How to Pursue the Truth (16) Part Four
When it comes to handling parents’ expectations, is it clear what principles should be followed and what burdens should be let go? (Yes.) So, what exactly are the burdens that people carry here? They must listen to their parents and let their parents live a good life; everything their parents do is for their own good; and they must do what their parents say to be filial. Additionally, as adults, they must do things for their parents, repay their parents’ kindness, be filial to them, accompany them, not make them feel sad or disappointed, not let them down, and do everything they can to minimize their suffering or even eliminate it entirely. If you can’t achieve this, you are ungrateful, unfilial, you deserve to be struck down by thunder and spurned by others, and you are a bad person. Are these your burdens? (Yes.) Since these things are people’s burdens, people should accept the truth and properly face them. Only by accepting the truth can these burdens and wrong thoughts and views be let go of and changed. If you don’t accept the truth, is there another path for you to take? (No.) Thus, whether it’s letting go of burdens of the family or of the flesh, it all starts with accepting the correct thoughts and views and accepting the truth. As you start accepting the truth, these wrong thoughts and views within you will gradually be dismantled, discerned, and seen through, and then gradually they will be rejected. During the process of dismantling, discerning, and then letting go of and rejecting these wrong thoughts and views, you will gradually change your attitude and approach toward these matters. Those thoughts that come from your human conscience or feelings will gradually weaken; they will no longer trouble or bind you deep within your mind, control or influence your life, or interfere with your performance of duty. For example, if you have accepted the correct thoughts and views and accepted this aspect of the truth, when you hear the news of your parents’ death, you will merely shed tears for them without thinking about how during these years you haven’t repaid their kindness in raising you, how you made them suffer so much, how you didn’t recompense them in the slightest, or how you didn’t let them live a good life. You won’t blame yourself for these things anymore—rather, you will exhibit normal expressions stemming from the needs of normal human feelings; you will shed tears and then experience a bit of longing for them. Soon these things will become natural and normal, and you will quickly immerse yourself in a normal life and performing your duties; you will not be troubled by this matter. But if you don’t accept these truths, then when you hear the news of your parents’ passing, you will cry endlessly. You will feel pity for your parents, that for their whole lives they didn’t have it easy, and that they raised such an unfilial child as you; when they were sick, you didn’t wait on them at their bedside, and when they died, you didn’t wail at their funeral or go into mourning; you let them down, you disappointed them, and you didn’t let them live a good life. You will live with this sense of guilt for a long time, and whenever you think about it you will cry and feel a dull aching in your heart. Whenever you encounter related circumstances or people, events, and things, you will have an emotional reaction; this sense of guilt may accompany you for the rest of your life. What is the reason for this? It is that you never accepted the truth or the correct thoughts and views as your life; instead, your old thoughts and views have continued to hold sway over you, influencing your life. So, you will spend the remainder of your life in pain because of your parents’ passing. This continuous suffering will have consequences that go well beyond a little fleshly discomfort; it will affect your life, your attitude toward performing your duties, your attitude toward the work of the church, your attitude toward God, as well as your attitude toward any person or matter that touches your soul. You may also become disheartened and discouraged toward more matters, become despondent and passive, lose faith in life, lose enthusiasm and motivation for anything, and so on. In time, the impact will not be limited to your simple daily life; it will also affect your attitude toward performing your duties and the path you take in life. This is very dangerous. The consequence of this danger may be that you cannot perform your duties as a created being adequately, and you may even stop performing your duties halfway or harbor a resistant mood and attitude toward the duties you perform. In short, this kind of situation will inevitably worsen over time and cause your mood, emotions, and mentality to evolve in a malignant direction. Do you understand? (Yes.) The fellowship of these topics today, in one aspect, tells you to establish correct thoughts and views, the source of which is based on the essence of these matters themselves. Because the root and essence are just so, people should realize them, and they should not be deceived by these representations or by thoughts and views stemming from feelings and impetuousness. This is one aspect. The other is, only when people do this can they avoid taking detours and deviations, and instead live life as it comes in an environment ruled over and orchestrated by God. In summary, only by accepting these correct thoughts and views and being guided by them can people cast off these burdens that come from their parents, let go of these burdens, and be able to submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. By doing so, one can live more freely and unrestrainedly, with peace and joy, rather than constantly being driven by the effects of impetuousness, feelings, or conscience. Having discussed so much, do you now have some understanding of the burdens that parents’ expectations create? (Yes.) Now that you have some accurate understanding, doesn’t your spirit feel much more relaxed and liberated? (Yes.) When you have real understanding and real acceptance and submission, your spirit will be liberated. If you continue to resist and refuse, or merely treat these truths as theory, instead of regarding these matters based on facts, then it will be difficult for you to let go. You will only be able to act according to the orchestrations of the thoughts and feelings of the flesh in dealing with these matters; ultimately, you will live within the snare of these feelings, where there is only pain and sorrow, and no one will be able to save you. When facing these matters entangled in this emotional snare, people have no way out. You can only be freed from the entanglements and bindings of feelings by accepting the truth, right? (Yes.)
In addition to parents’ various expectations and approaches when it comes to their children’s studying and career choices, they also have various expectations regarding marriage, don’t they? What are some of these expectations? Please share. (Typically, parents will tell their daughters that their future husband must at least be rich, have a house and a car, and be able to take care of them. That is, they should be able to meet the daughter’s material needs and also have a sense of responsibility. These are the criteria for choosing a spouse.) Some of the things parents say come from their own experiences, and although they have your best interests in mind, there are still some issues. Parents also have their own opinions and preferences when it comes to their expectations for your marriage. They require their children to find a spouse who, at the very least, has money, status, and capability, and who is formidable so they won’t be pushed around by others outside the home. And if others bully you, this person must be able to stand up to them and protect you. You might say, “I don’t care. I’m not such a materialistic person. I just want to find someone who loves me and whom I love too.” To this, your parents say, “Why are you such a dunce? Why are you so simple-minded? You are young and inexperienced, and you don’t understand the hardships in life. Have you ever heard the saying ‘Everything goes wrong for a poor couple’? In life, you need money for this and money for that; do you think you’ll live a good life if you don’t have money? You need to find someone who is rich and capable.” You answer, “But even rich and capable people are not reliable.” Your parents reply, “Even if they’re not reliable, you have to get your basic needs squared away first. You’d have whatever you want to eat and wear, and you’d be well-fed and well-dressed, something everyone would envy.” You respond, “But my soul wouldn’t be happy.” To this, your parents say, “What even is a soul? Where is it? So what if your soul is not happy? As long as you’re physically comfortable, that’s all that matters!” There are some people who, based on their current life circumstances, wish to remain single. Although they are quite old, they don’t want to date, let alone enter into marriage. This makes their parents anxious, so they keep urging them to marry. They arrange blind dates and introduce potential partners. They do everything possible to quickly find a well-matched and respectable person for their children to marry; even if they are not well-matched, at the very least their qualifications must be good, such as being a university graduate, having a master’s or Ph.D., or otherwise having studied abroad. Some people can’t stand their parents’ nagging. At first, they think it’s great that they are single and only have themselves to take care of. Especially after believing in God, they are very busy performing their duties every day and don’t have time to think about these things, so they don’t date and won’t get married in the future. However, they can’t get past their parents’ scrutiny. Their parents disagree, always urging and pressuring them. Whenever they see their children, they start nagging: “Are you dating someone? Is there anyone you’ve taken a fancy to? Hurry up and bring them home so we can check them out for you. If they’re suitable, just go and tie the knot already; you’re not getting any younger! Women don’t get married after they’re thirty and men don’t search for a partner after they’re thirty-five. What are you trying to do, turn the world upside down? Who will take care of you when you get old if you don’t get married?” Parents always worry and busy themselves with this, wanting you to seek out this or that kind of person, pushing you to get married and find a partner. And after you do get married, your parents keep pestering you: “Hurry up and have a child while I’m still young. I’ll take care of them for you.” You say, “I don’t need you to take care of my children. Don’t worry.” They respond, “What do you mean, ‘Don’t worry’? Hurry up and have a kid! After they’re born, I’ll look after them for you. Once they’re a bit older, then you can take over.” Whatever expectations parents have for their children—regardless of the parents’ attitudes or whether these expectations are correct—it always feels like a burden for the children. If they do listen to their parents, they’ll feel uncomfortable and unhappy. If they don’t listen to their parents, they’ll have a guilty conscience: “My parents aren’t wrong. They’re so old and don’t get to see me getting married or having kids. They feel sad, so they urge me to get married and have kids. This is also their responsibility.” So, when it comes to handling parents’ expectations in this regard, deep down people always have the vague sense that it’s a burden. Whether they listen or not, it seems wrong, and either way they feel like disobeying their parents’ demands or desires is so disgraceful and immoral. It’s a matter that weighs on their conscience. Some parents even interfere with their children’s lives: “Hurry up and get married and have kids. Give me a big, healthy grandson first.” In this way they even try to interfere with the baby’s gender. Some parents also say, “You already have a daughter, hurry up and give me a grandson, I want both a grandson and a granddaughter. You and your spouse are busy believing in God and performing your duties all day long. You’re not doing your proper job; having children is a big deal. Don’t you know, ‘Of the three filial impieties, having no heir is the worst’? Do you think just having a daughter is enough? You better hurry up and give me a grandson too! You’re the only child in our family; if you don’t give me a grandson, won’t our family line come to an end?” You contemplate, “That’s right, if the family line ends with me, wouldn’t I be letting down my ancestors?” So, not getting married is wrong, and getting married but not having children is also wrong; but then it’s also not good enough to have a daughter, you must have a son. Some people have a son first, but their parents say, “One is not enough. What if something happens? Have another one so they can keep each other company.” When it comes to their children, parents’ word is law and they can be utterly unreasonable, capable of articulating the most skewed logic—their children are simply at a loss as to how to deal with them. Parents interfere and criticize their children’s lives, work, marriage, and attitudes toward various things. Children can only swallow their anger. They cannot hide from their parents or shake them off. They cannot scold or educate their own parents—so what can they do? They endure it, try to see them as seldom as possible, and they avoid bringing these issues up if they absolutely must meet. And if the matters do get raised, they will instantly cut them off and go hide somewhere. However, there are some people who, in order to meet their parents’ expectations and not disappoint them, agree to their parents’ demands. You might reluctantly rush into dating, marriage, and having kids. But it is not enough to have one child; you must have several. You do this to satisfy your parents’ demands and make them happy and joyful. Regardless of whether you can satisfy your parents’ wishes, their demands would be troublesome for any child. Your parents aren’t doing anything against the law, and you can’t criticize them, talk to anyone else about it, or reason with them. As you go back and forth like this, the matter becomes your burden. You always feel that so long as you can’t meet your parents’ demands for marriage and children, you will be unable to face your parents and ancestors with a clear conscience. If you haven’t met your parents’ demands—that is, you haven’t dated, haven’t entered into marriage, and haven’t had kids and continued the family lineage like they asked—you will feel pressure inside. You can only relax a little if your parents say they won’t interfere in these matters, giving you freedom to take things as they come. However, if the social feedback coming from your extended relatives, friends, classmates, colleagues, and everyone else is to condemn you and talk about you behind your back, then it is also a burden for you. When you are 25 and unmarried, you don’t think it matters much, but when you reach 30, you start feeling like it’s not so good, so you avoid these relatives and family members, and don’t bring it up. And if you’re still unmarried at 35, people will say, “Why aren’t you married? Is there something wrong with you? You’re kind of a weirdo, aren’t you?” If you are married but do not want children, they will say, “Why haven’t you had kids after getting married? Other people get married and have a daughter and then a son, or they have a son and then a daughter. Why don’t you want children? What’s the matter with you? Don’t you have any human feelings? Are you even a normal person?” Whether it comes from parents or society, these issues become a burden for you in different environments and backgrounds. You feel you are in the wrong, especially at your particular age. For example, if you are between thirty and fifty and are still unmarried, you don’t dare meet people. They say, “That woman has never been married her entire life, she’s an old spinster, no one wants her, no one will marry her.” “That guy, he has never had a wife his whole life.” “Why didn’t they get married?” “Who knows, maybe something is wrong with them.” You ponder, “There isn’t anything wrong with me. So why haven’t I gotten married then? I didn’t listen to my parents and I’m letting them down.” People say, “That guy isn’t married, that girl isn’t married. Look how pitiful their parents are now. Other parents have grandchildren and great-grandchildren, but they are still single. Their ancestors must have done something terrible, huh? Isn’t this leaving the family without an heir? They won’t have any descendants to continue the family line. What’s the matter with that family?” No matter how adamant your current attitude is, as long as you are a mortal, ordinary person, and you do not have enough truth to understand this matter, sooner or later you will be troubled and disturbed by it. Nowadays, there are many 34- or 35-year-olds in society who are still unmarried, which is not a big deal. However, at 35 or 36 and up, there are fewer people who are unmarried. Based on the current age range of unmarried people, if you are below 35, you might think, “It’s normal to not be married, no one says anything about it. If my parents want to say something, let them. I’m not scared.” But once you are past the age of 35, people will look at you with different eyes. They’ll say you are single, a bachelor, or a leftover woman, and you won’t be able to bear it. This matter will become your burden. If you do not have a clear understanding or definite principles of practice for this matter, sooner or later, it will become a bother for you, or it will disrupt your life during a special time. Doesn’t this involve some truths that people should understand? (Yes.)
In terms of getting married and having children, what truths should people understand in order to let go of the burdens these matters bring? First of all, is the choice of a marriage partner determined by human will? (No.) It’s not that you can just go and meet whichever type of person it is you desire, and it’s certainly not the case that God will prepare for you the exact type of person you want. Rather, God has already ordained who your marriage partner will be; whoever it is meant to be, it shall be. You don’t need to be affected by any interference caused by your parents’ needs or the conditions they put forward. Additionally, can the marriage partner your parents ask you to find, who is both wealthy and of high status, determine your own future wealth and status? (No.) It cannot. There are quite a few women who married into affluent families only to be driven out and reduced to picking through trash on the streets. Constantly seeking to climb the social ladder for wealth and prestige, they end up in ruins with their reputation in tatters, far worse off than even ordinary people. They spend their days carrying around a cheap laundry bag to collect plastic bottles and aluminum cans, then exchanging them for a few bucks, and finally buying a cup of coffee at a café so they can feel like they are still living the life of a wealthy person. How miserable! Marriage is a significant event in one’s life. Just like what kind of parents one is destined to have, marriage is not based on the needs of your parents or your family, nor is it based on your personal taste and preferences; it is completely within God’s ordination. At the right time, you will meet the right person; at a suitable time, you will meet the one who suits you. All of these arrangements of the unseen, mystical world are under the control and sovereignty of God. In this matter, there is no need for people to heed the arrangements of others, be directed by others, or be manipulated and influenced by them. So, when it comes to marriage, no matter what expectations your parents have, and no matter what plans you have, you don’t need to be influenced by your parents, nor should you be influenced by your own plans. This matter should be completely based on the word of God. It doesn’t matter if you are looking for a partner or not—even if you are looking for one, it should be according to the word of God, not according to your parents’ demands or needs and not according to their expectations. So, when it comes to marriage, your parents’ expectations should not become your burden. Finding a marriage partner is about assuming responsibility for the remainder of your own life and for your spouse; it’s about submitting to God’s orchestrations and arrangements. It is not about meeting your parents’ demands or fulfilling their expectations. Whether you seek a partner and what kind of partner you seek should not be based on your parents’ expectations. Your parents do not have the right to control you in this matter; God has not given them the right to arrange your marriage from beginning to end. If you are seeking a partner for marriage, it must be done according to God’s words; if you choose not to seek one, that’s your freedom. You say: “In my whole life, whether I’m performing my duties or not, I just like being single. Being on my own is so freeing—like a bird, with one flap of my wings I can take off just like that. I’m not burdened with a family and I’m by myself wherever I go. It’s great! I’m alone, but I’m not lonely. I have God with me, accompanying me; I am not often lonely. On occasion I feel like tuning out completely, which is what the body needs. Taking a moment to completely tune out isn’t a bad thing. Every now and then, when I feel empty or lonely, I will come before God to have a heart-to-heart with Him and share a few words. I will read His words, learn hymns, watch testimonial videos of life experiences, and watch movies from the house of God. It’s great, and I don’t feel lonely anymore afterward. I don’t care about whether I’ll be lonely or not later on. In any case I’m not lonely now; there are many brothers and sisters around me with whom I can have heartfelt conversations. Searching for a marriage partner can be quite bothersome. There are not many normal people who can earnestly live a good life, so I don’t want to look for one. If I found someone and we couldn’t make it work and got divorced, what would the purpose of all that hassle have been? Having already seen through this point now, I’m better off not seeking a partner. If the purpose of finding someone to marry is only for momentary happiness and joy, and you end up having to get divorced anyway, that’s just a hassle, and I’m not willing to put up with such a hassle. As for the issue of having kids, as a human being—and not just a tool for producing heirs—it is neither my responsibility nor my obligation to carry on any family lineage. Whoever wants to carry it on can go ahead. No surname belongs to just one person.” What does it matter if the family lineage is broken? Isn’t it just a matter of surnames of the flesh? Souls have no relations to each other; there’s no inheritance or continuation among them to speak of. Humankind shares one ancestor; everyone is a descendant of that ancestor, so there’s no question of the lineage of humankind ending. Carrying on a lineage is not your responsibility. Walking the right path in life, living a free and liberated life, and being a true created being are what people should pursue. Being a machine for propagating humankind is not a burden you should carry. It is also not your responsibility to reproduce or continue a family lineage for the sake of some family. God has not given you this responsibility. Whoever wants to procreate can go ahead and procreate; whoever wants to continue their lineage can do so; whoever is willing to take on that responsibility can take it on; it has nothing to do with you. If you are not willing to take on that responsibility and you are unwilling to fulfill this obligation, that is fine, it is your right. Isn’t this appropriate? (Yes.) If your parents keep nagging, you can tell them: “If you resent that I’m not reproducing and continuing the family line for you, then figure out a way to have another kid and let them continue it. Anyway, this matter is not my concern; you can delegate it to whomever you want.” After saying this, won’t your parents have nothing to respond with? When it comes to their children’s marriages and having kids, parents, whether they believe in God or not, should know at their advanced age that a person’s wealth or poverty, number of children, and marital status in life are determined by Heaven; they are all fixed in advance, and are not something that anyone can decide. Therefore, if parents forcefully demand things from their children in this way, they are undoubtedly ignorant parents, they are foolish and clueless. When dealing with foolish and clueless parents, just treat what they say like a puff of air and let it go in one ear and out the other, and that’s the end of it. If they nag too much, you can say, “Alright, I promise you, I will get married tomorrow, have a child the day after tomorrow, and let you hold a great-grandchild the day after that. How does that sound?” Just fob them off and then turn around and walk away. Isn’t that a composed way to handle it? In any case, you have to perceive this matter thoroughly. As far as marriage goes, let’s first put aside the fact that marriage is ordained by God. God’s attitude toward this matter is to grant people themselves the right to choose. You can choose to be single, or you can choose to enter into marriage; you can choose to live life as a couple, or you can choose to have a whole big family. This is your freedom. No matter what your basis for making these choices is or what purpose or result you want to achieve, in short, this right is given to you by God; you have the right to choose. If you say, “I am too busy with the work of performing my duties, I am still young, and I don’t want to get married. I want to be single, expend myself for God full-time, and perform my duties well. I’ll deal with the big issue of marriage later—when I’m fifty years old and feeling lonely, when I have a lot to say but no outlet for my gabbing, then I’ll find someone,” that is also fine, and God will not condemn you. If you say, “I feel like my youth is slipping away, I have to seize the tail end of my youth. While I’m still young and have some looks and a bit of charm, I should hurry up and find a partner to accompany me and chat with, someone who cherishes and loves me, with whom I can spend my days and get married,” this is also your right. Of course, there is one thing: If you decide to enter into marriage, you first need to carefully consider what duties you are currently performing within the church, if you are a leader or a worker, if you have been selected for cultivation within the house of God, whether you are undertaking important work or duties, what tasks you’ve currently received, and what your present circumstances are. If you enter into marriage, will it influence your performance of duties? Will it then also influence your pursuit of the truth? Will it impact your work as a leader or worker? Will it impact your attainment of salvation? These are all questions you need to consider. Although God has granted you such a right, when you exercise this right, you need to carefully consider what choice you are about to make and what consequences this choice may bring. Regardless of the consequences that may arise, you should not blame others, nor should you blame God. You should take responsibility for the consequences of your own choices. Some people say: “Not only will I get married, but I also want to have a bunch of children. After having a son, I will have a daughter, and we will live happily as a family for a lifetime, keeping each other company in joy and harmony. When I am old, my children will gather around me to care for me, and I will enjoy the bliss of family life. How wonderful that will be! As for performing my duties, pursuing the truth, and attaining salvation, those all are secondary. I’m not concerned with those things right now. I will settle the matter of having children first.” That is also your right. However, no matter what consequences your choice brings you in the end, be they bitter or sweet, sour or astringent, you must bear them yourself. No one will pick up the tab for your choices or take responsibility for them, including God. Understood? (Yes.) These matters have been clearly explained. In regard to marriage, you should let go of the burdens you ought to let go of. Choosing to be single is your freedom, choosing to enter into marriage is also your freedom, and choosing to have many children is your freedom as well. Whatever your choice may be, it is your freedom. On one hand, choosing to enter into marriage does not mean you have thus repaid your parents’ kindness or fulfilled your filial duty; of course, choosing to be single does not mean you are defying your parents either. On the other hand, choosing to enter into marriage or have many children is not rebelling against God, nor is it defying Him. You will not be condemned for it. Choosing to be single will also not be the reason God ultimately grants you salvation. In short, whether you are single, married, or have many children, God will not determine whether you can ultimately be saved based on these factors. God does not look at your marital background or marital status; He looks only at whether you are pursuing the truth, your attitude toward performing your duties, how much of the truth you have accepted and submitted to, and whether you act according to the truth principles. Ultimately, God will also set aside your marital status to examine the path in life, the principles by which you live, and the rules by which you survive that you have chosen to determine whether you will be saved. Of course, there is one fact we must mention. For those who are single or divorced, as in those who have not entered or who left marriage, have one thing going for them, which is that there is no need for them to be responsible for anyone or anything within the framework of marriage. They do not have to shoulder these responsibilities and obligations, so they are relatively more free. They have more freedom in terms of time, more abundance in terms of energy, and more personal freedom to some extent. For example, as an adult, when you go out to perform your duties, no one can restrict you—not even your parents have this right. You pray to God yourself, He will make arrangements for you, and you can pack your bags and leave. But if you are married and have a family, you are not as free. You have to be responsible for them. First of all, in terms of living conditions and financial resources, you have to at least provide food and clothing for them, and when your children are young you must bring them to school. You must bear these responsibilities. In these situations, married people are not free because they have social and family obligations they must fulfill. It is simpler for those who are unmarried and have no children. When performing their duties in God’s house they will not go hungry or cold; they will have both food and shelter. They do not need to run around earning money and working because of the needs of family life. That’s the difference. In the end, when it comes to marriage, the point remains the same: You should not carry any burdens. Whether it’s your parents’ expectations, traditional views from society, or your own extravagant desires, you should not bear any burdens. It is your right to choose to be single or enter into marriage, and it is also your right to decide when to leave singledom and when to enter into marriage. God makes no conclusive judgment on this matter. As for how many children you have after entering into marriage, this has been preordained by God, but you can also choose for yourself based on your actual circumstances and pursuits. God will not impose rules on you. Suppose that you are a millionaire, multimillionaire, or billionaire, and you say, “Having eight or ten children is not a problem for me. Raising a whole bunch of kids won’t compromise my energy for performing my duties.” If you’re not afraid of the hassle, then go ahead and have them; God will not condemn you. God will not change His attitude toward your salvation because of your attitudes on marriage. That’s how it is. Is this clear? (Yes.) There is another aspect, which is that if you currently choose to be single, you must not have any sense of superiority just because you are single, saying: “I am a member of the single elite and I have the right to be prioritized for salvation in God’s presence.” God has not given you this privilege, understood? You may say, “I’m married. Does that make me inferior?” You are not inferior. You are still a member of corrupt humankind; you have not been degraded or trampled upon because you entered into marriage, nor have you become more corrupt, harder to save, or more hurtful to God’s heart than others, causing God to not want to save you. These are all people’s erroneous thoughts and views. A person’s marital status has nothing to do with God’s attitude toward them, nor does a person’s marital status have anything to do with whether they can ultimately be saved. So what is attaining salvation related to? (It is based on one’s attitude toward accepting the truth.) That’s right, it is based on a person’s attitude toward treating the truth and accepting the truth, and whether they are able to use God’s words as a basis and the truth as a criterion to view people and things and to comport themselves and act. This is the basis for measuring a person’s final outcome. Now that we have reached this point in our fellowship, are you basically able to let go of the burdens brought about by the issue of marriage? (Yes.) Being able to let go of them will benefit your pursuit of the truth. If you do not believe this, you can ask those who have gotten married what their hope of receiving salvation is like, and they wouldn’t say, “I was married for so many years and got divorced because of my belief in God. I wouldn’t dare to say that I will be saved.” You can ask those slightly older young people in their thirties who haven’t gotten married, but in the many years they have believed, they have not pursued the truth and are like unbelievers. You can ask them, “Can you be saved by believing in God in this way?” They also will not dare say they can be saved. Isn’t this how it is? (Yes.)
These are the truths that people should understand about marriage. None of the topics we fellowshipped can be explained clearly in just a few words. There are many various facts that should be dissected, as well as the circumstances of various kinds of people. Based on these various circumstances, the truths that people should understand cannot be explained clearly in just a few words. For every problem, there are truths that people should understand, as well as factual realities that people should understand, and even more so the fallacious thoughts and views people harbor, which should be understood as well. Of course, these fallacious thoughts and views are the things that people should let go of. When you let go of these things, your thoughts and views on a matter will be relatively positive and relatively accurate. Then, when you are confronted with this kind of matter again, you will no longer be constrained by it; you will not be constrained and influenced by some fallacious and absurd thoughts and views. You will not be bound or disturbed by it; instead, you will be able to properly face this matter, and your evaluation of others or yourself will be relatively accurate. This is the positive result that can be embodied in people when they view people and things, comport themselves, and act according to God’s words and the truth principles. Alright, let’s end our fellowship here for today. Goodbye!
April 1, 2023
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