After hearing about these specific manifestations of the various abilities that are used to evaluate people’s caliber, you assess yourselves and find that at most you have just average caliber, not reaching the level of having good caliber. So, who are those who reach the level of good caliber? They are those used by the Holy Spirit. If God gives you good caliber, you must take on work that matches good caliber. If there is no need for you to take on such work, it’s already quite good that God has given you average caliber—this is God’s grace. If God gives you average caliber, you cannot do very major work, so you cannot become arrogant. This is a protection for you. With the average caliber given to you, you have no capital with which to boast, nor can you make any earthshaking contributions. You always need to think, “My caliber is average; I am not good in this area, nor in that area. I must be prudent and seek the truth principles in doing my duty.” When you feel that you are lacking in all aspects, you become much more well-behaved and much more rule-abiding, much more low-key. For example, regardless of what work you do, whether you are a supervisor or an ordinary member, if during a certain period your work goes relatively smoothly, bears some results, and the achievements are relatively outstanding, and you receive affirmation from the Above, what would your mindset be? (We would become smug, feel that we are good, and no longer easily seek the truth.) It would then become difficult for you to follow the rules and remain grounded in conducting yourself. This is a very dangerous temptation for you; this is not a good sign. However, because you are lacking or have defects in various abilities, and when doing work you either fail to consider one aspect or fail to anticipate or overlook and forget another, either getting pruned in regard to one aspect or facing setbacks and blows in another, in the depths of your heart, you constantly warn yourself: “I am not capable. My caliber is poor, and I do not understand the truth. I do not understand the principles.” In this way, you become very cautious in doing things, very afraid of making mistakes and being pruned, very afraid of disrupting and disturbing, and very afraid of creating loopholes in the work that result in losses. Because your abilities in various aspects are lacking or are all very average, your capability to be competent for work is also very average, and the work you do is very average. So you feel there is nothing to boast about—even if you do manage to achieve some hard-won results, you only achieve them after enduring a lot of hardship and exerting tremendous effort behind the scenes. You want to pretend that you are capable and quite good in front of others, but in your heart, you lack confidence. You know that no matter what you do, you cannot do it well, and still need the Above to vet it. In some things, only when faced with being pruned do you realize where you’re wrong, and see just how incredibly poor your caliber is. In this way, you will not be able to become arrogant. That is, there will always be someone with good caliber around you who surpasses you, and there will always be the truth and God’s required standards restraining you. You feel, “The little work I can accomplish is only because the Above vetted and decided it; it was only completed because the Above repeatedly examined, checked, and corrected it. I have nothing to boast about.” The next time you do something, you still think about showing off your skills, but you still fail to do it well and can never stand out. Precisely because your caliber and abilities are limited, the effects of doing your duties are always average, always failing to reach the level or standard you idealize. So, unconsciously, you continuously realize that you are not any sort of standout, any superior or extraordinary person. Gradually, you come to understand that your caliber is not as good as you imagined, but rather all too ordinary. This incremental process is very helpful for you to know yourself—you experience some failures and setbacks in a practical way, and after reflecting internally, you become more accurate in assessing your level, abilities, and caliber. You increasingly recognize that you are not a person of good caliber, that although you may have some strengths and gifts, a bit of ability to make judgments, or occasionally have some ideas or plans, you still fall short of the truth principles, far from God’s requirements and the standards of the truth, and even farther from the standard of possessing the truth reality—unconsciously, you have these judgments and assessments about yourself. In the process of judging and assessing yourself, your knowledge of yourself will become increasingly accurate, and your corrupt dispositions and revelations of corruption will become fewer and fewer, becoming more restrained and controlled. Of course, your corrupt dispositions being controlled is not the goal. What is the goal? The goal is that, as your corrupt dispositions are controlled, you gradually learn to seek the truth and conduct yourself in a well-behaved manner, not always trying to spout high-sounding ideas or show off your skills, not always striving competitively to be the best or the strongest, and not always trying to prove yourself. While this awareness continuously engraves itself deep within your heart, you will ponder, “I must seek what the truth principles for doing this are, and what God says about it.” This awareness will gradually be established deep within your heart, and your degree of seeking, acknowledging, and accepting God’s word and the truth will increasingly heighten, which for you signifies the hope of being saved. The more you can accept the truth, the less your corrupt dispositions will reveal themselves; an even better result is that you will have more opportunities to use God’s word as a standard for practice. Isn’t this gradually embarking on the path of salvation? Is this not a good thing? (Yes.) But if all your abilities are superior and perfect, and extraordinary among people, can you still seek the truth while handling matters and doing your duties? That’s hard to say. It is very difficult for someone with extraordinary abilities in all areas to come before God with a quiet heart or humble attitude to know themselves, knowing their defects and corrupt dispositions, and reach the point of seeking the truth, accepting the truth, and then practicing the truth. This is quite difficult to do, isn’t it? (Yes.)

People having average caliber contains God’s good intentions; people having too poor caliber also contains God’s good intentions. God, in wanting to save you, does not give you excessively good caliber. Why is that? God gives people various innate conditions, such as their family background, appearance, instincts, personality, and various life abilities. God even gives people certain strengths, interests, and hobbies, and also grants some people special gifts. This is sufficient. These are enough to sustain your personal survival. With these, you possess the ability and conditions to live independently and, on the basis of a certain level of caliber, you can accept God’s words, cast off your corrupt dispositions to varying degrees, and achieve being saved. This is why God does not give people excessively high caliber. God does not give people excessively good caliber. For one thing, this is so that people can, with this basic condition, remain a bit grounded, and that on the basis of feeling they are ordinary, average people, people with corrupt dispositions, they can willingly accept God’s work and God’s salvation. Only in this way do people have the basic condition to accept God’s words. For another thing, if people have very good caliber or exceptionally quick minds, with very strong abilities in all aspects, are all exceptional, having everything go smoothly for them in the world—making lots of money in business, having especially smooth political careers, operating effortlessly in all situations, feeling like a fish in water—then such people are not easily able to come before God and accept God’s salvation, right? (Right.) Most of those whom God saves do not hold high positions in the world or among people in society. Because their caliber and abilities are average or even poor, and they struggle to find popularity or success in the world, always feeling that the world is bleak and unfair, they have a need for faith, and ultimately, they come before God and enter into God’s house. This is a basic condition God gives people in choosing them. Only with this need can you have the desire to accept God’s salvation. If your conditions in all aspects are very good and suitable for striving in the world, and you always want to make a name for yourself, then you would not have the desire to accept God’s salvation, nor would you even have the opportunity to receive God’s salvation. Even though you may have average or poor caliber, you are still much more blessed than nonbelievers in having the opportunity to be saved by God. Therefore, having poor caliber is not your defect, nor is it an obstacle to your casting off corrupt dispositions and achieving salvation. In the final analysis, it is God who gave you this caliber. You have as much as God gives you. If God gives you good caliber, then you have good caliber. If God gives you average caliber, then your caliber is average. If God gives you poor caliber, then your caliber is poor. Once you understand this, you must accept it from God and be able to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements. Which truth forms the basis for submitting? It is that such arrangements by God contain God’s good intentions; God is painstakingly thoughtful, and people must not complain or misunderstand God’s heart. God will not hold you in high esteem because of your good caliber, nor will He disdain or detest you for your poor caliber. What is it that God detests? What God detests is people not loving or accepting the truth, people understanding the truth but not practicing it, people not doing what they are capable of doing, people not being able to give their all in their duties yet always having extravagant desires, always wanting status, always vying for position, and always making demands of Him. This is what God finds disgusting and detestable. You have poor caliber or no caliber to begin with, being unable to do any work, and yet you still always want to be a leader; you always vie for position and power, and always want God to give you a definitive answer, telling you that in the future you can enter the kingdom, receive blessings, and have a good destination. God choosing you is already an immense exaltation, yet you still want a mile when given an inch. God has given you what you should receive, and you have already gained much from God, yet you still make unreasonable demands. This is what God detests. Your caliber is very poor, or, you do not even reach human intelligence, yet God has not treated you like an animal but still treats you as a human being. Therefore, you should do what a human ought to do, say what a human ought to say, and accept everything God has given you as coming from Him. Whatever duty you can do, do it. Do not let God down. Do not want a mile when given an inch because God treats you as a human being, saying, “Since God treats me as a human, then He should give me better caliber, let me be a team head, a supervisor, or a leader. It would be best if He made it so I didn’t have to do any tiring work, so God’s house would provide for me for free, and so I wouldn’t need to exert effort or suffer fatigue, allowing me to do what I want.” These are all unreasonable demands. These are not the manifestations or the requests that a created being ought to have or put forth. God has not treated you according to your poor caliber but has instead chosen you and given you the opportunity to do your duty. This is God’s exaltation. You should not want a mile when given an inch and make unreasonable demands of God. Instead, you should thank God, and fulfill your duty to repay God’s love. This is God’s requirement of you. Your caliber is poor, but God has not made requirements of you according to the standards for those with good caliber. You lack caliber and intelligence, but God has not required that you achieve the standards that people with good caliber can reach. Whatever you are able to do, just do that. God does not force a fish to live on land. It is just that you yourself always have extravagant desires, and are always unwilling to be an ordinary person, an average person with poor caliber; it’s that you do not want to do these laborious tasks that don’t put you in the spotlight, and in doing your duty, you always dislike hardship and shy from exhaustion, picking and choosing what to do; you are always willful and always have your own plans and preferences—it is not that God has wronged you. So, how should people correctly approach their own caliber? For one thing, whatever caliber God gives you, you should accept it from God and submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangement. This is the most basic thought and viewpoint that people should possess. This viewpoint is correct, and it holds up in any situation. It is the truth principle that remains constant no matter how things change. For another thing, regardless of whether your caliber is good, average, poor, or nonexistent, you should do the work that your caliber can achieve. You should neither hold anything back nor seek to stand out. Regardless of whether your caliber is good or average, you can only do the things within the scope of your caliber and ability; there is nothing to boast about—that is what God has given you; you should offer it up. Your whole being, your breath, your innate conditions, and your abilities in all aspects of your caliber are given by God. The various truth principles you now understand are also provided by God. Without God’s work and without the various innate conditions God grants to people, humans are nothing but a handful of dust. Therefore, there is nothing for people to boast about. This is the second aspect. There is another aspect: Regardless of whether your caliber is average, poor, or nonexistent, you must approach it correctly. First, recognize which level your caliber belongs to, and then, based on your inherent caliber, do what you ought to do. Do not always try to go beyond your abilities and do things you cannot accomplish, always trying to prove yourself to people or to God. You cannot prove anything. The more you try to prove yourself in this way, the more it proves that your caliber is poor, that you do not know your own measure, and the more it proves that you are beyond reason and have a severely corrupt disposition. Do not try by all means to change your caliber or improve your abilities in all aspects, but rather accurately recognize and correctly approach your inherent caliber and abilities. If you discover where you are lacking, quickly study those areas in which you can achieve progress in a short time so as to make up for these areas. For those areas you cannot reach, do not force it. Act according to your actual situation; do things based on your own caliber and abilities. The ultimate principle is to do your duty according to God’s word, God’s requirements for humans, and the truth principles. No matter the level of your caliber, you can achieve varying degrees of acting and doing your duties according to the truth principles; you can meet or live up to God’s standards. These truth principles are absolutely not empty talk; they absolutely do not transcend humanity. They are all paths of practice tailor-made for created humankind’s corrupt dispositions, instincts, and various abilities and calibers. Therefore, no matter what your caliber is, no matter where your abilities are insufficient or flawed, it is not a problem; if you truly understand the truth and are willing to practice the truth, there will be a path forward. A person’s defects in certain aspects of caliber and abilities absolutely do not hinder their practice of the truth. If your ability to make judgments or some other ability is lacking, you can seek more and fellowship more—seek instruction and suggestions from those who understand the truth. When you understand and grasp the principles and paths of practice, you should put them into practice with all your effort based on your stature. Accepting and practicing—this is what you ought to do. Does My fellowshipping like this help you understand? (We understand a bit more.)

Why does God preordain people to have all sorts of calibers? Why does God not give people perfect caliber? How many aspects have we fellowshipped about concerning what God’s intentions in this regard are and how people should correctly approach it? Let us summarize them. The first aspect is to accept it from God. This is the most basic thought and viewpoint that people should possess. The second aspect is to recognize and assess what your caliber is, and act and do your duty based on your caliber and ability. Do not try to do things that exceed your caliber and ability. What you can do, do it conscientiously and in a down-to-earth manner, and do it well. What you cannot do, do not force yourself. What is the third aspect? (We mustn’t always wish to change our caliber. Even if our caliber is average, poor, or nonexistent, we must approach it correctly. We mustn’t always wish to prove ourselves to God that our caliber is good. This is inappropriate.) That’s right. Approach your caliber correctly. Do not complain. However much God has given you, that is what He will ask of you. What God has not given you, God does not demand of you. For example, if God has given you average caliber or poor caliber, He does not require you to be a leader, team head, or supervisor. However, if God has given you eloquence, the ability to express yourself, or a certain gift, and requires you to do work related to this gift, then you should do it well. Do not fail to live up to the conditions God has given you. You must live up to God’s bestowal, giving it full play and applying it well, applying it to positive things and producing valuable work results that benefit humankind. That would be excellent, wouldn’t it? (Yes.) Additionally, you must know that God has good intentions in giving people various calibers. Precisely because God wants to save you, He has not given you excessively good caliber. This contains God’s painstaking intention. God giving you average or poor caliber is a protection for you. If people had overly good or extraordinary caliber, it would be easy for them to follow the world and Satan, and they would not easily come to believe in God. Look at the standouts in various industries and fields in the world—what kind of people are they? They’re all sly masterminds, devils incarnate. If you ask them to believe in God, they think, “Believing in God leads nowhere—only incapable people believe in God!” People with excessively good caliber, great capabilities, and advanced tactics are taken captive by Satan. They live entirely by their corrupt dispositions and completely for the world. Such people are all devils incarnate. Tell Me, does God save such people? (No.) So, are you willing to be a devil incarnate, or are you willing to be an ordinary person, a person with poor caliber but who can receive God’s salvation? (We are willing to be ordinary people.) Of these two types of people, which is blessed? Those who prosper in the world, rise to prominence, have fame, become high officials or wealthy people, who have everything they want and endless money to spend—are you willing to be such people, or are you willing to come before God and be plain, ordinary people with average caliber? What is your choice? (To be plain, ordinary people.) If you choose to be a plain, ordinary person with average caliber, preferring not to enjoy a good material life in this life, not wanting to rise to prominence, having no sense of presence in this world, and being looked down upon by everyone, preferring to be this kind of person and cherish or gain the opportunity for salvation that God gives to people—if this is your choice, if you choose to be saved and choose not to follow this world, and in your heart you wish not to belong to this world but to belong to God, then you should not disdain the caliber God has given you. Even if your caliber is very poor or God has not given you any caliber, you should still gladly accept this fact and, with the inherent conditions of the various abilities God has given you, fulfill the duty of a created being. Another aspect is that even if the caliber God gives to people is not very good—just the caliber of ordinary people—and the abilities He gives them in all aspects are average or even poor, the most basic truths people should practice which God teaches people can still be achieved and attained to if they are willing to put their hearts into practicing them. Even if your caliber is very poor, and your comprehension ability, ability to accept things, ability to make judgments, and ability to identify things are very poor or even nonexistent, as long as you possess the most basic humanity and reason, the tasks and jobs that God entrusts to you can be completed and done well. Moreover, the most basic way of fearing God and shunning evil, which God requires of people, is something you can follow; it is something you can attain to and achieve. Therefore, God has never intended to give you very good caliber. If God gave you good caliber and some special abilities, enabling you to become a devil incarnate in the world, then God would not save you. Can you understand God’s heart in regard to this matter now? (Yes.) If you can understand God’s heart, that’s good; you will understand this truth and correctly approach your own caliber; there will be no more difficulties in this regard. From here, people should simply do what they ought to do. Even if it is just one job, put your heart and effort into doing it well and do not fail to live up to God’s expectations of you. Do you understand? (Yes.) That’s all for today’s fellowship on this topic. Goodbye!

November 11, 2023