of normal humanity. Even for the most normal matter in daily life, when you reason with them, it does not get through—they still persist with their twisted reasoning. When people see this, they think, “Why is this person so strange? Why are they so impervious to reason? They’re like both someone with a mental illness and someone who hasn’t come of age—why do they always speak in a childish way?” But they are not young—when they are fifty or sixty, they are like this, and when they reach eighty, they are still like this. Their whole lives, they are people with deficient intelligence; their whole lives, they do not possess normal human thinking or normal human intelligence. This is a characteristic of people reincarnated from animals. Is this characteristic obvious? (Yes.) For example, say there’s a foolish woman who has some looks, and after being seduced by some sleazy rogue, they move in together. That sleazy rogue flirts around outside all the time, but when she finds out, she is not angry—at any rate, it’s fine for her as long as he treats her well. Later, the sleazy rogue gets involved with someone else, but when she finds out, she does not care and still stays with the sleazy rogue with unwavering devotion. She even says, “As long as he doesn’t abandon me, I’m fine.” Someone advises her, saying, “He’s already stooped this low—you should stop being with him.” She says, “No, I can’t do without him. He loves me and I like him!” Such a person deserves to stay with this sleazy rogue and suffer a lifetime—she simply cannot discern what a good person is or what a decent person is. She gets with a sleazy rogue and even thinks that he truly loves her. The sleazy rogue says a few sweet words to her and buys her some nice food, and just like that, he sweet-talks her into his arms. He toys with her as if playing with Play-Doh. When he flirts around behind her back and she finds out, with just a few words, he smooths things over, deceiving her, and she just cannot see through it. In the end, the sleazy rogue seizes all her property and house and then dumps her. She curses him as having no conscience, but she just does not say that she was deceived because she cannot see through people. Why did that sleazy rogue not deceive others but was able to deceive her? Is it not because she is foolish? The primary characteristics of this kind of person are that they are obstinate and ridiculous in how they comprehend and treat everything, and that they do not possess the intelligence of normal humanity. That’s why we say they’re reincarnated from animals. Because they’re animals, they do not possess human intelligence. The fact that they do not possess human intelligence is enough to prove that the essence within them is not the essence of humans. Therefore, they cannot cope with human matters or handle and resolve issues that normal humans should be able to handle and resolve. Even when it comes to their approach to things in their own daily lives—their daily meals, the basic necessities, as well as interpersonal relationships and the surrounding environment—they are also very numb. Moreover, when they encounter certain matters that they need to face and handle, they do not have the intelligence of normal people, let alone wisdom of course. When they face these issues, they handle them with great difficulty, great exhaustion, and extreme clumsiness. They are so old and they have lived such a long time: How can they handle things this way? Why do the things they say sound so disgusting and so awkward? Why don’t they talk like normal people? They have lived for so many years and have experienced quite a lot, yet when handling such a simple matter, how could they behave like this? They do not even have the most basic boundaries of humanity or the most fundamental principles that people should have.

In addition to the two characteristics of having distorted comprehension and being numb, people who are reincarnated from animals have another characteristic, which is that they are especially muddleheaded. In the past, when we fellowshipped on the truth, we only talked about the broad outline and direction—the fellowship was relatively general. As for the various details of the truth, we did not fellowship on them specifically, but only discussed some conceptual statements and content. Over these years of fellowship, various aspects of the truth have been fellowshipped specifically and in detail. However, for people who are reincarnated from animals, when they listen to the words that are being spoken in fellowship now, they think that they are more or less the same as what was spoken in fellowship before, and it’s just that the ways of putting things have changed somewhat, the content has become somewhat more abundant, and the amount of fellowship has increased significantly compared to before. And so they wonder why it is that, over this long period of listening, they are only growing more and more puzzled. They have listened to sermons for so many years, but they have not gained anything from it. When it comes to how to conduct oneself, how to treat others, how to know oneself, how to experience God’s work to attain knowledge of God, and especially how to treat God and His words, from the start they have been unable to understand these things, and even now, they still cannot understand them. This is not a minor degree of muddledness but a severe degree of muddledness. No matter how specifically the various aspects of the truth are explained, they conflate them all. What they grasp are just a few slogans and doctrines, such as, “We must expend ourselves for God, be loyal to God, and do our duties well!” They cling to a few regulations, slogans, and theories, and think that they are practicing the truth. The more specifically you fellowship, the more bewildered they become, and the more they feel that it is beyond them, that it was better before when the fellowship was simple. In addition, the more detailed the explanation, the more difficulties they have: “How can I remember something this detailed? Practicing used to be quite simple. Why is it that now the more we fellowship, the more statements there are? Why is it that the more that’s said, the less I know how to practice? Doing a duty used to be quite simple—it was just forsaking, expending, running around, preaching the gospel a lot, and testifying to God a lot. Now the truths about doing a duty have been explained in detail, as have all other aspects of the truth, but the more these things are explained, the less I understand these things and the more beyond me they are.” The more detailed the explanation, the more beyond them these truths are—is this not being muddleheaded? They’re severely muddleheaded, right? Although various aspects of the truth have been explained in detail, they are still confused and always muddled about some conceptual and definitional terms. For example, they do not know and cannot see through to what evil people are or what false leaders are; they also do not know what good humanity is and what bad humanity is, nor do they know the difference between practicing the truth principles and adhering to regulations. These specific issues are all a muddle to them. They do not even understand these conceptual things—their thinking is disordered. Furthermore, no matter what they do, they cannot find the principles, they have no steps to follow, no concrete plans, and they do not know what methods they should use or what results they should achieve; they also cannot clearly see what consequences acting in a certain way will bring. In their minds, they think, “Why should I bother concerning myself with these things? If I don’t know how to do something, I’ll just do it blindly—at any rate, as long as my heart is sincere toward God, that’s enough.” You see, such people are incredibly muddleheaded, aren’t they? They have believed in God for many years, yet they don’t know what aspects of the truth they’ve come to understand, nor do they know whether they have practiced the truth. When asked whether they have life entry, they say, “Well, I’ve believed in God for many years and forsaken my family.” They are unclear about all these things—this is being severely muddleheaded. During singing and dancing at gatherings, they are full of energy, but when it comes time for sermons and fellowship on the truth, they become drowsy, the Sandman arrives, and they may even fall asleep. When it comes to doing work, they are willing to exert effort, and they say, “Let’s do our duties well, and offer our loyalty to God!” But when it comes to fellowshipping on the truth, if they are asked, “Have you reaped any gains recently? Have you recognized what corrupt dispositions you have revealed? After recognizing them, have you found a path to resolve them?” they respond, “No idea. I have recognized them a little, but I don’t know if what I’ve recognized is right or not. Either way, I just went ahead and practiced like that, but I don’t know if it’s accurate or not.” They cannot see through anything, and their minds are muddled and unclear. They don’t know what they’re adept at, nor do they know what they are deficient in. During fellowship about coming to know corrupt dispositions, they admit that they have corrupt dispositions, that they also lie, and sometimes act slippery and slack off. But when faced with real situations, if you ask them, “Why did you act slippery and slack off? Why did you engage in trickery?” they say, “I didn’t! I didn’t do it on purpose—I thought this was the appropriate way to do it, so that’s how I did it.” Suppose that someone exposes them, saying, “You thought doing it that way was appropriate, but were there any personal intentions or schemes within you? Do you know how to reflect on yourself? Do you know what consequences doing it that way will bring?” They respond, “As long as I didn’t have bad intentions, it’s fine.” “Is not having bad intentions the same as acting in accordance with the truth principles?” “I dunno.” They don’t know anything. They have listened to so many truths and so much fellowship, and in their daily lives they have encountered all kinds of issues that relate to the truth, but they are still unclear and murky on every truth. They cannot tell which things are truths and which things are not, nor do they know how to practice the truth when faced with situations. They are unclear about whether their actions and behaviors accord with the truth principles, and they simply do things whatever way they think is good. Isn’t this being muddleheaded? (Yes.) They have no principles in anything they do, nor do they have principles in how they treat any person. For example, when it comes to the treatment of evil people, some evil people have certain strengths or professional skills, and can still render service for now—such people can be allowed to render service, then. But some people just cannot wrap their heads around this: “Doesn’t God dislike evil people? So why are they still being used?” When you fellowship with them that this is wisdom and also a principle, they ponder it and think, “What principle? Isn’t this just deceiving people? Isn’t this exploiting people?” This is how they perceive it. Tell Me, do they have the thinking of normal humanity? They do not know how to identify the principles for acting according to actual circumstances—can they reach the level of normal human intelligence? (No.) Those with the thinking of normal humanity and normal intelligence can all understand and grasp this matter, but people reincarnated from animals cannot even grasp this simple matter. How could they possibly understand the truth, then? One thing they often say is, “Last time, you said that about this matter. Why are you saying something different today? Your words are unreliable—how can you just change them at any time?” They don’t know that the status of this matter is different now, so the approach for handling it must also change. The principles and goals, however, remain the same. It is just that the method of handling the matter has changed—it is adjusted according to the specific circumstances, adapting and responding whenever necessary based on the status of this matter, so as to achieve better results. When people reincarnated from animals encounter such matters, they cannot see through them. They believe that the truth principles are regulations, and that they must be adhered to without change at all times. So when you, based on the truth principles, adjust the method for doing something, they don’t get this or understand it, and they cannot accept it. Some of them may even condemn you and find some leverage to use against you. Inside, they cannot see the essence or nature of anything clearly. Their thoughts are muddled. When they view anything, they just apply regulations to it; they never know how to measure it based on the truth principles, nor do they know how to adopt different methods to resolve and respond to it based on the law of its development. In people who are reincarnated from animals this characteristic of being muddleheaded is very obvious, isn’t it? (Yes.)

People who are reincarnated from animals are unable to discern others. When they see someone who speaks quite honestly yet does things in a somewhat devious manner, they cannot see through to what kind of person they actually are, whether they actually are someone who pursues the truth. When faced with complex situations that require dialectical thinking, they are bewildered and unable to figure them out, and do not know how to gauge them. They are muddled in their thinking; their thinking is like a tangled mess, and they can never sort out their own thoughts. No matter how many times you tell them the principles, they do not know how to apply the truth principles to discern different people, events, and things. For example, when it comes to reporting problems, they cannot report things accurately based on the actual situation. Some leaders are capable of doing some actual work, but in certain instances, there may be some deviations in their performance of their work, and they may display some revelations of corrupt dispositions; however, in terms of their humanity and work capability, they are basically up to standard. Yet some muddleheaded people do not look at the fact that these leaders can do actual work, nor do they look at the merits of their humanity—instead, they exclusively pick out their defects, flaws, and some trivial, minor issues to report. By contrast, those true antichrists and evil people, those people who commit great evils, are incapable of doing any actual work and only speak words and doctrines to mislead others, they outwardly do things with great fanfare but in reality their humanity is not up to standard, the path they have chosen is wrong, their humanity is that of evil people and antichrists, and the path they walk is that of antichrists, of not pursuing the truth, and yet these muddleheaded individuals cannot see through to these things. They see that these people put on a big show when doing their work and assume that they have talent for leadership and organizational skills, that they can do the work well. As for what results their work actually produces, whether they have repented and changed, or whether their humanity is up to standard, they do not know any of these things. Even if they are misled and controlled by the antichrists, they will have no awareness of it; they will follow and obey the antichrists, but still believe that they are following God, that they are preaching the gospel and testifying to God. In actuality, the antichrists will have long since taken control of them; they will not be believing in God but following people, following devils and Satans—yet they will not know this. Inside, they will have long since been filled with darkness, they will have long since lost God’s presence, and they will have long since lost the work of the Holy Spirit. Because they are very numb, because their comprehension is distorted, and because they do not understand any truth principles, they cannot see through things and are unable to discern people. Not only do they not report problems or get antichrists removed, but they even defend them. By contrast, when it comes to leaders and workers who are truly capable of doing some actual work, if they notice minor flaws or small issues, they insist on reporting them and raising these issues, even if they are not matters of principle. They are severely muddleheaded! They cannot see through any matters of principle—even when it comes to whom they should interact with in daily life, whom they can gain assistance and benefits from, or whom they should stay away from, they cannot discern or see through to these things. Some of them are on very good terms with disbelievers and nonbelievers, thinking that these people are knowledgeable, have caliber, and thus can help them, and that they are very much worth associating with. They even frequently praise those they idolize, saying how capable they are and how much prestige they have. They worship devils as idols—is this not being muddleheaded? (It is.)

What does being muddleheaded specifically refer to? (Having poor caliber.) That’s in general terms—specifically, being muddleheaded means that a person has no accurate thoughts and viewpoints for discerning anything, and that in viewing anything they have no principles or basis, and their view on it is muddled. This is one aspect. Additionally, people of this type cannot distinguish right from wrong and black from white—they often mistake negative things for positive things and call positive things negative. They cannot discern what positive things are and what negative things are. For example, some people say, “The god you believe in is just a person.” They ponder this and say, “No, that’s not right. The one I believe in is god. If he were just a person, how could he express the truth? The one I believe in is god—I’m certain about this.” On this point, they are not muddleheaded. But when someone says, “The god you believe in absconded with a bunch of money, escaping to the US to live it up there,” they become bewildered and are misled. If a person with intelligence heard these words, they would discern that this is a fabricated rumor. How could this be called “absconding with a bunch of money”? When passing through customs, everyone undergoes strict inspection, and the amount of cash each person can carry is regulated. Would bringing that small amount of money count as “absconding with a bunch of money”? Moreover, whose money is it? If someone embezzled or seized other people’s money, that would be “absconding with a bunch of money”—but if it’s their own money, can that be called “absconding with a bunch of money”? That’s not “absconding with money,” but carrying money normally. This is one aspect. Furthermore, what does “absconding” mean? A fugitive escaping after committing a crime is called “absconding.” Did Christ incarnate commit a crime? He simply expressed many truths and carried out His work of judgment in mainland China, gaining a group of people who followed Him, and for this He suffered the CCP’s brutal suppression and frenzied arrests. In the end, He had no choice but to lead some people out of the country to continue God’s work overseas. How can that be called “absconding with a bunch of money”? It was a normal trip, going through customs and taking a plane to the United States in a completely normal way. He left the country because He was being hunted by the CCP, having nowhere to rest and no place to stay. Under the CCP’s dictatorial rule, there is not only no religious freedom, but believing in God also leads to arrest and persecution; as for Christ, who expresses the truth to save humankind, if He were caught, He would face the death penalty and crucifixion. It was only out of the needs of the work that Christ chose to go to a democratic and free country, and He obtained a passport and visa through normal channels before arriving in the United States. In the US, He has no friends or relatives, is unfamiliar with the place, and lives an ordinary life, eating simple home-cooked meals—there is no “living it up” whatsoever. Isn’t “living it up” just the wording of those with ulterior motives? Isn’t it a lie? Christ lives the life of an ordinary person in the US: eating home-style meals, never once dining in a high-end restaurant to enjoy a lavish meal, much less ever staying in a high-end hotel, and very rarely going away to travel—just traveling around nearby areas is sufficient. None of these things holds any special appeal to Him. Some people love eating and want to try everything they haven’t had before, even going so far as to have food shipped by air just to try it. Have I ever done that? Never. Yet even so, some people with ulterior motives have made something out of nothing in regard to this! These people are devils. They were born as enemies of God, and their acting this way is their innate nature; they primarily rely on lying to deceive people and smear God. That they are devils cannot be doubted. So what kind of person is one who can believe the lies of these devils? Of course, they must also be devils—only devils believe the words of devils. Some people say, “The christ you believe in absconded with a bunch of money,” and they immediately believe and accept it in full. Some people say, “The christ you believe in fled to the US and is living it up there, eating so many delicacies that he’s tired of them, staying in luxury hotels, riding around in luxury cars, with a personal chef and attendants, and going abroad to tour famous scenic spots—he’s spending all his time living it up.” Once brainwashed by Satan, these muddleheaded people immediately believe it. I say that such people should be handed over to Satan—they are not worthy of believing in God. No matter how many sermons they have heard, they just do not understand, and they can still believe these rumors. Such people are not human. If they are not human, what are they? They are animals. While they are not evil people, they are severely muddleheaded, unable to distinguish good from bad, positive from negative, right from wrong, the truth from wickedness and twisted reasoning. Such people should be cleansed away—if they do not leave on their own, they must be cleansed away from the church. They should be given the boot immediately, and we will gladly send them off. The CCP has its own way of describing the church’s clearing people out, saying that clearing out and expelling people is a display of strength. You see, devils and Satans understand every matter in such a ridiculous way. This just exposes that many of the CCP’s actions are done for the sake of displaying strength; thus, it interprets the church’s cleansing away of people as a display of strength. It assumes that others think the same way it does. It will never understand that the church does this entirely based on the truth and God’s words—cleansing the church is part of the church’s administrative decrees. Aren’t devils wicked? (They are.) They are truly wicked! And there are plenty of muddleheaded people—no matter how wicked devils are, muddleheaded people cannot see that they are wicked. When devils fabricate rumors about God, insult God, and blaspheme God, they believe every word. But no matter how real and positive God’s words are, they do not believe them. No matter how much benefit God’s words bring to people, they cannot see it. Yet the moment Satan speaks a single word, they are misled and believe it without question. One could say that they are Satan’s ilk, but Satan really does not want them. Why? Because fools like them, such complete idiots, are too foolish even for Satan. You are incapable of doing anything, so all Satan does is mislead you into not believing in God and betraying God—Satan does not want someone like you. What could you possibly do? Do you have the skills to carry out espionage? You do not even have human intelligence. You would expose your identity before finishing three sentences. Even if you wanted to be a spy for the CCP, the CCP would not want you. Because you are foolish, muddleheaded, so easy to deceive, and you do not possess human intelligence, even Satan looks down on you and does not want you. So, when God’s house asks you to do your duty, it is God exalting you—do not feel wronged. You believe everything Satan says, yet no matter how much work God has done or how many words God has spoken, you do not believe in them. You have no true belief in God and remain full of doubt. Satan speaks a single word, and you are taken captive by it. What kind of wretch are you? What dignity do you have? What worth do you have? You are nothing but a muddleheaded person, yet you think you’re quite good and believe yourself to be noble. You cannot discern even such obvious lies of Satan, and you cannot recognize Satan’s purpose behind them—is this not extreme muddleheadedness? The CCP says, “The christ you believe in absconded with a bunch of money and is living it up in the US.” When these muddleheaded people hear this, their hearts skip a beat: “Is that so? How did I not know about this? Did he abscond with all the money I offered up? It wasn’t used for church work, was it? It was spent for his personal enjoyment, wasn’t it? It was used to buy good food, fine clothes, and precious jewelry for himself, wasn’t it? I didn’t even get to enjoy it—I offered it up to him and he used it for his own enjoyment. I absolutely refuse to accept this. I don’t believe anymore! I need to get my money back!” If you regret offering money, God’s house can return it to you, but from that moment on, you will be completely cut off from God’s house. You have listened to sermons for so many years—how much truth have you gotten for free? You have enjoyed God’s grace, blessings, protection, and care for so many years—have you spent a single cent? Has God ever asked you for money? God’s grace, blessings, care, and protection—including your very life—were all bestowed upon you by God. Can you buy with money what God bestows? What could you exchange for it? Can you trade those few filthy coins of yours for it? These things are priceless treasures—you cannot exchange anything for them; no one can! They are bestowed on you because God is willing to do so, because God shows you grace and God treats you as a created being. They are not things you bought with money, nor things you got in exchange for paying a price. Muddleheaded people cannot see through these things. In their hearts, they are always confused; they always think, “Does god have some dark secret? Aside from giving sermons, aren’t there many other things that should be made clear and explained to us? Shouldn’t there be some explanation, some account? Shouldn’t his private life and his words and actions behind the scenes be disclosed to everyone?” Many muddleheaded people have this mindset—they may not say such things aloud, but this is what they think in their hearts. Does God need to disclose all that He does to corrupt humankind? God has already expressed so many truths, and that is the greatest kind of disclosing—it reveals all people. If you do not believe that everything God does is the truth, then you have no knowledge of God at all. If you make arbitrary comments about God, you are attacking and resisting God. God has already made all truth public so that people can use the truth to view things. How one should view people, how they should view things, and what viewpoints and principles they should have in conducting themselves and acting—all of this is in God’s words. If you still don’t know and aren’t clear about this, it is because you are muddleheaded—you are a muddleheaded individual. Muddleheaded people are unworthy of knowing about the affairs of God and God’s house—devils even less so—because muddleheaded people and devils have no understanding of the truth whatsoever; they tend to blindly apply regulations toward, make blind judgments about, and blindly condemn these affairs. They have no discernment and no principles. It can be said with certainty: Muddleheaded people and devils are unworthy of staying in God’s house—they should get lost! Muddleheaded people and absurd people do not possess the basic conditions to understand the truth, nor do they possess the basic conditions to attain salvation—they can be taken captive by Satan at any time and in any place. Tell Me, when has God ever given sermons or explained the truth to animals? Thus, for people to be able to hear so many sermons, whether they can understand the truth or not, it is entirely due to God’s grace and God’s exaltation. If you are always doubting God, thinking, “Is the One I believe in really the true God? Does God really exist? Is God really sovereign over all things? Is God actually good to people, or is He just pretending? Is God really the truth, and can He really save people?”—if you think this way and treat God with such an attitude, then you deserve death. Sooner or later, God will set up a certain environment through which to hand you over to Satan, and your relationship with God will be completely severed. The relationship between you and God will no longer be one between a created being and the Creator, and from that moment on, you will have nothing to do with God.

What we just fellowshipped on was the third manifestation of people reincarnated from animals—that they are muddleheaded. There is another manifestation, which is that they are foolish. Foolishness is also related to intelligence—so just how foolish are these people? What manifestations demonstrate foolishness? Some people, when preaching the gospel, say, “Be considerate of God’s intentions! God has nowhere to even lay His head. God’s intentions are painstaking! God’s work is not easy—it is arduous!” When nonbelievers hear this, they say, “What’s this gibberish you’re talking about?” These words are incomprehensible to nonbelievers. They don’t believe in God, so they don’t know what these words refer to or what their background is. So is it not foolish for you to say these things? (Yes.) In what way is it foolish? They are addressed to the wrong audience, aren’t they? (Yes.) Some muddleheaded people, after being arrested, are questioned by the wicked police: “You believe in god—what does god tell you to do? Don’t you know that believing in god is illegal? You have violated the law. The state does not permit such belief!” In actuality, these wicked police officers are just looking for some dirt they can use to convict believers in God, but this kind of foolish person fails to see through this. They say, “Our belief in God is not illegal. God tells us to be honest people, to walk the right path, and to be good people.” When the devils hear this, they say, “Since god tells you to be honest people, then tell us—who are the leaders of your church? Where is your church’s money kept? Speak honestly! If you do not speak honestly, your god will condemn you!” Hearing this, this kind of foolish person is dumbfounded. Isn’t this being foolish? How can one speak honestly to devils? How can one tell God’s truth to devils? No matter what, one must never tell them. There are also foolish people who ask the police, “Why do you always arrest us? Why do you always make things hard for us believers in God? Why do you always fabricate rumors about us?” Do they really not know why? Do they expect to get an answer from them? Will they get an answer? Asking them why—isn’t this absurd, isn’t this being foolish? But these foolish people can indeed ask such foolish things. They simply do not understand and keep asking, “Why does the CCP always persecute us? Why do they always arrest us believers in God and even fabricate rumors about us? We are clearly being persecuted and cannot return home, yet they say we have abandoned our families. These devils do not base their words on facts! Isn’t this complete fabrication? We simply create some artistic performance videos to testify to God and propagate God’s words—why do devils and Satans hate this so much? They always go to my house to threaten and intimidate my family and relatives, even installing surveillance cameras—why?” Is there even a need to ask this? Isn’t that a foolish thing to say? If you just started believing in God, then it would be normal to not understand what was going on. But you have believed in God for so many years—how do you still not know? And if you do know, then why do you ask? Some people still cannot figure it out: “We have never opposed the Party or the state, we have never engaged in political activities, we have never tried to overthrow the government or its rule, we have never posed any threat to its rule—so why does the CCP always arrest and persecute us? We are always hiding, unable to go home or call our families despite wanting to. I just don’t get it—why does the CCP always make things difficult for us?” If you truly cannot see through this, then you are far too ignorant—you are truly foolish. Let’s say there’s a woman who marries a nonbelieving husband. When they were dating, he said, “I’ll believe with you too—we’ll enter the kingdom of heaven together.” He spoke so nicely, but in actuality, he is a disbeliever, a devil—he was just stringing her along. But when she forsakes everything to expend herself for God, he flies into a rage. He doesn’t let her attend gatherings, doesn’t let her do her duty, and doesn’t let her read God’s words. This foolish woman still wonders, “He wasn’t like this before. He loved me so much, cared for me so much, understood me so well, and fully supported my belief in God. Why does he seem like a completely different person now? He used to believe too—why has he become like this?” During the several years she’s away from home doing her duty, she constantly ponders this matter: “My husband couldn’t possibly look for another woman. He loves me the most. I am his only one, I am his first love. He would never love another woman. Besides, my husband is a guileless man, and he doesn’t have any great abilities or skills—who would want to be with him?” Actually, even as she thinks this, she feels uneasy in her heart. She is hoping that her husband is still waiting for her. But in actuality, even back when she was still at home, because she was busy believing in God and doing her duty every day, he had already found another woman. Yet she thinks that’s impossible: “Anyone else might look for another woman, but not him. He’s not that kind of person! When I was still at home, he even said he wanted to believe in God!” Tell Me, isn’t she being extremely foolish? (Yes.) All these years she has not been at home—not only has her husband found someone else, but even her children and parents have disowned her. She ceased being considered a member of that family long ago. Who knows how they insult her behind her back or how deeply they hate her. Yet she cannot see through this—tell Me, isn’t this foolish? (Yes.) To what degree is she foolish? To the degree that she completely lacks normal human intelligence; thus, she cannot use normal human thinking to view people and things. She always uses her childish, distorted, idiotic thoughts and viewpoints to view and measure things. In the end, she often gets herself stuck in difficult situations, becoming very passive, and acts in a very ignorant way. Isn’t this foolish? (Yes.) There are some foolish people like this. Being foolish means they do not have the intelligence of normal humanity, so when viewing people and things or handling matters, they do not have the basic principles as a support to enable them to achieve good results, right? (Yes.)

In summary, if people reincarnated from animals are measured using the truth as a standard, their primary characteristic is that they basically fall short of it—it is a high standard. If they are measured by the intelligence of normal humanity, they are even unable to view the people, events, things, or situations that arise in their daily lives with the thinking of normal humanity. Strictly speaking, in daily life, such people cannot even independently manage their own food, clothing, shelter, or transportation, nor can they independently respond to and handle these issues. Even if they just about manage to survive without starving to death, from their manifestations in handling various matters, such people appear very idiotic and clumsy, far from possessing true normal humanity. Take some animals, for example—they do not even know on their own how much food is appropriate to eat. Only if people feed them at fixed times and in measured amounts can they eat in a healthy way. Take dogs for example, if left to eat freely, with no restrictions on how much, they will eat too much. They will keep eating until they are completely stuffed and physically unable to eat any more. So, a very obvious characteristic of people reincarnated from animals is that they cannot manage many aspects of their own lives independently. Why can’t they do so independently? It is because they never know what the principles are for doing such things, what the basic conditions are, or what boundaries they should not overstep. It is just like some animals when they eat—they do not know how much food is appropriate. If people do not manage them, they will eat until they overstuff themselves and die. If there is someone managing and feeding them, they might maintain good health. This characteristic is also quite obvious in people reincarnated from animals. Just like some people say: “They eat without knowing if they are hungry or full, and sleep without knowing if it is day or night.” So, do such people possess the intelligence of humanity? It is very clear that they do not. Such considerations as how they should eat to regulate their health throughout the four seasons of the year as their body experiences different conditions, which foods are healthy and which foods are unhealthy in which season, which ways of living are healthy and unhealthy—a normal person, at the age of twenty, may not know these things, but at thirty, they know some of them, and at forty they know even more. At fifty, based on their own actual physical condition, they will have summed up a set of rules to live by that suits them, and this will basically be established and fixed, with no further major changes. But people reincarnated from animals, even if they live to be eighty years old, still cannot sum up a set of rules to live by. They either eat too much or too little, and either get an upset stomach or indigestion. They have no idea which health issues are caused by which lifestyle habits or which foods—they just eat wantonly. If you ask them to sum up a dietary regimen or dietary approach that suits them based on which foods are suitable or unsuitable for their constitution, and on various pieces of information, they cannot do it. For example, someone online says that eggshells are high in calcium and that eating eggshells can supplement their calcium intake, so they think it over: “I’m not very tall because I lack calcium—I’ll eat eggshells to supplement my calcium intake.” But as it turns out, after eating them for a while, there seems to be no improvement in their calcium levels. Tell Me, isn’t this distorted? When you come across information online saying that eggshells are high in calcium and can be used as a calcium supplement, how should you comprehend it? It is very clear that people who eat eggshells are prone to distortion. Their comprehension is incorrect, so their practice is distorted, extreme, and idiotic. Then what is the correct way to comprehend this? While eggshells may be high in calcium, they are not something we can eat. Whether they can actually have the effect of a calcium supplement is still unknown, and even if they can supplement your calcium levels, whether you can absorb it is also uncertain. Furthermore, is there any evidence that eggshells can be a calcium supplement? Has this claim been verified? In actuality, there are many things that can supplement calcium intake, and they have all been medically proven. If you refuse to accept these proven methods, then you are an absurd person. Can’t you just take calcium tablets to supplement your calcium intake? That’s the simplest method. They do not harm the stomach or damage the teeth, they taste good, and you can feel the effects. Isn’t this the correct comprehension? (Yes.) But those with a distorted comprehension do not comprehend it this way—they take things to the extreme. They believe, “If someone says eggshells can supplement your calcium intake, then it must be okay to eat eggshells. If you need to supplement your calcium intake, you have to eat them.” They do not even consider whether the body can absorb them after eating. This reflects distorted comprehension, this is being extreme. If someone said, “Banana peel is high in vitamins, and eating it can enhance your beauty,” would you eat it? (No.) Why not? (Because some foods created by God should be eaten after having been peeled, according to natural order. Insisting on eating the peel is taking things to the extreme. If someone wants to supplement their vitamin intake to enhance their beauty, they should eat foods that are both normally edible and have beautifying effects.) This is the correct comprehension. But look at that extremist fool—they do not comprehend it this way. They insist on forcing themselves to eat the peel and even say, “I must rebel against my flesh. I must eat banana peel to supplement my levels of a specific nutrient.” But they don’t think, “Banana peel doesn’t taste good. It is not food. I won’t eat it. Why don’t I just eat something else that contains this nutrient instead?” Isn’t this the correct comprehension? (Yes.) If you can be discriminating in this way, if you can comprehend things this way, it proves that you possess human intelligence. But if you cannot be discriminating in this way, and as soon as you hear that banana peel contains a certain nutrient, you insist on eating it even if it tastes bad—then you are a fool, you are someone reincarnated from an animal, and you do not possess the thinking of normal humanity. Any heresy or fallacy can mislead such people, and they are simply unable to discern the correctness or veracity of various pieces of information—they always get duped. All of this constitutes a manifestation of how people reincarnated from animals treat various specific matters—they are extremely foolish, their comprehension is distorted and absurd, and they take everything to the extreme. When people say that research suggests something is edible, that doesn’t mean you must eat it, nor does it mean that nothing else can replace it. If you say that the truth cannot be replaced by any theory, that is objective and accurate. But these nutrients are material substances—it is impossible for there not to be any substitutes. God created a rich variety of foods, and there are many foods that contain different nutrients. People can make precise choices based on their individual constitution, age group, and current health status—there is no need to stick to regulations. After hearing a piece of information, people who go to extremes cannot treat it correctly, nor can they discern it. They are always misled by these things, and in the end, they say, “Everything online is a lie—not a single word is true!” You see, they now go to the other extreme. You can search for information online, but you must know how to use human intelligence and the correct way of human thinking to discern it, to make a correct choice about what to use and what to discard. If something is beneficial to you, you can use it; if it is not beneficial or not suitable for you, you can treat it as a reference or as a kind of common knowledge. People with human thinking practice in this way. Those who do not possess human thinking practice in a way that deviates either to the left or to the right—they are either deceived or completely disbelieve everything. They are incapable of discerning such matters with care. Such people appear especially obstinate, ridiculous, muddled, and idiotic in how they treat various kinds of information or handle real-life matters. People who are this idiotic, who cannot discern correct from incorrect or right from wrong—how do they get by each day of their lives? Just looking at how they behave makes you worry—can you still have any hope that they will be able to enter into the truth reality?

A woman married a sleazy rogue and thinks, “My husband loves me so much. I have found true love, I have fallen in love,” and she feels very blissful. But others look at her husband and see that he is not even human—that he is a devil—and wonder how she can still be so intoxicated and enjoying herself so much. Even they are anxious about her and worry on her behalf. In the end, after having children with him, she gets kicked aside and has no support—her life becomes unbearably difficult! From the foolish things done by people reincarnated from animals, it is clear that the fact that they can manage to live and survive is largely due to God’s grace. God gives them breath so that they can remain alive, and gives them food so that they can survive. The birds in the sky, the little animals and even the ants on the ground all have food to eat—how much more so is this true for humans? Since you were reincarnated as a human, God gives you the means to survive. Either someone provides for you, or you have a certain strength that allows you to sustain your livelihood. This is God’s grace. God does not let you starve to death but gives you a way to survive, so you are able to live to old age, to live until the end. Without God’s grace, then with the caliber those reincarnated from animals are born with, their absence of normal thinking, and their absence of even the slightest ability to handle problems, they could not even manage to earn a livelihood for themselves. From another perspective, people reincarnated from animals are actually quite blessed. Considering their abilities in all respects and their intelligence, it would be virtually impossible for them to earn a living in this complex and evil world. But because God shows grace to and has mercy for all created beings, then no matter whether you are reincarnated from an animal or a human, in God’s eyes, if you are a created being and He has given you breath, then He provides normally what you need to live and survive, allowing your life to be sustained and enabling you to continue living. So if you say, “I have gone out and struggled to make money, providing for myself so that I’m well-nourished and healthy—aren’t I doing just fine? Aren’t You insulting me by calling me foolish?” then you are wrong. The fact that you can make money and provide for yourself is not necessarily truly because of your own ability—ninety-nine percent of it is God’s grace. God gives you some vigor, and thus enables you to toil to earn money for food; He gives you a certain strength, along with a healthy body, and thus enables you to do a job, earn money, support a family, and survive. What is the basis of you being able to do these things? It is all based on God giving you the most fundamental innate condition that enables you to engage in normal human labor, ultimately allowing you to provide for yourself and sustain your livelihood. In short, no matter what, whether you are foolish or muddleheaded, right now, as a created being with the external appearance of a human, you should know your identity and your worth. Moreover, you should correctly comprehend what God has bestowed on you, what God has provided for you, and God’s grace and mercy. If you match the several characteristics of people reincarnated from animals and feel that you certainly belong to this category of people, what should you do? This is easy to handle: No matter what your origin is, no matter whether you naturally possess human intelligence and human thinking, the fact is that you now have a human identity. Since you have a human identity, you should fulfill a human’s duty—do as much as you can, to the best of your ability, and, to the maximum extent possible, accomplish and do well what a human ought to do. Some people say, “You said people reincarnated from animals are characterized by distorted comprehension, numbness, being muddleheaded, and foolishness—that means they don’t have human intelligence. The vast majority of these people do not understand the truth at all—how can they do their duty well and appropriately?” If you are not held to strict standards, you can achieve doing it well and appropriately, because, after all, you now have a human identity; as long as you’re obedient and do not spout twisted arguments, you can achieve this. If you cannot even manage these two points, then I say you are truly in danger, and you will have to be cleansed away from the church. If you say, “I can manage these two points. I will not spout twisted arguments, and I accept correct statements. Whatever I’m told to do, I will do; and however I’m told to do it, that’s how I will do it”—if you can truly practice this way, then you will be able to achieve doing your duty well and appropriately. Some people say, “I have done my duty well and appropriately, and I also want to do it according to the truth principles.” If you truly have the intent to strive toward the truth principles on the foundation of being able to do your duty well and appropriately, then whatever level you can reach is fine—there are no requirements. As long as you are not pigheaded, do not spout twisted arguments, do not keep emphasizing your own reasons, do not act in a muddleheaded way, and do not refuse to admit when you have done something foolish, that is enough. As for acting according to the truth principles, you can do as much as you are able; whatever you think you can do, just do that. The requirements for this type of person are not high because it is somewhat difficult for them to attain to the truth principles. So, based on their innate conditions, they are not strictly required to act according to the truth principles. Why are they not required? Because they are incapable of it. If you insist on requiring that they act according to the truth principles, that would be like forcing a fish to live on land. Take some animals, for example—if you require them to eat the right amount for each meal and not overeat and stretch their stomach, can they do it? They cannot. They eat as much as they can in one go until they physically cannot eat any more. People reincarnated from animals are the same. If you require them to act according to the truth principles, they cannot do it. So does that mean such people are abandoned? No, they are not abandoned. But not abandoning them does not mean requiring them to understand the truth principles or enter into the truth principles. It simply means treating them correctly, letting them do what they are capable of doing. It is not revoking their qualifications to do their duty, nor is it revoking their qualifications to pursue the truth, and even less is it revoking their qualifications to attain salvation. It only means that they are not strictly required to practice according to the truth principles, nor are they strictly required to attain to the truth principles in all things. That is, they should do as much as they are capable of. As long as they do not deliberately try to cause disturbances, do not spout twisted arguments or recklessly commit misdeeds when it comes to critical matters of principle, that is enough. The requirements for such people are not high. Do you understand? (Yes.)

As for people who are reincarnated from animals, we’ve fellowshipped on some of their manifestations of their essence. Of course, there are some manifestations that we haven’t talked about in much detail. If we were to speak more specifically about them, some people might not be able to stand it, so we’ve spoken more generally, leaving some things unsaid. No matter what you were reincarnated from, in the end you now have a human identity. Since you have a human identity, you care about your image and your dignity, so we’ll spare you a bit of dignity—we won’t speak in too much detail on this aspect. What we’ve discussed already is basically how things are—match yourself against it. Let’s say your manifestations match up with those of people reincarnated from animals, and you feel quite troubled in your heart—feeling that since you have this kind of identity, in one respect your worth has declined, and in another your integrity has been insulted and your dignity has been challenged. You don’t know how to handle your relationship with God, and you suddenly feel that your status has plummeted, that you’re lower than others, no longer feeling that there’s anything honorable about yourself, no longer feeling that your character is noble or that you are of honorable worth, and suddenly you feel in your heart that you don’t have any hope or support, and that your future destination is up in the air. Would these be good manifestations? (No.) Then shouldn’t you turn around? (Yes.) Since these manifestations and this kind of comprehension aren’t good, what should be done? We need to find a way out for people like this, to make them feel a bit better. This isn’t about placating them, nor about duping them—it’s about enabling them to treat this matter correctly and strive to practice according to the truth principles. So what should they do? How should people reincarnated from animals comprehend this matter? First of all, from God’s perspective, no matter what a person has been reincarnated from, it is ordained by God—people have no say in it. Say you’re one of these people. If you were asked to choose, would you choose to be reincarnated as an animal, or as a human? (To be reincarnated as a human.) Why would you choose that? (Because only if we were reincarnated as a human could we have the opportunity to hear what God says and understand His words.) And if you were reincarnated as an animal? (We’d have no opportunity to hear God’s words.) This means you would never have the chance to hear God’s voice. So, since you know that, as an animal, being reincarnated as a human is a good thing, you should thank God all the more—you shouldn’t complain about Him. You should thank God for giving you an opportunity to be a human being—which is, moreover, a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. After all, God became flesh to save people, and while most people haven’t gained this grace of salvation, you have—you’ve had the good fortune of hearing God’s voice and hearing God express the truth. This is your blessing. It’s something that, as a created lifeform, you couldn’t have obtained even over several lifetimes or many eras, even if you begged for it. God precisely chose you in this age, allowing you to be reincarnated as a human, to live in God’s house and, together with humankind, do the duty of a created being, transforming your identity from that of an animal to that of a member of humankind and allowing you to do a human being’s duty. What a great honor and privilege this is! This is something many created lifeforms could only wish for but never obtain—and yet you have obtained it and are enjoying it today. This opportunity is incredibly rare; for any created lifeform, it’s a once-in-a-millennium opportunity. So, not only should you not sink into despondency and complain, and not feel upset or think that your status is lower than others, but, on the contrary, you should actually feel fortunate. You should thank God—thank God for the opportunity He has given you, thank Him for His exaltation of you, for what He has done is so great: What He has done is truly grace and mercy toward created beings. After accepting this grace from God, you should be grateful that He has changed your identity and your class. But you can’t just thank Him and be done with it—beyond thanking Him, you also need to think about how to seize this opportunity. No matter what your original identity was, now that you can do your duty as a human being, this is a good opportunity to change your identity and change your class as a created being. So how can you make this change? The first key point is to do your duty well. If, due to the various limitations of your innate conditions, you are only capable of toiling and doing physical labor, of doing dirty and tiring work, and, based on your identity and worth, the duty you do can only ever remain within this scope, with no possibility of alleviation or improvement, then what should you do? Which principle should you abide by? If, no matter what manifestations we’re looking at, whether it’s your intelligence, your character, or your innate conditions, your worth among people will always be like this—you will always be a worthless, foolish, muddleheaded, numb, dull-witted person with distorted comprehension, and your worth will never increase—then how should you treat your duty? This is of utmost importance. Let’s suppose that your worth will never increase, and you will never have any dignity among people. In God’s eyes, you are eternally fixed in place—this is just what you are. Your class may have obvious characteristics visible on the surface, and you will never change from an animal into a true human. You have no hope of attaining salvation, because you cannot understand the truth, and you do not even possess human intelligence. You don’t understand the truths of visions, and in God’s house, you don’t know how to preach the gospel, you fall short of and don’t measure up to any kind of duty involving professional skills—you will always be stuck doing dirty and tiring jobs, and you have no way to turn your situation around. Supposing that’s how you are, what would you do? Would you stop believing in God? Would you give up on yourself? Would some people even take their own lives? Would they say, “I don’t want to live anymore. I have no way out anyway—what’s the point of living like this?” If no matter how much effort you put in, how diligent you are, how much you strive, or how great a price you pay, your worth will never change, and in God’s house you will only ever be someone who toils and works up a sweat, a lowly person without dignity whom everyone looks down on, then, when it comes to how you treat your duty, God’s commission, and the various requirements of the Creator, what way of practicing should you choose? This is what’s most crucial. In principle and in theory, your worth and identity are set, but in fact, right now, among people and in God’s eyes, your true identity is that of a human. Why do I say it is that of a human? Because the duty you can do, your daily revelations, and the various instinctual abilities of your innate conditions fall within the basic scope of what is normal for a human being—you possess these basic conditions of being a human. Just in terms of this point, how should you treat your duty? Animals don’t understand the truth principles, they don’t know how to do their duty well, how to hold fast to their duty, or how to do their duty devotedly and persist in rendering service until the end—animals don’t understand these things. But now, as a human, you understand, you know, so you should achieve these things. Since you are capable of achieving these things, God will make requirements of you based on this principle. However, if, because you’re unsatisfied with your identity and feel that God is unfair, you become discouraged, and complain about Him, feel that your life is humiliating and undignified, and then give up doing your duty, refusing to do even what you are capable of—then you are utterly rebellious. In God’s eyes, you are not up to standard as a created being; you are an aberration. So what should you do? Regardless of whether your worth is honorable or lowly, and regardless of what you came from or what problems there are with your innate conditions, in short, whatever you are capable of doing, do your best to do it, and do your best to do it well. If even after doing your best, you still fall short of the truth principles, God has a minimum standard that is required of all kinds of people: As long as you give your all, show your sincerity, and offer your loyalty, you will be up to standard. God doesn’t require every person to achieve a hundred percent—sixty percent is enough. What does God want? What God wants is an attitude—if your attitude is to desire to do the duty of a created being, to do well at the things you should do and should achieve, leaving no regrets, then this attitude is accepted by God. God will approve of this attitude, and it will protect you so that you reach the end of the path. Some people say, “What will happen when I reach the end of the path?” I won’t tell you now—I’ll tell you later. When you reach the end of the path, you’ll know. In short, what matters most right now is how you treat this matter, how you treat the duty God has given you, and how you fulfill the duty God has given you. No matter what this duty is, as long as it is something assigned to you by God’s house, you must give your all to do it. When you recognize your own problems, you should do your best to not spout twisted arguments, not do things that offend God, and not say things that offend God; instead, you should do things that benefit people and God’s house, and say things that benefit people and God’s house. Some of you say, “I’m still not capable of this right now.” Then take your time—don’t be impatient. If you can’t do it today, then do it tomorrow. If you can’t do it this year, try to do it next year. Just take your time. But if by the time people’s outcomes are announced you still haven’t achieved it, then you’ll just have to bear the consequences yourself. No one will pick up the check to cover your behavior. Understand? (Yes.) This matter should be easy to resolve—it all depends on a person’s rationality and whether they can understand these words. If you can understand them, then these things will be pretty easy to resolve. Even if a few individuals say it’s a bit difficult, as long as they strive in this direction, they’ll eventually get some results. If you don’t walk this path, maybe you’ll still be able to survive, but as for what outcome will be waiting for you in the end—that’s hard to say; no one can guarantee it, and no one will give you any assurances about it.

How do you feel after hearing today’s topic? You probably feel quite upset emotionally, don’t you? This is one of the topics people are least willing to face since coming to believe in God, isn’t it? Isn’t it even more distressing and harder to accept than the topic of being a service-doer? Is it difficult to accept? You actually are able to accept, right? (Right.) If people are certain about God’s identity and have found their own place, then these words and this kind of issue shouldn’t be too difficult for people—just a few individuals may have some difficulty with them. But most people, after hearing this, are unlikely to go on digging into what their worth and identity really are. Even if they really do match up with some of the manifestations of people reincarnated from animals, they’ll be able to treat it correctly, and after a while, they’ll feel fine, right? (Yes.) So, we’ll fellowship up to here for today. Goodbye!

January 20, 2024