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

C. How to Discern Positive Things From Negative Things

Regarding the topic of positive things, last time we fellowshipped on what positive things are and gave them a definition. What are positive things? (All things created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.) You have remembered the definition of positive things, but can you grasp the examples that were given? (We can grasp them to some extent.) This definition, this concept of positive things—is it a truth? (It is a truth.) Are you certain? When reading God’s words, you feel that this definition is a truth and is accurate, but when you encounter something that does not align with your notions, you can’t make sense of it and won’t accept the truth. Regardless of whether something is viewed as a positive or a negative thing according to people’s notions, in short, as long as it’s not what God defines as a positive thing, then it is not a positive thing but a negative thing. Are you able to discern things in this way? (Yes. If God has defined something as a positive thing, and this doesn’t align with my own notions and I can’t wrap my head around it—but I know that what God says is definitely the truth—then I will learn to deny myself.) If this thing causes you harm, or even causes harm to all people—according to people’s notions it does not benefit them and doesn’t bring any happiness or enjoyment, instead causing pain and misfortune—then how will you view it? Will you still hold to your view that “God’s definition of positive things is indeed accurate; people cannot make assessments with their notions, nor can they assess something based on whether they benefit from it”? You can’t be certain about this, can you? (We can’t.) Any aspect of the truth doesn’t merely make sense or hold water on the level of doctrine; rather, in real life, in the face of all the facts, it is an eternally unchanging statement. If you cannot be certain of this, then in your heart, your concept of the truth is actually vague. The various aspects of the truth that we fellowship on all involve viewpoints on various people, events, and things; they involve the essence and real circumstances of various people, events, and things, and they also allow people to see how God treats these people, events, and things—what His viewpoints and attitudes regarding them are. Since the definition of positive things is a truth, then it of course also involves the real circumstances and essence of the various people, events, and things covered by the scope of this definition, while also involving God’s attitudes, perspectives, and statements regarding these various things. So, regardless of whether, according to their notions, people think the definition of positive things is right or wrong, and regardless of what people’s initial perspective on the definition of positive things is within the context of their traditional culture or their daily lives, in short, since this definition of positive things is a truth, then the people, events, and things it covers are all positive things, and those that are contrary to it are all negative things. This is certain beyond all doubt. You must have a clear understanding of this matter. Regardless of when or in what social environment, and regardless of the impact a positive thing has on you or what your attitude and perspective regarding it are, the definition of positive things and the essence of the people, events, and things covered by that definition are unchanging. Understand? (Yes.)

Last time, we mainly fellowshipped on a few specific examples concerning the statement “all things ordained by God or under God’s sovereignty are positive things.” We didn’t fellowship in much detail about the part stating, “all things created by God are positive things.” So, are you able to confirm that this statement is correct through fellowship or through the truths you have understood over the years? Or, are you able to verify that all things created by God are positive things based on the people, events, and things you have seen and experienced in life? Are you able to grasp things this way? Are you able to seek the truth like this? (We can grasp some simpler things this way.) There is a principle here. Looking at it on the surface level, the topics of what is created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty cover a very broad scope and are highly abstract, but in fact, they are closely linked to the various people, events, and things that people come into contact with in real life—it also could be said they’re intimately connected; they are not detached from reality. This relates to an issue. When you face many unexpected people, events, and things in your life, you can’t determine whether they are positive things or negative things. Even if you understand the doctrine for discerning positive and negative things, you still can’t determine it. Even if they are types of things that are encompassed by positive things, you do not acknowledge them as positive things within your notions, and you are repelled by them and detest them in your heart, and even think they are utterly unworthy of being listed within the scope of positive things, and yet they are indeed created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty, and they belong to the category of positive things. This is when the principles of practice for how people should face these types of things come into play. The simplest principle of practice is this: First, you must be sure that the thing in question is a type of thing covered by the definition of positive things. Although going by people’s notions it doesn’t seem like a positive thing, if it is something within the category of positive things defined by God, then first of all, you must be sure that it is a positive thing, and that there is absolutely no mistake about it. There is significance in God’s creation of it; it is for people to learn some lessons from it. It is necessary to be certain of this. This is one principle of practice. Second, regarding this thing or this kind of matter, we don’t need to be like scientists and study its nature or function, or what role it plays in human life or in the entire food chain. Just being certain that it is a positive thing is enough. Some people say, “If this positive thing often appears in people’s lives and interferes with their lives, affecting their view that it’s positive, then how should it be treated?” That’s easy to handle. If you need to use it in your life, then use it as needed; let it serve you. If you don’t need to use it, and it often interferes with you or disturbs any of your physical senses, then you can drive it away and stay away from it. Just don’t let it interfere with you or cause you physical pain. This is the second principle. Also, you must know that if it comes from God’s creation, God’s ordination, or God’s sovereignty, then you should not find it repulsive, detest it, or deny it. Instead, you should accept it and acknowledge it. What’s even better is to manage it and make use of it in a reasonable way. These are the principles of practice, three in total. What are these three principles? (The first is that, as long as something is within the scope of positive things defined by God, we must be sure it’s a positive thing. There is significance in God’s creation of it; it is for people to learn some lessons from it. The second is, on the basis of being sure that it is a positive thing, we use it if needed. If we don’t need to use it, and it interferes with our lives, then we can drive it away and stay away from it, not letting it interfere with our lives. The third is, if it’s created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty, we should not find it repulsive or detest it; we should accept it and acknowledge it. What’s even better is to be able to manage it and make use of it in a reasonable way.) Are these three principles easy to apply? They’re not so easy, are they? (No.) If a mosquito is buzzing in your ear, you will drive it away, thinking to yourself, “All that God has created is good; I’ll just shoo it away and be done with it”—you will be able to act according to these three principles. But if you drive it away and it comes right back and bites you, the more you think about it, the angrier you will get: “I let you go, but you won’t leave me alone. This time, I’m definitely going to swat you!” Is swatting it the correct thing to do? Actually, swatting it isn’t wrong; this can be considered appropriate management. But at the same time, won’t you also start to doubt the fact that mosquitoes are positive things? Especially when the welt from its bite gets itchier and itchier, so itchy that it’s unbearable, you’ll think to yourself: “What’s the use of God creating mosquitoes? Would people suffer this harm if there were no mosquitoes? This sure doesn’t seem like a positive thing!” Your rationality will tell you that thinking this way is wrong, that a mosquito is a positive thing because it is a tiny creature within the scope of positive things created by God. But you still can’t make sense of it: “It doesn’t benefit people, so why did God create it?” Although the welt from a mosquito bite isn’t large, the itchiness is awful. For those with allergies, scratching it can lead to redness and swelling, and even infection and fever. At this point, you will develop notions and find it hard to accept: “Mosquitoes don’t seem like positive things to me. If they were, how could they interfere with people and cause them pain? Shouldn’t positive things have positive effects? This effect isn’t positive; they are playing a negative role and having a negative effect on people. How can mosquitoes be placed in the category of positive things? It’s inconceivable. What God has done doesn’t align with my notions!” In your heart, you will develop notions about mosquitoes being positive things. Out loud you say, “First of all, you can’t deny that mosquitoes are positive things. Secondly, if you don’t want them to interfere with you, you can drive them away and stay away from them. Finally, you shouldn’t find them repulsive or detest them, but should accept them, acknowledge them, and manage them in a reasonable way.” Although you will say that, this last principle is very difficult for you to apply. It’s fairly easy for you to accept beneficial insects. When it comes to mosquitoes, however, if you were to try to accept them, manage them reasonably, and not curse them, can you do this? (Before God’s fellowship, sometimes when I was in a bad mood and got bitten by a mosquito, I would feel particularly repulsed and say some bad things. In the future, I’ll try my best to avoid this and not say those things anymore.) You should not curse them; you should accept them, treat them correctly, and manage them in a reasonable way. This part about reasonable management is very difficult to apply, isn’t it? (Yes.) If you were to acknowledge and accept them verbally and doctrinally, that would be somewhat easy to do. If they hurt you, you could also stay away from them and avoid them. But to get you to accept them and acknowledge them from your heart, to treat them correctly, and, moreover, to manage them in a reasonable way—this would be difficult for you to do. Why would it be difficult? Because when they hurt you, you don’t feel that you are benefiting from them, but that you are being harmed by them. That is, according to your notions, positive things should have a positive effect, but rather than receiving any positive benefit from mosquitoes, you feel they have had a negative effect on you. At this point, for you to not find them repulsive or detestable, but to accept them and even manage them in a reasonable way, would not be easy to do. Although people can accept that mosquitoes are positive things on the level of doctrine, and they can also barely manage to treat mosquitoes correctly, when they’re disturbed by mosquitoes in real life, it’s very difficult for them to treat them according to the principles. This requires people to understand the truth, to understand the nature of the many specific people, events, and things involved under the three aspects covered by positive things—those that are “created by God, ordained by God, or under God’s sovereignty”—as well as what kind of roles they play in human life and survival, and what God’s original purpose was in creating them and giving them their way of life. These are the things people need to understand. If people understand God’s original purpose and the general thrust of His intentions and the fundamental principles, then for some positive things that do not align with their notions, perhaps in addition to staying away from them, they can also—to varying degrees—come to accept them, acknowledge them, manage them reasonably, and make use of them correctly. We’ll discuss this topic gradually.