By Xiaoli, China

I was born into an ordinary working-class family. My parents were guileless, dutiful people with no special abilities, and our relatives and friends looked down on them. I thought to myself, “I can’t be like my parents, living a life of mediocrity and being looked down upon. I’m going to strive to succeed and work hard to build a career. I want to be the center of attention and have everyone praise me when they mention me.”

In 2017, I graduated from college, and I joined a real estate company as a property consultant. At that time, the property market was booming, and in my first month as an intern, I easily sold three houses. The bonus and commission for selling one house were comparable to a month’s salary for my classmates, and I thought to myself, “I’ve found such a lucrative job right after graduation. I’m doing the best among all my classmates. After two years, when I earn even more money, my classmates and friends will admire me.” In March 2018, house prices rose again, and people’s enthusiasm for buying houses soared instantly. My colleagues and many big investors in the industry were all buying houses. They planned to use credit cards to invest in real estate before prices surged, wait a few short years for housing prices to skyrocket, and then sell for double what they’d paid. Seeing this, I felt very envious. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to keep up with this surge in the housing market, and that if house prices kept rising, my chance of buying would become increasingly slim. I feared that if I missed this golden opportunity, there’d be no knowing when I’d ever be able to achieve my goal of surpassing others. Also, if my relatives and friends knew I’d bought a house, they would surely look at me in a new light and praise me for being so capable. So I decided to take out a loan and buy a house. At that time, my mother had already come to believe in Almighty God, and when she heard I was planning to buy a house, she advised me, “God’s work of saving mankind in the last days is about to end, and the disasters will keep getting bigger. When disasters strike, will you be able to take these material things with you? It’s more important to believe in God, read His words more, and pursue life. Also, we don’t have that much money in our family, so where will you get the money to buy a house?” But at the time, I didn’t listen to anything she said, and I thought she was being short-sighted. I thought that there was no knowing when the disasters might strike, and that as I was still young, the most important thing at the moment was to find ways to make money and stand out. So, I took out a loan to buy a house. Later, to avoid being looked down upon by my colleagues and to flaunt my status in front of clients, I took out another loan to buy a car. I thought that in this day and age, having a car and a house was the standard for a successful life, and that only then could a person be respected wherever they went. Later, relatives and friends praised me, saying, “You’re doing well; don’t forget us when you get rich!” Hearing this, I felt pleased, and my vanity was greatly satisfied. In order to look like a person who makes a lot of money and achieves great things, I also spent recklessly, presenting myself as a person of moderate success. At all the major restaurants and entertainment venues, wherever rich people went, you would find me there. I spent hundreds, even thousands of yuan on membership cards as casually as drinking water. In this way, as soon as my salary was paid, I’d immediately use it to pay off my credit card debt and monthly payments. Sometimes, I couldn’t save any money, and even had to cover the shortfall, so my credit card bills kept piling up. At first, I was worried about what’d happen if I couldn’t pay off my debts. But I thought about how with my abilities, earning money wouldn’t be an issue, and besides, I had a house as a fixed asset, which I could sell in a couple of years once the price rose and make a large sum of money. With such a strong backup, what did I have to be afraid of? So I stopped worrying about it.

But to my surprise, at the end of 2019, an accident completely shattered my beautiful dream. One day after work, I went out for drinks with three colleagues, and on the way home, the driver started speeding for fun. Because he was driving too fast, he couldn’t brake in time, and the car veered off the road and crashed into a house. The car was totaled on the spot, and the four of us were sent to a hospital. In the end, the driver had a ruptured intestine and intestinal bleeding, and the front passenger had a spinal fracture. Fortunately, I was sitting behind the driver, and I was the least injured of the four of us, being left with only a fracture in my right arm. But my colleague who’d been sitting next to me wasn’t so lucky. There’d been a utility pole in front of the house, and the driver had jerked the steering wheel to the left to avoid the house. As a result, my colleague in the back seat was struck violently by the pole, his liver ruptured, and he died on the spot. I get chills every time I think about it. At the same time, I felt really shaken and fortunate. What shook me was just how fragile human life is, how life and death can happen in an instant, and that no one can predict what will happen the next second. Luckily for me, if the driver had turned the wheel to the right or if I had been sitting in my colleague’s seat, I would have been the one to die. I felt as though, unseen to me, this had been arranged by Heaven, allowing me to escape this calamity. Afterward, the deceased’s family demanded compensation. The three of us pooled together 800,000 yuan in compensation to settle the matter. At the time, I had accumulated a debt of 300,000 yuan. Whenever I thought of the car loan, the mortgage, and the hundreds of thousands of credit card bills, I’d feel really depressed. I thought, “How am I supposed to live in the future?” After feeling despondent for a while, I decided to pull myself together and keep selling houses to make money and pay off my debts. But right after that, the sudden global COVID-19 pandemic at the beginning of 2020 dealt my life yet another mortal blow. Due to the long-term city lockdown, everyone was quarantined at home, the sales office was empty, and sales ground to a halt. Later, in order to cut costs, the company paid only 50% of the employees’ salaries. I thought to myself, “It’s over. There’s nothing I can do to recover this time. This isn’t even enough for my monthly car and mortgage payments, and then there are the hundreds of thousands in credit card bills to think about. If I stop paying, the bank will take the house and auction it off, and if I can’t pay off my debt, my credit will be blacklisted, and then I’ll lose everything.” I thought about selling the house I’d just bought, but just then, the developer declared bankruptcy and ran away, leaving houses unfinished and the handover endlessly delayed. To cover the monthly car and mortgage payments, I had no choice but to take out numerous installment plans on my credit cards. From then on, I was burdened with high-interest rates, and I found myself living my life in a pit of debt.

During that time, I felt despondent, lost the courage to live, and was utterly hopeless about life. I often wondered, “What was even the point of buying a car and a house? Now the car’s sitting unused, and the house is unfinished and can’t be sold. If I’d died in that car accident, what would be the point of owning a car and house?” In my suffering, my mom once again preached the gospel of Almighty God of the last days to me. She said, “People’s lives are all in God’s hands. You should come before God and read His words earnestly, and whatever difficulties or pain you have, you should tell God and ask Him to help you through this hardship.” At the time, I remembered a passage of God’s words my mom had often recited to me: “All manner of disasters will befall, one after another; all countries and places will experience disasters: Plague, famine, flood, drought, and earthquakes are everywhere. These disasters are not just happening in one or two places, nor will they be over within a day or two; rather, they will expand across a greater and greater area, and become more and more severe. During this time, all manner of insect plagues will arise one after another, and the phenomenon of cannibalism will occur everywhere. This is My judgment upon the myriad countries and peoples” (The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Utterances of Christ in the Beginning, Chapter 65). God has long said that the disasters would become ever greater, and now these words have been fulfilled. My mom often used to talk to me about faith in God, but I was always indifferent, insisting on buying a house and a car, and striving to stand out to gain others’ admiration. But things didn’t turn out as I’d wished. My hopes of using the house to finance my loans were shattered, and I was burdened with huge debts. With the pandemic having spread worldwide and tens of thousands of people dying daily, the climate continually worsening, and global disasters and wars breaking out one after another, I truly felt that the great catastrophes of the last days had arrived. If I still didn’t believe in God, then one day I too may fall into disaster. I couldn’t keep stubbornly going about things the wrong way, and I made up my mind to diligently read God’s words. Later, by reading God’s words, I came to understand some truths, my heart found reliance, and I gained the hope to keep on living.

With lockdown measures lifting temporarily, my work gradually returned to normal. Because I had set up installment plans for numerous credit cards, I was accumulating enormous interest fees each month, and my monthly salary was almost entirely being used to pay this off. It was then that I realized that though the bank’s installment plan seemed to reduce my repayment pressure at the time, it was essentially usury! I felt as though I had fallen into a bottomless pit of debt, and that if things went on like this, I would never be able to finish the repayments, and I’d spend the rest of my life trying to pay off my debts. Looking at the monthly bills, I couldn’t help but cry. In my pain, I cried out to God, “God, I know that believing in You is the right path in life, and I am willing to earnestly pursue the truth. But right now, I have actual difficulties and don’t know how to resolve them. I’m in so much pain. Please open a way for me.” Later, by chance, I saw online that you could make money editing videos, so I tried editing videos online. To my surprise, one of the videos I posted suddenly went viral. After that, I kept editing videos and posting them on platforms, and in three months, I’d earned almost 100,000 yuan, which greatly alleviated the financial pressure on me. I felt deeply moved. I had truly experienced God’s almightiness and sovereignty. God had heard my prayers and helped me through my difficulties. And I was able to have more time to gather and read His words. So, I resigned from my job without hesitation, and I then made more time to attend gatherings while editing videos. Shortly after I resigned, the leader arranged for me to do text-based duties, and I was really excited. I’d gather and do my duties by day, and I’d make money editing videos to repay my debts in the evening. Later, there were more articles that needed screening, and I couldn’t find more time to edit videos. I went from posting a video every two days to only posting once every five days, and sometimes, during holidays, clients would urgently need videos edited, but because they couldn’t reach me, they’d go to someone else, and I’d lose lots of orders. Seeing my income slowly decrease, my heart began to change. I thought, “My duty is really holding up my time. I’ve finally got this opportunity to make money, and this might be my only springboard for making a comeback. If I stick with this for another year or so, I’ll not only be able to pay off all my debts, but I’ll also achieve financial freedom and regain the admiration of my friends and relatives. If I miss this chance to make money, who knows how long I’ll have to wait? I can’t just give this up so easily. Besides, only by earning enough money will I be able to calm my heart to do my duties properly. Otherwise, I will remain troubled by debt and be unable to focus on my duties.” Later, though I did my duties every day, in my heart, I kept thinking about how to write copy for the videos. When I got home, I would sit at my computer to collect materials and edit videos, and I’d not bother making time to screen the articles the brothers and sisters had sent me. I hadn’t submitted a single article in three months.

One day in February 2023, a video platform invited me to create a video. I completed the video in just four hours, and unexpectedly, after the video was released, it immediately went viral, and in seven days, I earned a net income of 130,000 yuan, enabling me to pay off half of my debt. I thought, “With making money at this pace, if I keep working hard for another six months, I’ll be able to pay off all my debts, and then I’ll again be able to achieve both fame and gain, and attain the admiration of my friends and relatives. I’ll be able to return to my days of being prosperous and admired. I can’t miss such a rare opportunity! I need to grab as much time as I can to make money, and cut down the time I spend on my duties.” But when I thought this way, I felt uneasy. I thought back to when I was deep in debt, at the end of my rope, and feeling that I’d be better off dead. It was God’s grace that led me to the path of faith. I had prayed to God, asking Him to open a way for me and to help me get through my difficulties, and I’d decided to properly believe in God and pursue the truth. Now, God had opened a way for me and helped me pay off a great deal of my debt. If I continued pursuing money, fame, and gain, would I not be deceiving God? I also thought about how I’d tried every possible way to earn money in pursuit of fame and gain, and that in the end, not only did I fail to make money, but I even lost a lot due to the car accident. Now, I’d earned nearly a year’s worth of money from a video I had completed in just four hours. All of this was God’s almightiness and sovereignty. I saw how much a person earns in their lifetime has all been preordained by God. When it’s not time for them to make money, even if they work themselves to the bone to earn money, it will be lost in various ways. But when it is the right time for them to make money, they can earn it with barely any effort. I always wanted to rely on my own abilities to earn lots of money, but if I’m not destined to have much money, then no matter how hard I try, it’ll be futile in the end. Thinking of this, I quickly prayed, “God, all the money I make now is You opening a way for me to ease my debt, allowing me to properly believe in You and do my duties, but faced with the temptation of making money, I just can’t let go. May You guide me and enable me to understand Your intentions and find a path of practice.”

Later, I read God’s words and learned how to practice. Almighty God says: “God has long told people they should be content with just having food and clothing. No matter what work or profession you engage in, do not treat it as a career, and don’t see it as a springboard or a means to get ahead in the world or make a fortune and live comfortably. Any work or profession you engage in is merely a means for you to make a living. As long as it can support a normal life and guarantee your three meals a day and basic necessities, you should be content; you should not have extravagant expectations in terms of your living requirements. If you encounter special circumstances and have some temporary difficulties, you can try to take on another job to solve your pressing needs—this is acceptable. No matter what work you engage in, as long as it is proper and lawful and will not lead to any trouble or lawsuits, you can do it. Do not do some risky or even illegal things to satisfy your extravagant fleshly desires, consequently falling into temptation or ending up in a quagmire. That would be dangerous. In less serious cases, you could fall into a debt crisis; in more serious cases, you could end up in prison, and for the rest of your life, it’ll be difficult for you to get back on your feet. That would be very troublesome. If a believer in God does this, they will ruin their chance of attaining salvation. There is a passage in the Bible that says, ‘And having food and raiment let us be therewith content’ (1 Timothy 6:8). Use the time when you are not working to believe in God, attend gatherings, do your duties, and pursue the truth. This is your mission, and it is the value and meaning of a believer’s life. … if you wish to gain the truth and obtain life in your belief in God, you must work hard in your pursuit, and strive as much as you can to spend more time and energy on pursuing the truth and doing your duty well. It is very important for people to choose to pursue the truth in their belief in God, and this requires them to pay a price. God determines people’s outcomes based on whether or not they have the truth. If you covet a life of the flesh, are not content with just having food and clothing, and want to live a better life, to earn more money and have a superior lifestyle to others, then you cannot possibly be spending your energy and time on pursuing the truth. If the quality of your fleshly life improves, yet you fail to gain the truth after many years of believing in God because you spend the majority of your time and energy on fleshly enjoyment, and not on pursuing the truth and doing your duty, won’t your life suffer a loss? This will affect your outcome and destination, right? (Yes.)” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (20)). “No matter what job people do, if they are not content when they have reached the point of having food and clothing, then what they pursue is linked to fame, gain, and fleshly enjoyment. And if they have extravagant desires—not only wanting to enjoy greater physical pleasure, but also wanting to make it onto the rich list—then what they pursue is purely fame and gain. Any price they pay is for the sake of fame, gain, status, and fleshly enjoyment; it is meaningless, and it is empty, just like a dream. What they gain in the end is absolutely nothing” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (20)). God’s words showed me a path of practice. I shouldn’t treat my career as a springboard to try and make a meteoric rise or a comeback, and I should be content with just having food and clothing. God’s intention was for me to maintain a normal life so that I could have more time and energy to do my duty and pursue the truth, and so I could avoid falling back into the vortex of pursuing money, fame, and gain. When I saw just how lucrative editing videos was and that I quickly paid off much of my debt by doing it, I wanted to make more money by editing videos—not only to pay off my debt, but also to make a comeback and regain the admiration of my friends and relatives. So I put all my thoughts and time into editing videos, and I gave no thought or consideration to my duties. I felt resistant in my heart when my duties were busy, as I simply wanted to use more time to make money. To satisfy my desire, I used all my time and energy on making money. I gave no thought to my duties, and I lost many opportunities to gain the truth. If I carried on like this, earning ten thousand and wanting one hundred thousand, then earning one hundred thousand and wanting more, my desires would be endless and never satisfied. I’d just end up being led by the nose by money, fame, and gain, and I’d fall into the vortex of money, fame, and gain again. Even if I ended up attaining money, fame, and gain in the future, I’d grow further away from God, stop doing my duty and fail to understand the truth. What would be the point in living like this? Thinking back to when I was helpless and without hope, it was the guidance of God’s word that gave me hope to live, and when I faced massive debt and had no way out, God opened a way for me, enabling me to earn money and resolve my real difficulties, and to have time and energy to do my duty. But now, facing the temptation of money, I once again wanted to make big money and stand out. I even did my duty perfunctorily and delayed the work. I could clearly fulfill my duty without delaying debt repayment, but I was not content, and facing repeated temptations to make money, I set aside my duty. I truly had no conscience! I had violated the resolution I made to God; everything I had said was deceiving Him! I truly didn’t deserve to live! I couldn’t keep chasing big money anymore and had to devote my energy to my duty. I could find time to edit videos to make money and pay off my debts as long as this did not hinder my duty. Later, I began to feel a sense of burden toward my duty. I finished screening the backlog of articles, and I was able to put my heart into gatherings.

Later, I read another passage of God’s word, and I gained some understanding of the root cause of my attachment to wealth, fame, and gain. Almighty God says: “In fact, no matter how grand man’s aspirations are, no matter how realistic man’s desires are or how proper they may be, all that man wants to achieve, all that man seeks, is inextricably linked to two words. These two words are vitally important to every person throughout their life, and they are things Satan intends to instill in man. What are these two words? They are ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ Satan uses a very mild method, a method that’s very much in line with people’s notions, and that isn’t very aggressive, to cause people to unknowingly accept its means and laws of survival, develop life goals and life directions, and come to possess life aspirations. No matter how high-sounding people’s descriptions of their life aspirations may be, these aspirations always revolve around fame and gain. Everything that any great or famous person—or, in fact, any person—chases throughout their life relates only to these two words: ‘fame’ and ‘gain.’ People think that once they have fame and gain, they have the capital to enjoy high status and great wealth, and to enjoy life. They think that once they have fame and gain, they have the capital to seek pleasure and to engage in wanton enjoyment of the flesh. For the sake of this fame and gain which they desire, people happily and unknowingly hand over their bodies, hearts, and even all that they have, including their prospects and fates, to Satan. They do so without reservation, without even a moment’s doubt, and without ever knowing to reclaim everything that they once had. Can people retain any control over themselves once they have given themselves over to Satan and become loyal to it in this way? Certainly not. They are completely and utterly controlled by Satan. They have completely and utterly sunk into this quagmire, and are unable to free themselves. Once someone is mired in fame and gain, they no longer seek that which is bright, that which is just, or those things that are beautiful and good. This is because the enticement of fame and gain is too great for people, and these are things that people can pursue without end throughout their lives and even for all eternity. Is this not the actual situation?” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique VI). After reading God’s words of exposure, I understood that the root of my constant desire to earn more money and be admired was that I was tightly bound by “fame” and “gain.” From a young age, I saw my parents being looked down upon by relatives and friends, and I felt that living like this was truly undignified, and so I decided that I had to strive for prosperity and become admired. I lived by the satanic poisons of “Man struggles upward; water flows downward,” and “Stand out above the rest.” Seeing others invest in buying houses and attain both fame and gain, I too longed to use this method to stand out and gain the admiration of friends and relatives. I clearly didn’t have the financial means, yet I didn’t hesitate to take out loans to buy a house and a car, and I also made large amounts of purchases, frequenting various high-end places and buying luxury goods, presenting myself as a person of success. Though my life seemed prosperous and endlessly glamorous, behind the scenes I was burdened with high-interest repayments. In order to win the admiration of others, I became utterly superficial and repeatedly rejected God’s salvation. I took out loans to buy a car and a house, accumulating hundreds of thousands in debt, and then I suffered the double blows of a car accident and the pandemic. I spent my days racking my brain for ways to rob Peter to pay Paul. During that time, my debts dazed my mind and turned my hair white from worry. I felt like I’d be better off dead. After I found God, He opened a way for me, granting me more time for gatherings and to do my duties, but when I encountered a chance to make money, I wanted to pursue money, fame, and gain. Throughout this journey, I kept pursuing money, fame, and gain, and even when I ended up battered and bruised, I still didn’t know to turn back. My heart had become utterly intransigent! When faced with God’s salvation and elevation, I not only didn’t cherish this, but I even thought my duties were delaying my pursuit of money, and I almost missed the chance to pursue the truth and be saved. I finally realized that the pursuit of money, fame, and gain is a path of no return, and that if I didn’t turn back, I would fully become Satan’s companion in death.

I pondered, “What kind of life is truly valuable and meaningful?” I read God’s words: “God does not merely pay a price for each person in the decades from their birth to the present. As God sees it, you have come into this world countless times, and have been reincarnated countless times. Who is in charge of this? God is in charge of this. You have no way of knowing these things. Each time you come into this world, God personally makes arrangements for you: He arranges how many years you will live, the sort of family that you will be born into, when you will build a home and a career, as well as what you will do in this world and how you will make a living. God arranges a way for you to earn a living, so that you can accomplish your mission in this life smoothly. … While you follow God, no matter whether you suffer or pay a price, you are actually cooperating with God. Whatever God asks us to do, we should listen to God’s words and practice according to them. Do not rebel against God or do anything that brings Him sorrow. In order to cooperate with God, you must suffer a little, and you must forsake and lay aside some things. You must give up fame, gain, status, money, and worldly pleasures—you even need to give up things like marriage, work, and your prospects in the world. Does God know that you have given up these things? Can God see all this? (Yes.) What will God do when He sees that you have given up these things? (God will be comforted, and He will be pleased.) God will not only be pleased and say, ‘The price that I paid has borne fruit. People are willing to cooperate with Me, they have this resolve, and I have gained them.’ Whether God is pleased or happy, satisfied or comforted, God does not only have that attitude. He also acts, and He wants to see the results that His work achieves, otherwise what He requires of people would be meaningless. The grace, love, and mercy that God shows man are not merely a kind of attitude—they are a fact, as well. What fact is that? It is that God puts His words within you, enlightening you, allowing you to see what is lovely about Him and just what this world is all about, giving you great mental clarity, and allowing you to understand His words and the truth. In this way, without knowing it, you gain the truth. God does so much work on you in a very real way, enabling you to gain the truth. When you gain the truth, when you gain the most precious thing, which is eternal life, God’s intentions are satisfied. When God sees that people are pursuing the truth and willing to cooperate with Him, He is happy and contented. He then has a certain attitude, and while He has that attitude, He takes action, and approves of and blesses man. He says, ‘I will reward you. These are the blessings you deserve.’ And then you will gain the truth and the life. When you have knowledge of the Creator and you have gained His appreciation, will you still feel an emptiness in your heart? You will not. You will feel fulfilled and have a sense of enjoyment. Isn’t that living a life of value? This is the most valuable and meaningful life” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Paying the Price to Gain the Truth Is of Great Significance). After reading God’s words, I understood that the family I was born into and the time when I would find God and do my duties were all long since arranged by God. It was God’s care and protection that allowed me to survive that car accident, and it was God who opened a way for me, allowing me to finally see the light again after being trapped in the haze of debt, and to have the chance to fulfill the duties of a created being. Without God’s protection, I would have long since been harmed by Satan. God’s words also gave me direction in life, allowing me to understand that only pursuing the truth and fulfilling my duties to satisfy God is truly meaningful and valuable. I have enjoyed so much of God’s grace and blessings! Thinking of this, I decided to devote myself wholeheartedly to my duties, and as long as my duty is not hindered, I could still find some time to edit videos to earn a little money—just enough to cover my monthly payments and living expenses.

Two months later, I was elected as a church leader. I saw that being a leader involved more work and concerns than screening articles, and that it also required more time and energy. This would mean that my opportunities to make money would keep decreasing. But this time, I was willing to prioritize my duties, and so I devoted myself to my duties. To my surprise, three months later, when I was handling my personal income tax refund on my phone, I saw that a refund of 20,000 yuan had been directly deposited into my account, which perfectly solved the issue of my mortgage for more than half a year. I truly experienced that when you submit to God’s orchestrations and arrangements and do the duty of a created being as best you can, God will open up a way so that you will be clothed and fed and able to live on.

Having gone through this experience, I’ve come to understand that material things like money, fame, and gain are entirely temporary, and that pursuing and gaining the truth is more precious, valuable, and meaningful. I am willing to devote more of my time and energy to my duties, and to seek to fulfill my duties to repay God’s love!