The Three Categories of People Based on Their Origins

The Characteristics of People Reincarnated From Humans

II. Discerning Right From Wrong and Knowing What’s Correct and What’s Incorrect

The content of our fellowship recently has been quite special. It has involved people’s origins, their essences, and their classifications. We have discussed the manifestations of three types of people, each with a different classification—being reincarnated from animals, being reincarnated from devils, and being reincarnated from humans. For most people, this has had some impact on their mood. How do most of you feel after having heard the fellowship in this aspect? Are there any among you who are unwilling to hear this content and say, “These matters don’t seem to be related to the truth. Is there any use in knowing about these things?” When new believers hear these words, are they likely to develop notions? Are they likely to become negative and weak? Regardless of how people feel after hearing these words—whether they develop notions or become negative and weak—in any case, fellowshipping these words is beneficial to people. It at least enables people to gain some insight and discernment, to understand the correct thoughts and views for conducting themselves, and to understand the basic principles of how to conduct themselves. It benefits people so much in terms of how to conduct themselves and how to live. In particular, it helps people know how to treat others according to principles. In this way, they will be able to cut down on doing many foolish things and take fewer detours. The content of our fellowship recently has involved people’s origins and their inner essence, and we concluded by talking about the manifestations possessed by those who are reincarnated from true humans. Those reincarnated from true humans mainly possess two characteristics. What are they? (Discerning right from wrong, and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect.) These are the two primary manifestations and characteristics that one’s humanity should possess. Broadly speaking, they are what we often refer to as conscience and reason. However, people often don’t know how to discern whether someone has conscience and reason, or whether a person truly has one or the other, whether their conscience and reason are normal, or whether they are the conscience and reason possessed by normal humanity. When people don’t understand these facts about normal humanity, their views on or understanding of conscience and reason are all very general, so we used two aspects of specific manifestations to explain what human conscience and reason are and to confirm whether a person has humanity. The first one is discerning right from wrong, and the second is knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect. We already fellowshipped on these two aspects twice. Discerning right from wrong and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect are qualities of humanity, lived-out aspects of humanity, and specific revelations and manifestations of humanity that humans possess. For these two aspects—discerning right from wrong and knowing what’s correct and what’s incorrect—I accordingly listed some real examples and discussed some specific manifestations of people within these two aspects, and had you discern whether or not they are manifestations of having humanity, and whether those who possess them are people who can discern right from wrong and know what’s correct and what’s incorrect. Regarding discerning right from wrong, we fellowshipped on some cases to dissect how people treat positive and negative things, and we also fellowshipped on how to discern negative things and non-human manifestations. Although I did not give more specific examples to tell you what positive things are and what negative things are, by dissecting and exposing some of people’s manifestations toward positive things in their daily lives, I showed how one should treat positive things and what attitudes one should have toward them. I also gave some examples to expose people’s attitudes and manifestations toward negative things, so that you can learn to discern what the nature of the attitudes and manifestations of these negative characters is, whether their humanity is true humanity or not, and what the essence of their humanity is. In our last two fellowships, we didn’t specifically explain what positive and negative things are, but judging from the facts that were exposed, shouldn’t you now be able to define positive and negative things? After having listened to the fellowship, have you tried to work out what exactly positive and negative things are? If, after listening to this specific content of the fellowship, you have a definition in your heart, knowing what positive things and what negative things are, and understand the truth in this regard, then you will know how to discern and treat positive and negative things, right? (Yes.)

C. How to Discern Positive Things From Negative Things

The Definition of Positive Things

What are positive things? Is this not an issue that should be understood? Perhaps you can give some examples of positive things, such as God’s righteous disposition, God’s loveliness, God’s work, God’s intentions for man, God’s requirements for man, as well as all the truths God has expressed to humankind, every detailed and specific truth principle contained within the truth—these are all positive things. You can give some specific examples of positive things, so can you give some specific examples of negative things? Is traditional culture a negative thing? (Yes.) Are evil trends negative things? (Yes.) Is pursuing an official career a negative thing? (Yes.) Is pursuing great wealth a negative thing? (Yes.) These are all negative things. What else? (That’s all I can think of.) You never ponder these things in your hearts; you are always zoning out. And yet, you usually feel that after believing in God and doing your duty for many years, having eaten and drunk many of God’s words, you have come to understand a great deal of the truth. Why, then, when it comes to specific matters, do you have no viewpoint? Where has all that you understood gone? If you are asked to use the truths you understand to dissect the essence of an issue and explain its essence clearly, and thus help people understand the truths involved and God’s intentions, so that they not only discern the negative things but also know what the positive things and the truth principles involved are, you come up with nothing, not knowing what to say. Isn’t this a manifestation of not understanding the truth? (Yes.) Then what are all those understandings you usually talk about? (Words and doctrines.) They are all words and doctrines. Some people, when writing spiritual devotion notes, find their thoughts flow like a spring, and they write as if divinely guided; they write in a highly structured manner, and move themselves to the point that their eyes well up and tears stream down their faces. However, when they’re asked to apply what they have written to real life to discern various people, see through various things, and resolve various problems, they are incapable of it. They understand many doctrines, but they just don’t understand the truth. As a result, they can’t see through any matter they encounter, and they can’t resolve any problem they discover. What is the use of them understanding so many doctrines? People who don’t understand the truth are so pitiable! Those arrogant and self-righteous people understand many doctrines yet cannot resolve any real problem. This is so pitiful. Getting back on track, let us continue our fellowship on what positive things are. This aspect of the truth must be made clear. If we make a general statement and say, “Everything that comes from God is a positive thing,” are these words correct? (Yes.) “Everything that comes from God is a positive thing” is a truth, but if you don’t understand what this statement specifically refers to or what the truth within it refers to, then what you understand is doctrine. If you have an appreciation and a true understanding of this statement in many matters, and can also communicate some details to substantiate your viewpoint, then your viewpoint has God’s words as its basis, and this proves you understand some of the truth. Many people say, “Everything that comes from God is a positive thing.” Theoretically, this statement is correct, and it is also one aspect of the truth. So, specifically, what are positive things? There should be a specific explanation for “Everything that comes from God is a positive thing.” What things, then, are positive things? Everything that comes from God is a positive thing: All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things. Is this explanation correct? Does this make it specific? (Yes.) This way, the statement “Everything that comes from God is a positive thing” doesn’t just stay on a theoretical level, but becomes a truth principle. Is putting it this way clear? (Yes.) Then read this sentence defining positive things. (All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.) How do you feel after reading this sentence? Has the definition or scope of positive things started to become clear in your hearts? (Yes.) Then read it again. (All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.) When you read words of truth, you must learn to read them slowly and to savor them carefully. You must learn to read them with measured cadence, reading them out seriously and solemnly at a comprehensible pace, so that after everyone has heard them, every word and sentence is engraved in their hearts and leaves a deep impression, and from then on, this statement becomes a basis and criterion of God’s words by which they measure a certain type of thing inwardly. How great that would be. Read it again. (All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.) That was still a bit fast. Tell Me, when reading God’s words, should you not be serious, and also pious? (Yes.) If you read God’s words as frivolously and quickly as you would an article by a nonbeliever, how would listeners feel? (They wouldn’t feel any piety.) Then, to read God’s words with piety, how should you read them? What should the pace be like? (We should read them seriously and earnestly, word by word, in a sonorous and powerful manner.) Correct. Then read it again, and strive to make it sonorous and powerful. (All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.) Now that this sentence has been read several times, you must have memorized it, right? (Yes.) This sentence emphasizes three things. What is the first? (What is created by God.) What is the second? (What is ordained by God.) And what is the third? (What is under God’s sovereignty.) And what are all of these things? (They are all positive things.) You’ve memorized it, right? (Yes.) Memorizing the truth and engraving it in one’s heart is incredibly beneficial for understanding all the truth principles, for discerning all kinds of people, events, and things, and for having the correct stance and viewpoint on them, and for being able to choose the right path and practice according to the truth principles to satisfy God.

All Things Created by God Are Positive Things

We just talked about what positive things are. All things and events within the scope of what is created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things. In that case, there are a vast number of positive things. First, all kinds of living and non-living things that God has created are positive things. Living things are life forms that are capable of action, that can breathe, and that possess vitality. No matter what their life structure is, or what the laws and rules of their life are, as long as they are created by God, as long as they come from God, they are positive things. Even if you don’t like them, even if they don’t accord with your notions, and even if they are of no benefit to people or can even cause them harm, as long as they are made by God and ordained by Him, they are positive things. But some people have notions about this. They believe that bad animals and animals that can harm people—like foxes, wolves, or man-eating beasts—are not positive things but negative things. This viewpoint goes against God’s desires and is completely and utterly wrong. In fact, whatever is created by God, so long as He does not condemn it, is a positive thing. People should not discriminate against it, nor should they condemn it and resort to killing or any other cruel means to deal with it because they find it repulsive. People should let it take its natural course. Even if you do not protect it, you should still leave it space to survive, and you should not do it harm, because it comes from God. This is the attitude that people should have toward all the various creatures made by God. As long as something is created by God, regardless of whether you like it or not, whether it is beautiful or ugly, whether it is friendly toward you or poses a threat, whether it is invisible to the naked eye or you can see it, whether it has an impact on your life, or what relationship it has with human survival, you should hold it and all such things in equal regard, treat them according to principles, and respect them; give them space to survive, respect their ways of survival and their laws of survival, and also respect all their activities. You should not harm them. At a minimum, you should be able to coexist with these creatures, and you should not interfere with one another. This is something that people should understand and apprehend, and it is, of course, even more so a principle that should be adhered to in how one treats various creatures; one should absolutely not approach them with notions that come from human will or even with impetuousness. This concludes our fellowship on matters related to all things created by God.