By Noelle, South Korea

For some time, I had so many problems cropping up in my duty, both big and small. Some were from being too careless, and some were from not knowing the principles. I was kind of worried, afraid my leader or the sister I worked with would prune me, saying I was perfunctory in my duty, but my partnered sister barely mentioned my problems, just telling me to be more careful in the future. This always made me feel relieved. Later, when I saw some obvious problems others had in their duties, I felt that they were being too perfunctory in their work, and wanted to fellowship with them and dissect their problems so they could understand the nature of being perfunctory and the serious consequences of going on like that. But then I thought that bluntly pointing out other people’s issues would wound their pride. It would be better to say just enough to make them aware of their issues and leave it at that. Besides, I’d been having the same problems, so what right did I have to speak up? What if I pruned others for something, and then did it myself later? Wouldn’t I be a hypocrite? I figured it was better not to expose or prune them and that I should just say nice things. That way if I did something wrong in the future, the others wouldn’t make a fuss. Forgiving others is forgiving yourself. When I thought about it that way, the bit of justice in my heart disappeared. I said to my partnered sister, “There’s no need to call out specific people who have problems. We can just refer to the problems.” She didn’t say anything in response. I felt a little uneasy after that. Would the others realize they had a problem if they weren’t singled out? Would they change in the future? If they didn’t, that would impact the work. I felt conflicted. I wanted to speak up but didn’t dare, and by not speaking, I felt I wasn’t fulfilling my responsibility. Afterward, I wondered why it was so difficult for me. What was keeping me from exposing the problems of other brothers and sisters? I said a silent prayer, asking God to guide me in understanding my issue.

Later, I told another sister about my current state, and she sent me a passage of God’s words. Reading it really opened my eyes, and I gained some understanding of my problem. Almighty God says: “Are you proponents of the saying on moral conduct, ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’? If someone were a proponent of this phrase, would you think they were great and noble? There are some who would say, ‘Look, in their speech and actions, they don’t impose on others, or make things hard for others, or put them in difficult positions. Aren’t they wonderful? They are always strict with themselves yet tolerant of others; they never tell anyone to do something that they wouldn’t do themselves. They give others a lot of freedom, and make them feel an abundance of warmth and acceptance. What a great person!’ Is that really the case? The implication of the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ is that you should only give or supply to others things that you yourself like and take pleasure in. But what things do corrupted people like and take pleasure in? Corrupted things, preposterous things, and extravagant desires. If you give and supply to people these negative things, will all of humanity not become more and more corrupted? There will be fewer and fewer positive things. Is this not a fact? It is a fact that humanity is deeply corrupted. Corrupted humans like to pursue fame, gain, status, and pleasures of the flesh; they seek to be celebrities, great figures, and supermen. They love ease and are averse to hard work; they like everything to be done for them without them having to lift a finger. Very few of them love the truth or positive things. If people give and supply to others their corruption and predilections, what will happen? It is just as you would imagine: Humanity will only become more and more corrupt. Those who are proponents of the idea ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ ask that people give and supply to others their corruption, predilections, and extravagant desires, making other people seek evil, comfort, money, and advancement. Is this the right path in life? It is plain to see that ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ is a very problematic saying. The holes and flaws in it are glaringly obvious; it is not even worth dissecting and discerning it. With the slightest examination, its errors and ridiculousness are plain to see. However, there are many among you who are easily persuaded and influenced by this saying and accept it without discernment. When interacting with others, you often use this saying to admonish yourself and exhort others. By doing this, you think that your integrity is particularly noble, and that your self-conduct is very rational. But in reality, these words have revealed the principle by which you conduct yourself and your stance, without you realizing it. At the same time, these words have caused others to be misled and misguided by you into approaching people and things using your view and stance. You have played the role of an appeaser to the letter. You don’t take anything you do seriously, and you don’t make things difficult for yourself or others. You believe that if you make things difficult for other people, you’re making things difficult for yourself, and that being kind to others is being kind to yourself, and that if you’re hard on other people, you’re being hard on yourself. What you are holding to is precisely the thought and view of ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ which is also the biggest reward you could give yourself, and the greatest leniency you could show yourself. This is obviously an attitude of not being meticulous in anything; you do not have the correct stance or perspective on anything, you view everything in a way that is muddled and not meticulous, and just turn a blind eye to things. If you hold to the thought and view of ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ for your entire life of faith in God, what will be the consequences? You will not practice the truth, you will not uphold the truth principles, and you will not possess a shred of the truth reality. Why is that? Because you are influenced by the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ and it has already brought great vexation and troubles upon you, making it so that, when it comes to many matters, you can’t have a clear view or stance, and it’s impossible for you to know or determine exactly what God’s required standards are or what results you should achieve. These consequences are caused by you not seeking the truth and instead holding to the viewpoints of satanic philosophies in all things. Is ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ the correct attitude that people should have in their speech and actions? No, it is not. It is just a theory which appears right, noble, and kind from the outside, but it isn’t actually a positive thing at all. Clearly, even less is it a truth principle that people should be adhering to” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (10)). God’s words exposed my attitude toward getting along with others. When I saw an issue in someone’s approach to their duty, I didn’t want to clearly point it out. On the surface it looked like I was being kind, letting others save face, and not embarrassing them, but I had an ulterior motive. Since I was perfunctory in my duty quite often and had similar issues, I was afraid of pointing out others’ problems and later displaying the very same problem. Wouldn’t that make me a hypocrite? I believed that being strict with others would be bad for me by not leaving myself a way out, so I didn’t want to take the problems of others seriously, preferring to gloss over them. I was well aware that if they were always perfunctory in their duties, not only would they not get good results or have any good deeds, but it would also impact the church’s work, even causing major disruptions and disturbances. As a supervisor, I should’ve been taking responsibility, fellowshipping and pointing out others’ issues, and when necessary, exposing, dissecting, and pruning them. But to save face and protect my status, I lost even the slightest will to practice the truth. From the outside, I seemed really considerate, but in reality, I wanted to protect myself and keep others from mentioning my problems. If it hadn’t been for the exposure of God’s words, I never would have realized that not pointing out others’ problems actually stems from being impacted and controlled by satanic philosophies. I never would have seen how deceitful I was.

Later, I read something in God’s words: “The saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ means that you should not require others to like or do something that you don’t like or aren’t willing to do. Looking at the words themselves, this seems quite reasonable and sensible, and no one would disagree with such a saying. But does this saying truly accord with the truth? Does it truly measure up to being a truth principle? This should be discerned. What would be the consequences of acting according to this satanic philosophy? Would it not lead to making mistakes? Would it not lead to hurting people, misguiding people, or even harming people? First, let’s talk about whether there are any principles in this saying. There are no principles in it; it is entirely passing a verdict based on one’s own preferences, not viewing things based on the truth. For example, some parents are not fond of studying, but they like to make their children study a lot, and always try to reason with them, urging them to study hard. This situation goes against the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire.’ According to this saying, these parents shouldn’t urge their children to study, because they themselves do not enjoy studying. There are other people who believe in God, but do not pursue the truth; yet in their hearts they know that believing in God is the right path in life. If they see that their children do not believe in God and are not on the right path, they urge them to believe in God. Even though they themselves do not pursue the truth, they still want their children to pursue it and be blessed. In this situation, if they adhered to the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ then these parents should not make their children believe in God. That would be in line with this satanic philosophy, but it also would have destroyed their children’s chance at salvation. Who is responsible for this outcome? Does the traditional saying on moral conduct of not imposing on others that which you yourself do not desire not harm people? … Haven’t these examples thoroughly refuted this saying? There is nothing correct about it. For example, some people do not love the truth; they covet the comforts of the flesh, and find ways to slack off when performing their duty. They are not willing to suffer or pay a price. They think that the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ puts it well, and tell people, ‘You should learn how to enjoy yourselves. You don’t need to properly perform your duty or suffer hardship or pay a price. If you can slack off, then slack off; if you can muddle through something, then muddle through it. Don’t make things so hard on yourselves. Look, aren’t I living pretty well this way? My life is just perfect! You’re exhausting yourselves living that way! You should learn from me!’ Does this not meet the requirement of ‘not imposing on others that which you yourself do not desire’? If you act this way, are you a person with conscience and reason? (No.) If a person loses their conscience and reason, are they not lacking virtue? This is called lacking virtue. Why do we call it this? Because they indulge in comfort, they muddle through their duty, and incite and influence others to join them in being perfunctory and indulging in comfort. What is the problem with this? Being perfunctory and irresponsible in your duty is an act of trickery and resistance to God. If you continue to be perfunctory and do not repent, you will be revealed and eliminated” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (10)). “If people have a heart which loves the truth, they will have the drive to pursue the truth, and be able to work hard at practicing the truth. They will be able to forsake that which should be forsaken, and let go of that which should be let go of. Especially when it comes to things that pertain to their own fame, gain, and status, they are also able to let those things go. If you cannot let go of self-interest, fame, gain, and status, it means you do not love the truth and do not have the drive to pursue the truth. When things happen to you, you must seek the truth, and practice the truth. If, at those times when you need to practice the truth, you always have selfish motives and cannot let go of your self-interest, you will be unable to put the truth into practice. If, no matter what befalls you, you neither seek the truth nor put it into practice, then you are not a person who loves the truth. No matter how many years you believe in God, you will not gain the truth. Some people are always pursuing fame, gain, and self-interest. Whatever work the church arranges for them to do, they always consider: ‘Will doing this be advantageous or beneficial for me? If it will, I’ll do it; if it won’t, then I won’t.’ A person like this does not practice the truth—so can they do their duty well? They most certainly cannot. Even if you don’t outwardly appear to have done evil, you are still not a person who practices the truth. You do not pursue the truth, you do not love positive things, and no matter what befalls you, you only care about your own reputation and status, your self-interest, and what benefits you can gain—this means that you are a person who seeks profit above all else, and who is also selfish and base. … If people never practice the truth after years of believing in God, they are disbelievers; they are evil people. If you never practice the truth, and if your transgressions grow ever more numerous, then your outcome is set. It is clear to see that all your transgressions, the wrong path you walk, and your stubborn refusal to repent add up to a multitude of evil deeds, and that your outcome is that you deserve to go to hell and to be punished” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). I couldn’t help but feel a shock in my heart at what God’s words expose. Basing my interactions on the philosophy for worldly dealings of “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire” made me seem understanding and considerate toward others, but in fact, I was doing them harm. I wasn’t practicing or entering into God’s words or His demands. I was pandering to others over their problems, not asking them to practice God’s word and have entry into it, as if they should be just like me, not seeking progress, being negative, and depraved. Doing things that way is irresponsible. It’s being a people pleaser. It’s unconscionable and lacking in virtue. That’s how I was behaving. I didn’t love the truth, and especially indulged in comfort. I didn’t want to take my duty seriously or be detailed, which led to there being all sorts of issues and deviations in my duty. I was afraid of exposing my faults and shortcomings and I hoped the leader and my partner wouldn’t be too strict with me. I was also unwilling to expose people that I saw had the same problem as me, and I was afraid if I was too direct with others, I’d have to set an example and accept their oversight, and would have fewer chances to care for my flesh. So I wanted to shield others and allow them to be like me, not mentioning problems we noticed, and not keeping an eye on each other. Before gaining the truth, people tend to follow their corrupt dispositions in life, slacking off and being perfunctory in their duties. This is when mutual supervision and guidance are needed most. This is a positive thing, and it protects the church’s work. As a supervisor, I really should have taken the lead in practicing the truth, but on top of not being a good example, I allowed everyone to be perfunctory and not strive for progress, just like me. Essentially, I was averse to the truth, and unwilling to accept it. I was taking the lead in being perfunctory and cheating God. Not only was I not doing my duty well, I was also harming my brothers and sisters. The more I reflected on it, the more I saw that it was a more serious issue than I’d thought. To protect my reputation and status, I disregarded the church’s work and the brothers’ and sisters’ life entry. I was so selfish and vile! I also came to understand why God says people like that are disbelievers, that they’re evil people who worm their way into God’s house. It’s because the only thing in their hearts is themselves—they don’t think of the church’s work. God hopes that all of us can practice the truth, speaking and acting with principle. But I didn’t love the truth. I hoped everyone would shield each other, and that no one would practice the truth. I was doing the opposite of what God wanted—this was doing evil! I used to think that only intentionally disrupting and disturbing the church’s work was evildoing that would disgust God, but I saw then that protecting my own interests at every turn, speaking and acting based on my corrupt dispositions, and not practicing the truth was also doing evil. Realizing this, I quickly prayed to God in repentance, “God, I’m a supervisor, but I’m not practicing the truth. To protect my reputation and status, I even wanted everyone to shield each other and be perfunctory. I have no conscience or reason, and I don’t deserve this duty. God, I want to repent and change.” After praying, I listed out all the problems the others had had in their duties lately. I was stunned when I saw the details of all these issues. A couple of people had been irresponsible and perfunctory in their duties, which meant some work had to be redone. Seeing one problem after another made me really upset. I hadn’t imagined there would be so many problems in everyone’s duties. But I had even thought I could let things slide, indulging others and myself. I had no consideration for God’s intention. If things went on that way, the work would all really be delayed because of me.

One evening I read a passage of God’s words that helped me understand my behavior. God’s words say: “No matter what they’re doing, antichrists first consider their own interests, and they only act once they’ve thought it all out; they do not truly, sincerely, and absolutely submit to the truth without compromise, but do so selectively and conditionally. What condition is this? It is that their status and reputation must be safeguarded, and must not suffer any loss. Only after this condition is satisfied will they decide and choose what to do. That is, antichrists give serious consideration to how to treat the truth principles, God’s commissions, and the work of God’s house, or how to deal with the things they face. They do not consider how to satisfy God’s intentions, how to keep from damaging the interests of God’s house, how to satisfy God, or how to benefit the brothers and sisters; these are not the things they consider. What do antichrists consider? Whether their own status and reputation will be affected, and whether their prestige will be lowered. If doing something according to the truth principles benefits the work of the church and the brothers and sisters, but would cause their own reputation to suffer and cause many people to realize their true stature and know what sort of nature essence they have, then they will definitely not act in accordance with the truth principles. If doing some real work will cause more people to think highly of them, look up to them and admire them, allow them to gain even greater prestige, or enable their words to carry authority and make more people submit to them, then they will choose to do it that way; otherwise, they will never choose to disregard their own interests out of consideration for the interests of God’s house or of the brothers and sisters. This is the nature essence of antichrists. Isn’t it selfish and despicable? In any situation, antichrists see their status and reputation as of utmost importance. No one can compete with them. No matter the method required, so long as it wins people over and makes others worship them, antichrists will do it. … In sum, their goal and motive in doing all of this revolves around nothing more than status and reputation. Regardless of whether it’s their external language, methods, behavior, or a kind of thought, view, or method of pursuit, these things all revolve around reputation and status. This is the way that antichrists work” (The Word, Vol. 4. Exposing Antichrists. Item Nine (Part Three)). God’s words are crystal clear. Everything antichrists do is to protect their own reputation and status. They never consider how to protect the church’s work or what benefits their brothers and sisters. They’d rather see the church’s work impacted than endanger their own interests. They care too much about reputation and status. In my reflection, I saw that I acted just like an antichrist. When faced with something, I always put my interests, face, and status above everything. When I saw that some people were being quite perfunctory in their duties, I knew I should point it out, prune them, and fellowship with them so that they could see their problems and recognize their corrupt dispositions. But I didn’t want to offend anyone, and I wanted to protect myself, so I didn’t practice the truth. I couldn’t even get a single word in line with the truth out of my mouth. Instead, I racked my brains to make sure I had a way out. I was really slippery and deceitful, a people pleaser who wanted to take the middle road. I just kept pursuing fame and status, protecting my own interests, allowing others to do their duties based on their corrupt dispositions, and not thinking of the church’s work. I was on the path of an antichrist. If I kept on that way, I was sure to be revealed and eliminated by God. This realization showed me how grave this problem was. I prayed to God, asking Him to guide me so I could let go of fame and status, uphold the church’s work, and fulfill my responsibilities.

Afterward, I read another passage of God’s words: “God does not demand that people not impose on others that which they themselves do not desire, instead He asks people to be clear on the principles they should observe when handling different situations. If it is correct and in line with the truth in God’s words, then you must cling to it. And not only must you cling to it, you must admonish, persuade, and fellowship with others, so that they understand exactly what God’s intentions are, and what the truth principles are. This is your responsibility and obligation. God is not asking you to hold to satanic philosophies and take the middle road, and even less is He asking you to show how big-hearted you are. You should adhere to the required standards and truth principles that God’s words admonish people with. Not only must you hold fast to them forever, and lead by example in practicing these truth principles, but you must also exhort, supervise, help, and guide others to adhere to, observe, and practice them as you do. This is something that God demands you to do, and this is His commission to you. God demands that you stand firmly in the correct stance, and hold fast to the criteria of God’s words and the truth principles. Even if you cannot accomplish this right now, even if you are unwilling, dislike it, have notions, or feel resistant toward it, you must treat it as your responsibility, as your obligation. You must fellowship with people on the truth principles, and the positive things that come from God, to help and guide them, so that they can benefit from and be edified by these things, and embark on the correct path in life. This is your responsibility. You mustn’t stubbornly cling to the saying ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ which Satan has instilled in you. In God’s eyes, that saying is just a philosophy for worldly dealings, it is a thought and view that carries with it Satan’s trickery, and it is not at all the correct path, nor is it a positive thing. God requires you that you conduct yourself in an upright, dignified manner, so you should be clear on what you should and should not do. He is not asking you to be a people pleaser or an appeaser; He is not asking you to take the middle road. You must hold fast to the truth principles and stand firmly in the correct stance. You absolutely must say what you ought to say, and understand what you ought to understand. You also must help those who do not understand; you should give them lots of guidance and help. You absolutely must fulfill your responsibility and obligation. You must not just stand by the wayside and watch, and even less should you cling to the philosophies that Satan has put into your mind such as not imposing on others that which you yourself do not desire. … The saying on moral conduct ‘Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire’ is really and truly Satan’s cunning scheme to control the minds of people. If you always uphold this, then you are someone who lives according to satanic philosophies; a person who completely lives in a satanic disposition. If you do not follow God’s way, then you do not love or pursue the truth. No matter what happens, the principle you should follow and the most important thing you must do is help people as much as you can. You should not practice what Satan says, which is to ‘not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire,’ and be a ‘smart’ people pleaser. What does it mean to help people as much as you can? It means fulfilling your responsibilities and obligations. As long as you see that something is part of the responsibilities and obligations that you ought to fulfill, you should fellowship on God’s words and the truth so that people can understand God’s intentions and requirements. This is what it means to fulfill your responsibilities and obligations” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. What It Means to Pursue the Truth (10)). From God’s words I saw that “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire” is a tactic, a ploy Satan uses to corrupt people and control their thoughts. When they live by satanic philosophies, there is no longer an atmosphere of practicing the truth in their interactions, and they become tolerant toward and shield each other. If everyone lives by their corrupt disposition, Satan gains control and evil gets the upper hand. Eventually, the Holy Spirit forsakes them. Though I couldn’t yet live up to or put into practice God’s words and His requirements, I had to fulfill my responsibilities and fellowship with the others on my enlightenment and understanding of God’s words. If I saw people going against the truth principles in their duties, instead of being accommodating toward others and lenient toward myself, I had to be principled, helping others by fellowshipping and pointing their issues out. Only then would I be upholding the church’s work and fulfilling my responsibility. I also had to lead by example in putting the truth into practice. It was a fact that there were problems in my duty, but I couldn’t cut myself any slack, put on an act, or escape reality. If I did, I’d never make any progress. I should proactively acknowledge my issues, accept others’ oversight, and take my duty seriously. I also realized that the idea that you have to be free of mistakes and issues to criticize others is not in line with the truth at all. I’m also a corrupt human with a gravely satanic disposition. I often go against the truth principles in my duty, and need to undergo God’s judgment, chastisement, and pruning. I need oversight from brothers and sisters, too. I should regard myself correctly so that if more problems become apparent, I’ll need to face them, not keep running from them or disguise myself. Realizing this was enlightening for me, and I found a path for practice.

In a gathering, I first addressed the issues I’d had recently in my duty, exposing and dissecting the nature of my perfunctoriness, and asked everyone to supervise me. I also told them to let it serve as a warning. Finally, I also singled out two of the brothers and sisters who had been particularly perfunctory and fellowshipped on the consequences of failing to change. I felt really at ease after doing that. It was really moving for me when a brother I’d pruned recognized his problem because he was singled out like that, and sent me a message saying, “If I hadn’t been exposed and pruned like that, I would have been totally unaware of my issue. Thank you for helping me this way. Now I want to really reflect and enter into the truth.” I was greatly touched by this message. I used to hate being pruned and exposed, so I wanted to do that to others even less, but in fact, that wasn’t doing them any favors. I deeply regretted that, to protect my own reputation and status, I had always indulged and tolerated everyone’s problems in their duties, and had not fulfilled my duty or responsibilities. I really owed God, and the brothers and sisters. I realized that only God’s words are the principle by which we should act and conduct ourselves. Being able to point out problems in others without mincing words is helpful for them—it also benefits ourselves. But “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire” is actually a satanic fallacy that hurts people and ourselves. I also saw that always fearing being pruned when problems cropped up in my duty, and being unwilling to expose and prune others for their problems, meant that I didn’t understand the significance of pruning. God’s words say: “Supervising people, observing them, trying to understand them—this is all in order to help them enter the right track of faith in God, to enable them to do their duty as God asks and according to principle, to stop them from causing any disturbances or disruptions, and to stop them from doing futile work. The aim of doing this is entirely about showing responsibility toward them and toward the work of God’s house; there is no malice to it” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (7)). It’s true. We all have corrupt dispositions and we’re all liable to be perfunctory and slippery in our duty. If there’s no one to supervise and inspect our work, or offer fellowship and advice and prune us for our problems, we can’t possibly do a good job. We’ll just consider our flesh and indulge in comfort, or even wantonly do something disruptive to the church’s work. So, when leaders supervise work or prune us, they’re being responsible in their duty, and it’s to uphold the church’s work. It’s also good for our life entry, not to make things hard on us. But I was a supervisor following the satanic philosophy of “Do not impose on others that which you yourself do not desire.” I saw issues in others’ duties but was still nice to everyone. I didn’t fellowship with, help, or prune anyone, but indulged and shielded them. It was irresponsible, not to mention harmful to others and the church. This experience turned around this fallacious idea of mine and made me see the significance of supervision, criticism, pruning and exposure.

This experience was really moving for me. I saw that when we live by satanic philosophies, all of our ideas are distorted. We can’t distinguish between positive things and negative things, and we don’t know what is in line with the truth principles and God’s requirements. It’s easy to follow satanic philosophies and do things that disrupt and disturb the church’s work. Only looking at people and things and conducting oneself and acting according to God’s words is in line with His intention. I also got a taste of the sweetness of practicing the truth and gained the confidence to focus on doing what God demands in the future. Thank God!