Last time, we fellowshiped about negative emotions such as distress, worry, and anxiety. Now, we are going to fellowship about another aspect of negative emotions, which is almost the same in essence as distress, worry, and anxiety but is even more negative in nature. What is this emotion? It is the state of mind that people encounter the most often in their daily lives—repression. Have you all heard of the term “repression”? (Yes, we have.) Then please make a sentence or give an example using the word “repression.” I’ll start with one. Some people say, “Oh, I often feel repressed while fulfilling my duty, and I can’t free myself from it.” Is this sentence constructed correctly? (Yes.) Now, it’s your turn. (I always reveal corruption when things befall me, and I constantly have to reflect and try to know myself, so I feel repressed.) You feel repressed because you are trying to know yourself too much. What is the context for this repression? What is causing it? It is that you know that you are nothing at all, and it seems that you have no prospects or destination waiting for you, and that you have no hope of ever being saved, so you feel repressed. Who else wants to share? (In the country of the great red dragon, believing in God makes people feel repressed.) This is feeling repressed due to one’s environment. (Being constantly supervised by my leader while I’m fulfilling my duty makes me feel repressed.) Well put, that expresses the emotion of repression very concretely. (I always encounter failures and setbacks while fulfilling my duty, this makes me feel repressed.) Setbacks and failures make you feel repressed, as if there is no way forward. When your work progresses slowly, do you feel repressed? (Yes.) That has a somewhat positive connotation. Tell Me more. (I feel repressed when I’m always being dealt with and pruned while fulfilling my duty.) That is the reality, is it not? (I feel repressed when I don’t get good results in my duty.) What is the cause of this repression? Is it really because you didn’t get good results? Are you not afraid that your duty will be adjusted or that you will be cast out? (Yes.) These are the concrete reasons for your repression. Any other feelings of repression? Tell Me about them. (All of my partners are better than me, so I feel repressed.) That is the trouble caused by jealousy—repression. Are there any other issues of repression? (I feel repressed due to a long-standing lack of progress in my field of work.) Is this pressure or repression? It’s a bit of pressure. Having this pressure is a good thing, then. Don’t you just need to turn this pressure into motivation? When the duties of the members of each team are always being adjusted, do you not feel repressed? (Yes.) You feel repressed then too. From the sentences you have provided, it seems that all of you experience the emotion of repression. It appears that people’s inner selves are very unsettled, constantly restless, and under a kind of invisible pressure, which is why the emotion of repression arises within them, and they then live amid this negative emotion of repression. Is this a good thing? (No, it is not.) It is not a good thing. Should it not be resolved, then? Since it is not a good thing, it should be resolved. When people constantly live amid a negative emotion, regardless of which emotion it is, on a smaller level it can have adverse effects on their bodies and minds, preventing them from living healthily and from growing up strong. On a greater level, the impact of different negative emotions on people is not limited to the basic needs they have in their daily lives, like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. More importantly, it affects how they view people and things, as well as their comportment and actions. More specifically, it influences their efficiency, progress, and effectiveness in their duties. Of course, more importantly it affects what they obtain from fulfilling their duties and the gains that people should reap from their faith in God. People’s minds are constantly plagued and bound by these negative emotions, their hearts are often disturbed, and they frequently reside in feelings such as restlessness, unease, and impulsiveness. When people are trapped in these feelings, their normal conscience and reason, as well as their normal lives and their normal fulfillment of their duties are disrupted, affected, and destroyed. Therefore, you should promptly resolve these negative emotions and prevent them from further affecting your normal life and work. The concept of repression that we have discussed today is the same in essence as the various negative emotions we talked about earlier. People often worry and have misgivings about a great many things, or harbor a lot of unease in the depths of their hearts, so they feel repressed. If this emotion of repression remains unresolved for a long time, people will become even more uneasy and agitated deep within their hearts. In certain specific environments and contexts, people may even break free from the control of their conscience and reason of humanity, producing some extreme approaches in order to overcome their situations. This is because there is a limit to the human body’s instinctive ability to withstand certain negative emotions. When that limit and peak is reached, people will break free from the constraints of the reason of humanity and adopt some extreme approaches in order to vent their emotions, and to vent all kinds of irrational ideas that lie deep within their hearts.

You just expressed some of the different reasons that people feel repressed through the sentences you provided. Today we will be fellowshiping primarily on three of the causes and reasons why this negative emotion of repression emerges in people. The first is that many people, whether in their daily lives or in the process of fulfilling their duties, feel that they cannot do as they please. This is the first reason: the inability to do as one pleases. What does it mean to be unable to do as one pleases? It means not being able to act upon every desire that passes through one’s mind. Being able to do what they want, when they want, and how they want is a requirement that these people have in both their work and lives. However, due to various reasons, including laws, living environments, or the rules, systems, stipulations, and disciplinary measures of a group, and so on, people are unable to act according to their own wishes and imaginings. Consequently, they feel repressed in the depths of their hearts. To put it bluntly, this repression happens because people feel aggrieved—some people even feel wronged. Being unable to do as one pleases, to put it in frank terms, means not being able to act upon one’s own will—it means that one cannot be willful or freely indulgent due to various reasons and the restrictions of various objective environments and conditions. For example, some people are always perfunctory and find ways to slack off while performing their duties. Sometimes, the work of the church requires haste, but they just want to do as they please. If they don’t feel very well physically, or are in a bad mood and in low spirits for a couple of days, they will be unwilling to endure hardship and pay a price to do the church work. They are particularly lazy and covetous of comfort. When they lack motivation, their bodies will become sluggish, and they will be unwilling to move, but they fear being dealt with by leaders and being called lazy by their brothers and sisters, so there’s nothing they can do except reluctantly perform their work along with everyone else. They will, however, feel very unwilling, unhappy, and reluctant about this. They will feel wronged, aggrieved, annoyed, and exhausted. They want to act based on their own will, but they dare not break away from or go against the requirements and stipulations of God’s house. As a result, an emotion begins to emerge within them over time—repression. Once this repressive emotion takes root in them, they will begin to gradually appear listless and weak. Like a machine, they will no longer have a clear understanding of what they are doing, but they will still do whatever they’re told to do every day, in the way that they’re told to do it. Although they will continue to carry out their tasks on the surface without stopping, without pausing, without stepping away from the environment of performing their duties, yet in their hearts they will feel repressed, and think that their lives are exhausting and full of grievances. Their current greatest desire is to one day no longer be controlled by others, to no longer be restricted by the stipulations of God’s house, and to be released from the arrangements of God’s house. They want to do whatever they want, whenever they want, doing a little work if they feel good, and not doing it if they don’t. They yearn to be free from any blame, from ever being pruned or dealt with, and from anyone supervising, monitoring, or being in charge of them. They think that when that day comes, it will be a great day, and that they will feel so free and liberated. However, they are still unwilling to leave or give up; they are afraid that if they do not fulfill their duties, if they truly do whatever they please and are free and liberated one day, then they will naturally stray from God, and they are afraid that if God no longer wants them, they will not be able to gain any blessings. Some people find themselves in a dilemma: If they try to grumble to their brothers and sisters, they will find it hard to speak up. If they turn to God in prayer, they will feel unable to open their mouths. If they complain, they will feel that they themselves are at fault. If they do not complain, they will feel ill at ease. They wonder why their lives feel so full of grievances, so contrary to their own will, and so exhausting. They do not want to live that way, they do not want to be in unison with everyone else, they want to do whatever they want, however they want, and they wonder why they are unable to accomplish this. They used to feel they were only physically exhausted, but now their hearts feel tired too. They do not understand what is happening to them. Tell Me, is this not caused by repressive emotions? (It is.)

Some people say, “Everyone says that believers are free and liberated, that believers live particularly happy, peaceful, and joyous lives. Why can’t I live as happily and peacefully as others? Why don’t I feel any joy? Why do I feel so repressed and exhausted? How come other people live such happy lives? Why is my life so miserable?” Tell Me, what is the cause of this? What brought about their repression? (Their physical bodies were not satisfied and their flesh suffered.) When a person’s physical body suffers and they feel that a wrong has been done to it, if they can accept it in their heart and mind, won’t they feel that their physical suffering is no longer so great? If they find comfort, peace, and joy in their heart and mind, will they still feel repressed? (No.) Therefore, saying that repression is caused by physical suffering is invalid. If repression arises due to excessive physical suffering, then are you not suffering? Do you feel repressed because you cannot do as you please? Do you get trapped in repressive emotions because you cannot do as you please? (No.) Are you busy in your daily work? (Somewhat busy.) You are all rather busy, working from dawn to dusk. Besides sleeping and eating, you spend almost your entire day in front of a computer, tiring your eyes and brain, and exhausting your body, but do you feel repressed? Will this tiredness bring about repression in you? (No.) What causes people’s repression? It is certainly not due to physical fatigue, so what causes it? If people constantly seek physical comfort and happiness, if they constantly pursue physical happiness and comfort, and don’t wish to suffer, then even a little bit of physical suffering, suffering a bit more than others, or feeling a bit more overworked than usual, would make them feel repressed. This is one of the causes of repression. If people do not consider a small amount of physical suffering a big deal, and they do not pursue physical comfort, but instead pursue the truth and seek to fulfill their duties in order to satisfy God, then they often will not feel physical suffering. Even if they occasionally feel a bit busy, tired, or worn out, after they go to sleep they will wake up feeling better, and then they will continue with their work. Their focus will be on their duties and their work; they won’t consider a bit of physical fatigue a significant issue. However, when a problem arises in people’s thinking and they constantly pursue physical comfort, any time that their physical bodies are slightly wronged or cannot find satisfaction, certain negative emotions will arise within them. So, why will this kind of person, who always wants to do as they please and to indulge their flesh and enjoy life, often find themselves trapped in this negative emotion of repression whenever they are unsatisfied? (It is because they pursue comfort and physical enjoyment.) That is true for some people. There is another group of people who do not pursue physical comfort. They seek to do things according to their own whims and to follow their own moods. When they are happy, they are able to endure more suffering, they can work continuously throughout the day, and if you ask them if they feel tired, they will say, “I’m not tired, how could fulfilling my duty make me tired!” But if they are unhappy one day, they will be disgruntled even if you just ask them to spend an extra minute on something, and if you reprimand them a little, they will say, “Stop talking! I feel repressed. If you keep talking, I won’t fulfill my duty, and that’ll be your fault. If I don’t receive blessings in the future it will be on your head, and you will bear all the responsibility for it!” People are volatile when they are in an abnormal state. Sometimes they will be capable of suffering and paying a price, but other times they will complain about just a little suffering, and even a minor issue will upset them. When they are in a bad mood, they will no longer want to fulfill their duties, read God’s words, sing hymns, or attend gatherings and listen to sermons. They will just want to be alone for a while, and it will be impossible for anyone to help or support them. After a few days, they might get over it and feel better. Anything that fails to satisfy them makes them feel repressed. Is this kind of person not particularly willful? (Yes.) They are particularly willful. For example, if they want to go to sleep right away, they will insist on doing so. They will say, “I’m tired, and I want to go to sleep right now. When I don’t have any energy I have to sleep!” If someone says, “Can’t you hold on for ten more minutes? This task will be finished really soon, and then we can all rest, how about that?” they will reply, “No, I have to go to sleep right now!” If someone persuades them, they will reluctantly hold on for a while, but they will feel repressed and annoyed. They often feel repressed about these matters and are unwilling to accept help from their brothers and sisters or to be supervised by leaders. If they make a mistake, they will not allow others to deal with or prune them. They do not wish to be restrained in any way. They think, “I believe in God so that I can find happiness, so why should I make things difficult for myself? Why should my life be so exhausting? People ought to live happily. They shouldn’t pay so much attention to these regulations and those systems. What’s the use of always abiding by them? Right now, in this moment, I am going to do whatever I want. None of you should have anything to say about that.” This kind of person is particularly willful and dissolute: They do not allow themselves to suffer any constraint, nor do they wish to feel constrained in any work environment. They do not wish to adhere to the regulations and principles of God’s house, they are unwilling to accept the principles that people should hold to in their comportment, and they do not even wish to abide by what conscience and reason say that they should do. They want to do as they please, do whatever makes them happy, whatever will benefit them and make them comfortable. They believe that to live under these constraints would violate their will, that it would be a kind of self-abuse, that it would be too hard on themselves, and that people should not live like that. They think that people should live free and liberated, indulging their flesh and desires with abandon, as well as their ideals and wishes. They think that they should indulge all of their ideas, say whatever they want, do whatever they want, and go wherever they want, without having to consider the consequences or other people’s feelings, and especially without having to consider their own responsibilities and obligations, or the duties that believers ought to perform, or the truth realities that they ought to uphold and live out, or the life path they should follow. This group of people always wants to do as they please in society and among other people, but no matter where they go, they can never obtain that. They believe that God’s house emphasizes human rights, grants people complete freedom, and that it cares about humanity, and about tolerating and forbearing with people. They think that after they come to God’s house they should be able to freely indulge in their flesh and desires, but because God’s house has administrative decrees and regulations, they still cannot do as they please. Therefore, this negative repressive emotion of theirs cannot be resolved even after they join God’s house. They do not live to fulfill any kind of responsibilities or to complete any missions, or to become a true person. Their belief in God is not to fulfill the duty of a created being, complete their mission, and attain salvation. Regardless of the people they are among, the environments they are in, or the profession they engage in, their ultimate goal is to find and gratify themselves. The aim of everything they do revolves around this, and self-gratification is their lifelong desire and the goal of their pursuit.

Some of you are responsible for hosting brothers and sisters and cooking meals for them, and in that case you need to ask the brothers and sisters what they like to eat, ask yourself what the principles and requirements of God’s house are, and then host them based on these two types of principles. If you are hosting people from Northern China, make more wheat-based dishes such as steamed buns, Mandarin rolls, and stuffed buns. Occasionally, you can also make rice or the rice noodles that people from Southern China eat. All of this is acceptable. Suppose the majority of the people that you are hosting are from Southern China. They do not like wheat-based dishes, they prefer rice, and they feel like they have not eaten a meal if they do not have any rice. So, if you are hosting them, you have to make rice more often and ensure that your dishes suit the tastes of people from Southern China. If you are hosting people from both Southern and Northern China, then you can make two types of meals and let people choose what they prefer, giving them freedom of choice. Hosting brothers and sisters in this way is in line with the principles—it is a very straightforward matter. As long as the majority of people are satisfied, that is enough. You do not have to worry about a few odd individuals who are unsatisfied. However, if the person responsible for hosting does not understand the truth and does not know how to handle matters according to the principles, and always acts based on their own preferences, making whatever food they want without considering whether people will be happy to eat it—what kind of problem is that? It is one of excessive willfulness and selfishness. Some people are from the South of China, and the majority of the people they host are from the North. They make rice every day without considering whether the brothers and sisters are accustomed to it, and when you try to deal with them and give them some advice, a certain kind of emotion emerges within them, and their heart becomes resistant, disobedient, and full of resentment, and they say, “Cooking in God’s house is not easy. Serving these people is so difficult. I work hard from dawn to dusk to cook for you, but you are still so picky. What’s wrong with eating rice? Don’t we Southerners eat rice three meals a day? Isn’t that a pretty nice way to live? We are stronger than you and we have more energy. What’s so good about always eating noodles and steamed buns? Can you get full from that? Why don’t noodles taste good to me? Why don’t I feel full from eating them? Well, there’s nothing I can do. I suppose that to fulfill my duty in God’s house I will have to bear it and restrain myself. If I don’t restrain myself, I might be replaced or cast out. I’ll just have to make noodles and steamed buns, then!” They resentfully follow through on this every day, thinking, “I can’t even eat rice for a meal. I just want to have rice for every meal. Without rice, I can’t survive. I want to eat rice!” Although they reluctantly make noodles and steamed buns every day, their mood is extremely low. Why do they feel extremely low? It is because they feel repressed. They think, “I have to serve you people and cook the food that you like to eat, and not what I want to eat. Why do I always have to satisfy you and not myself?” They feel aggrieved, repressed, and that their life is exhausting. They refuse to do any extra work, and when they do a bit of work, they do so in a perfunctory manner; they fear being replaced or cleared out if they don’t do any work. Consequently, the only thing they can do is reluctantly and unwillingly act and fulfill their duty in this way, without experiencing any moments of happiness, freedom, or liberation. People ask them, “How do you feel about hosting the brothers and sisters and cooking meals?” They respond, “It’s not actually that tiring, but I feel repressed.” People say, “Why do you feel repressed? You have rice, flour, and vegetables—you have everything. You don’t even have to spend your own money to buy these things. You just have to tire yourself out and do a little more work than other people every now and then. Isn’t that what you ought to do? Believing in God and fulfilling one’s duty are joyful things. They’re voluntary. So why do you feel repressed?” They reply, “Although I do these things voluntarily, I can’t eat rice very often and I can’t do as I please, eating what I like and what I find delicious. I’m afraid of being criticized if I’m seen trying to cook something delicious for myself, so I feel repressed, and I’m never happy.” People like this live amid repressive emotions because they cannot satisfy their desire for food.

Some people grow vegetables on the church’s farms. How should they go about doing this? They should plant a suitable crop of vegetables based on the seasons, climate, temperature, and the number of people they need to feed. There are regulations in God’s house regarding the cultivation of various vegetables, which can be challenging for many people. There are some vegetables which people like to eat on a daily basis, and there are some that people do not enjoy eating. Some have their quantities regulated, and others are consumed seasonally. In this way, the amount that people can eat is limited. Some people thought, “Oh, we can never fully enjoy eating these vegetables. We eat a little bit, and they’re gone. There isn’t much to go around! Like cherry tomatoes, we only get a small handful each time, and they’re finished before we can savor their flavor. It would be great if we could eat them by the bowlful!” So, in a place where ten or so people lived, they planted two hundred cherry tomato plants. They started eating them by the bowlful as soon as they woke up in the morning and continued eating them until they went to sleep at night. Eating cherry tomatoes and regular tomatoes by the bowlful, and eating cucumbers by the basket was so exciting for them. They felt that those were heavenly days, that they were blissful. People like this cannot follow the stipulations of God’s house in their actions, and they cannot adhere to the principles of science. They refuse to listen to anyone, prioritizing their own interests, considering only themselves in everything, and doing as they please. As a result, under the control, supervision, and management of God’s house, these people who wanted to eat fruit by the mouthful were put under restriction, and some were dealt with and pruned. Tell Me, how do you think they feel now? Don’t they feel incredibly disappointed? Don’t they feel the world is bleak, and that there is no love or warmth in God’s house? Don’t they feel incredibly repressed? (Yes.) They constantly think, “What’s wrong with doing as I please? Can’t I just enjoy eating some vegetables? They won’t even let me eat cherry tomatoes by the bowlful. How stingy! God’s house does not grant people freedom. If we want to eat cherry tomatoes, they make us plant them based on the number of people that need feeding. What’s the problem with me planting two or three hundred plants? If we can’t eat them all, we’ll just feed them to the animals.” Is it appropriate for you to eat by the bowlful? Shouldn’t there be moderation and a limit to what you consume? The proportion that people eat of the various foods created by God should be based on their yield and seasonal availability. Staple foods should be those with a high yield, while those with a low yield, short seasons, short growth periods, or restricted yields should be consumed in smaller quantities—in some specific places, people do not even eat them at all, and they aren’t missing out on anything. This is reasonable. People always harbor desires, and constantly wish to indulge their appetites. Is this appropriate? It is not appropriate to always harbor desires and appetites. God’s house has its own rules. There are regulations, management, and appropriate systems in all aspects of work in God’s house. If you want to become a member of God’s house, you ought to strictly adhere to its regulations. You should not be brash, but learn to submit and to act in a way that everyone finds satisfactory. This aligns with the standards of conscience and reason. None of the regulations of God’s house are established for the benefit of a single person, they are established for the sake of everyone in God’s house. They are meant to safeguard the work and interests of God’s house. These regulations and systems are reasonable and if people possess conscience and reason they ought to follow them. Therefore, no matter what you are doing, in one respect, you must do it according to the regulations and systems of God’s house, and in another respect, you also have a responsibility and an obligation to uphold all of this, rather than constantly acting based on your personal interests and perspective. Isn’t that so? (Yes.) If you feel particularly repressed living and working in God’s house, it is not due to any problem with the regulations, systems, or managerial methods of God’s house, but rather a personal issue of yours. Suppose that you always want to seek self-gratification and to satisfy your own desires in God’s house, and always feel incredibly repressed, unfree, and unliberated, without any peace or joy. Say that you constantly feel uncomfortable and wronged, that you cannot do as you please in any matter, that you cannot eat or dress as you please, that you are not allowed to dress fashionably or in an alluring way, and you feel miserable and ill at ease every day because of these things. Suppose that you always find interacting with your brothers and sisters uncomfortable, and think, “These people always fellowship about the truth with me, it’s too troublesome! I don’t want to comport myself in this way. I just want to live happily, contentedly, and freely. I feel that I am not as happy and free as I imagined I would be believing in God. I don’t want to be constrained by anyone. There are always people managing and constraining me, and I feel repressed.” People like this dislike this kind of living environment and feel aversion toward it. However, for the sake of receiving blessings, they have no choice but to commit to it. They have nowhere to vent their frustrations, they dare not cry out, and they often feel repressed. The only solution, the best method for dealing with such people, is to tell them: “You can leave. Go and eat what you want, wear the clothes you desire, live the life you want, do the things you wish, have the career you want, and pursue the goals and direction you wish to pursue. God’s house is not holding you back. Your hands and feet are liberated and free, as is your heart. You are bound by no one. Except for you committing yourself to God’s house in order to attain a certain goal, no one has imposed these regulations on you, saying that you have to, need to, and must stay in God’s house, or else God’s house will do something to you.” I’m telling you the truth, God’s house will not do anything to you. If you want to leave, you can leave at any time. Just return the books of God’s words to the church and hand over whatever work you have on hand. You can leave whenever you want. God’s house does not restrict you, it is not your prison, or a jail. God’s house is a free place, and its doors are wide open. If you feel repressed, it is because you cannot do as you please, and that means this place is not suitable for you. It is not the happy home you want to find, nor the place where you should stay. If you are living in a way that goes so much against your will, you should leave. Do you understand? God’s house never forces nonbelievers or those who do not pursue the truth. If you wish to do business, become wealthy, have a career, or venture out into the world and make a name for yourself, then that is your personal pursuit, and you should return to the secular world. God’s house never limits people’s freedom. The doors of God’s house are wide open. Nonbelievers and those who do not pursue the truth can walk out and leave God’s house at any time.

Some people are simply unwilling to fulfill their duties and to fellowship about the truth. They have not adapted to church life, they are unable to adapt to it, and they always feel particularly miserable and helpless. Well, I would say to those people: You should hurry up and leave. Go into the secular world to look for your own goals and direction, and live the life you ought to live. God’s house never forces anyone. None of the church’s regulations, systems, or administrative decrees are targeted at you as an individual. If you find them difficult, cannot abide by them, and feel particularly miserable and repressed, then you can choose to leave. Those who are able to accept the truth and uphold the principles are the ones suited to remain in the church. Of course, if you feel that you are not suited to remain in God’s house, will there be another suitable place for you? Yes, the world is vast, and there will be a suitable place for you. In short, if you feel repressed here, if you cannot find release, if you often want to vent and there is always a possibility of your nature bursting forth, then you are in danger and not suited to stay in God’s house. The world is vast, and there will always be a suitable place for you. Take your time to find it on your own. Is this not an appropriate way to handle this matter? Is it not rational? (Yes.) If these people feel so uncomfortable, and you still want to keep them here, aren’t you being foolish? Let’s allow them to leave and wish them success in realizing their dreams, alright? What are their dreams? (To eat cherry tomatoes by the bowlful.) They also want to eat rice and fish at every meal, all year round. What other dreams do they have? To wake up naturally every day, to work whenever they want, and for no one to manage or supervise them when they do not want to work. Isn’t this their dream? (Yes.) What a grand dream! How lofty it is! Tell Me, do people like this have good prospects? Do they attend to their proper work? (No.) To sum it up, people like this always feel repressed. To put it plainly, their wish is to indulge their flesh and to satisfy their desires. They are too selfish, they want to do everything according to their own whims and as they please, disregarding rules and not handling matters according to the principles, just doing things based on their own feelings, preferences and desires, and acting based on their own interests. They lack normal humanity and people like this do not attend to their proper work. People who do not attend to their proper work feel repressed in everything they do, everywhere they go. Even if they were living alone, they would feel repressed. To put it nicely, these people are not promising individuals and they do not attend to their proper work. To be more precise, their humanity is abnormal, and they are a bit simple-minded. What are people who attend to their proper work like? They are people who regard their basic needs like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation in a simple way. As long as these things are up to a normal standard, that’s enough for them. They care more about their path in life, their mission as human beings, their life outlook and values. What do unpromising people ponder about all day? They are always pondering about how to slack off, how to play tricks so that they can shirk responsibility, how to eat well and have fun, how to live in physical ease and comfort, without considering proper matters. Therefore, they feel repressed in the setting and environment of fulfilling their duties in God’s house. God’s house requires people to learn certain common and professional knowledge that relates to their duties, so that they can perform them better. God’s house requires people to frequently eat and drink God’s words so that they may gain a better understanding of the truth, enter into the truth reality, and know what the principles for every action are. All of these things that God’s house fellowships about and mentions relate to topics, practical matters, and so on, that fall within the scope of people’s lives and the fulfillment of their duties, and are meant to help people to attend to the proper work and to walk the right path. These individuals who do not attend to their proper work and who do as they please do not wish to do these proper things. The ultimate goal that they wish to achieve by doing whatever they want is physical comfort, pleasure, and ease, and to not be restricted or wronged in any way. It is to be able to eat enough of whatever they want, and to do as they please. It is because of the quality of their humanity and their inner pursuits that they often feel repressed. No matter how you fellowship about the truth with them, they will not change, and their repression will not be resolved. That’s just the kind of people they are; they are just things that do not attend to their proper work. Although on the surface they do not seem to have committed any great evil or to be bad people, and though they appear to have only failed to uphold the principles and regulations, in reality, their nature essence is that they do not attend to their proper work or follow the right path. People like this lack the conscience and reason of normal humanity, and they cannot achieve the intelligence of normal humanity. They do not think about, ponder, or pursue the goals that people with normal humanity ought to pursue, or the life attitudes and methods of existence that people with normal humanity should adopt. Their minds are filled every day with thoughts of how to find physical ease and pleasure. However, in the living environment of the church, they cannot satisfy their physical preferences and so they feel uncomfortable and repressed. That is how these emotions of theirs come about. Tell Me, do people like this not have exhausting lives? (They do.) Are their lives pitiable? (No, they are not pitiable.) That is right, they are not pitiable. To put it lightly, these are the kind of people who do not attend to their proper work. In society, who are the people who do not attend to their proper work? They are idlers, fools, slackers, hooligans, ruffians, and loafers—people like that. They do not wish to learn any new skills or abilities, and they do not want to pursue serious careers or to find a job so that they can get by. They are the idlers and loafers of society. They infiltrate the church, and then want to get something for nothing, and to obtain their share of blessings. They are opportunists. These opportunists are never willing to fulfill their duties. If things do not go their way, even slightly, they feel repressed. They always wish to live freely, they do not want to perform any kind of work, and yet they still want to eat good food and wear nice clothing, and eat whatever they wish and sleep whenever they want. They think that when a day like this comes, it will surely be wonderful. They do not want to endure even a little bit of hardship and they wish for a life of indulgence. These people even find living exhausting; they are bound by negative emotions. They often feel tired and confused because they cannot do as they please. They do not want to attend to their proper work or to handle their proper affairs. They do not want to stick to a job and do it constantly from start to finish, treating it as their own profession and duty, as their obligation and responsibility; they do not want to finish it and achieve results, or do it to the best standard possible. They have never thought in that way. They just want to act in a perfunctory manner and to use their duty as a means to make a living. When they face a little pressure or some form of control, or when they are held to a slightly higher standard, or made to shoulder a bit of responsibility, they feel uncomfortable and repressed. These negative emotions arise within them, living feels exhausting to them, and they are miserable. One fundamental reason why living feels exhausting to them is that people like this lack reason. Their reason is impaired, they spend all day indulging in fantasies, living in a dream, in the clouds, always imagining the wildest things. That is why their repression is very difficult to resolve. They are not interested in the truth, they are nonbelievers. The only thing we can do is ask them to leave God’s house, to return to the world and find their own place of ease and comfort.