Having a Bad Temper

Having a bad temper, being hot-tempered—what aspect does this belong to? (A defect of humanity.) Having a bad temper can also be called being hot-tempered—does this count as a defect of humanity? (No.) How should this be viewed? A person who has a good temper, hides their malice behind a smile, always speaks in a gentle and friendly manner, never argues with anyone, and always says what other people want to hear—is this good? (No.) If someone says that this person is crude, they say, “Being crude is good; crude people don’t cause trouble.” If someone says they are bald, they say, “Being bald is good; bald people are smart.” That is, no matter what others say or how others treat them, they never lose their temper or get angry—is this kind of person good? (No.) When it comes to which people they really like, what their thoughts and viewpoints are on good people and good things and evil people and evil things, and whether they approve of good people and detest evil people, or approve of evil people and detest good people, they have no clear viewpoints or stance on these things, and they do not comment on anything. Regardless of what matter they encounter, they always dismiss it with a smile, and they are especially agreeable and have no temper. Is this a merit of humanity? (No.) Having a good temper is not a merit of humanity, so is having a bad temper a defect of humanity? Can a person having a good or bad temper determine what their humanity is like? (No.) For example, some people see someone being perfunctory in their duty and do not care, they see someone disturbing the church’s work and do not feel outraged; and they even say, “It’s fine, you will improve—take your time. God has painstaking intentions for us; we must repay God’s love and His grace, and we cannot be perfunctory. Pay attention to this next time.” Do these people have a good temper? (Yes.) Some people, when they see someone not safeguarding the interests of God’s house, say, “Could you try to safeguard the interests of God’s house? It would be so great if you were considerate of God’s intentions. We must be good people—if we’re not good people, God will not like us. In the way we conduct ourselves, at the very least, we must safeguard the interests of God’s house—pay attention to this in the future.” Is a temper being shown in this? (No.) Their temper is quite good, right? Some people never get angry no matter what happens. When they see that some people often report false numbers to deceive the Above and God’s house while preaching the gospel, they say, “If the majority of people are reporting false numbers like this, then this is the stream of the Holy Spirit’s work—we must submit to it!” Someone refutes them, saying, “Reporting false numbers is lying and deceiving God; I cannot do that.” They reply, “Why not? Other people report false numbers, reporting only the good news and not the bad. Why are you being so foolish?” When they see people reporting false numbers, they feel happy. When they see some people sticking to the principles and refusing to report false numbers, they become angry and enraged, slam the table, and say, “Why aren’t you reporting false numbers? Do you want to go against the stream of the Holy Spirit? If you don’t report false numbers, I’ll dismiss you! I’ll clear you out!” What do you think of them losing their temper in this way? (It is bad.) This is an outburst of wicked anger. Not losing their temper when they should and losing it arbitrarily when they shouldn’t, calling evil things just, calling the reporting of false numbers the stream of the Holy Spirit and praising it so much, and even promoting it—isn’t this vile? (Yes.) When they see that someone refuses to report false numbers, they slam the table, get angry, and glare, wanting to dismiss them or clear them out—this is “thunderous fury!” The great red dragon has a “Thunder Operation”; that devil’s show of force is called a “Thunder Operation,” and this is the “thunderous fury” of these people. If you refuse to report false numbers, and they slam the table and unleash their thunderous fury against you, in such a situation, would you dare to stick to the principles, reporting only the real numbers and refusing to report false ones? Would you dare to stand up and criticize and expose them, saying: “You are forcing people to report false numbers—you are a devil! You even call following antichrists in reporting false numbers the stream of the Holy Spirit. Isn’t this blaspheming the Holy Spirit and blaspheming God? You do not distinguish right from wrong and you blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and yet you think of yourself as a just angel. You won’t allow anyone to go against your demand to report false numbers, and you even lose your temper. You have not the slightest sense of justice. Not only do you not expose and condemn evil things, but you also let your temper flare up massively at those who stick to the truth and refuse to report false numbers, even unleashing your ‘thunderous fury’ at them. Isn’t this deliberately disrupting and disturbing the work of God’s house? Isn’t this behavior of the same nature as what the great red dragon does?” So, looking again at whether having a bad temper really is a defect of humanity or a merit of humanity, this cannot be generalized. It depends on what situations cause a person to lose their temper and what situations do not, as well as why that person usually has a bad temper. It depends on what that person is pursuing, whether that person has principles for their self-conduct, and what exactly their attitude toward the truth is like, as well as their attitude toward God, God’s work, the interests of God’s house, and the church’s work. If, for the sake of upholding the truth principles, safeguarding the interests of God’s house, and safeguarding the work of God’s house, they consistently have a bad temper when facing various evil people, events, and things, then this is a merit of their humanity. But if they never get mad or angry when faced with various evil things or things that resist God, as though they have nothing to do with them, then this is not a defect of their humanity—this is bad humanity, a complete lack of a sense of justice, and of course it belongs to the category of corrupt dispositions. So, how should temper be viewed? A person having a good temper does not necessarily mean that their humanity is good, and a person having a bad temper does not necessarily mean that their humanity is bad—it depends on what their bad temper is directed toward. If their bad temper is directed toward things that are evil, dark, and do not align with the truth—if it is directed toward things that violate the principles of God’s house, harm the interests of God’s house, and disrupt and disturb the church’s work—and they frequently get angry and lose their temper due to feeling anxious, agitated, and worried about these things, then this is not bad humanity. This is being considerate of God’s intentions, this is a merit of humanity. Conversely, if, when faced with these negative things, they show no temper, do not step forward to safeguard the interests of God’s house or God’s testimony, and do not stick to the truth principles and step forward to stop or restrict these things, but instead allow these disruptions and disturbances to grow and spread unchecked, then although such people may appear to have a very good temper, in actuality, their character is vile. Isn’t this the case? (It is.) How should the issue of having a bad temper be viewed? It depends on what matters a person’s bad temper is directed toward; you should look at what that person’s character is like, what they pursue and what path they walk, and what attitude they have toward the truth, toward God, toward the work of God’s house, and toward the interests of God’s house. Is this way of viewing it accurate? (Yes.) If a person has no sense of justice but is hot-tempered, easily enraged, and very hotheaded when associating with people in their day-to-day life, frequently bristling with anger, and often arguing and going head-to-head with others over trivial matters, even using foul language, this is not a defect of humanity—this is vile character. Looking at it in terms of corrupt dispositions, this person’s disposition is vicious, and no one dares to provoke them. They do not lose their temper for the sake of safeguarding just causes, safeguarding positive things, upholding the truth principles, or safeguarding the interests and work of God’s house, but rather for the sake of safeguarding all of their own interests, their reputation, status, vanity, material possessions, money, and so forth. Such a person’s bad temper can be classed as vile character. A bad temper must be viewed based on the situation, considering what someone’s bad temper is directed toward and the intentions behind it. If, in order to safeguard their own interests or protect their reputation and status, they can really lose their temper and raise hell over a single remark, then their character is vile. If they are generally quite magnanimous when it comes to matters involving their personal interests—for example, when people occasionally make remarks that target them and hurt their pride a bit, or take advantage of them a bit, they usually let it slide and don’t lose their temper—if they do not fuss over little things and can be accommodating while associating with others, and yet they lose their temper when they see someone disrupting and disturbing the church’s work and causing harm to the interests of God’s house, then this is not bad character. Rather, it is the sense of justice that humanity ought to have; it is a merit of humanity.

Being Prone to Sulking

Being prone to sulking—what kind of problem does this belong to? (A defect of humanity.) This is a defect of humanity. What kind of people are prone to sulking? (Petty people.) Petty people, touchy people, and children are all prone to sulking. When they encounter some minor issue, they become angry at the drop of a hat, refuse to speak with you, refuse to see you, and won’t answer your phone. You unintentionally say something that hurts them, and they start sulking, ignoring you for a long time, and even when asked about this, they don’t say anything. You ask them, “What’s wrong? If there’s a problem, let’s resolve it. If I owe you something, I’ll make up for it. If something I said hurt you, I apologize, and I can do whatever you need me to do.” Yet they still remain silent, sulking. Aren’t such people troublesome? (Yes.) This is abnormal humanity. Problems related to humanity that do not rise to the level of issues concerning character all belong to defects of humanity. A defect means that something which should be present within normal humanity is lacking in someone—one’s attitude or manner in conducting oneself and handling matters is abnormal or immature and does not meet the standard of reason for normal humanity. This is a defect. Being prone to sulking, for one thing, irritates others, and they dislike interacting with such people. Additionally, being prone to sulking is childishly immature. Generally, only children around ten years old behave this way—adults do not have these manifestations. When such a person has a good relationship with you, the two of you are like two peas in a pod. But when things sour between you, they turn hostile, sulk, refuse to speak with you, return everything you gave them, and cut you off for good. Yet, who knows—one day they might reconcile and become as close as before. These are manifestations of immaturity. All of these manifestations of immaturity are referred to as defects of humanity. Being prone to sulking is a defect of humanity. People who are prone to sulking are most likely to delay things when doing a duty. You never know when they might go into a days-long sulk because someone said something that hurt them. No matter how important the duty is, they can stop without saying anything. You may think they are still normally doing their duty, but in actuality, they have already stopped their work long ago. Therefore, it is imperative to never assign important work to people who are prone to sulking, especially tasks in critical stages, as they are extremely willful, always emotional, and prone to sulking, lacking rationality, which easily leads to them abandoning their work during the course of doing their duty. If this work absolutely must be done by them or there is no one else to replace them, then when assigning them the work, you must have someone supervise their work. If there is someone else who can replace them, then relatively important work should not be assigned to them. For example, some people have a bit of caliber and can handle the work of a church leader, but when a brother or sister says something that hurts them, they go into a sulk: “I quit! You can let whoever you want be the leader. I’m going back home to live my life—I’m done with this!” Once they start sulking, they can give up their duty and leave, and who knows when they’ll come back. Are such people reliable? (No.) They take out their anger on their duty and the church’s work, giving up their duty at any time. Isn’t this a manifestation of immaturity? (Yes.) Treating their duty and the church’s work as if it’s a child’s game, like playing house—that is a manifestation of immaturity. When children play house, it’s just a game—if they get upset, they stop playing; it doesn’t delay anything. But treating church work or some duty like a child playing house, quitting whenever they want—doesn’t that delay things? This doesn’t just delay their own matters—if they are a church leader, the church’s work gets delayed by them. If they are doing an important duty, then that important duty gets delayed. Therefore, when selecting people to use, you must consider whether they have the problem of being prone to sulking. If they do have this problem, is it severe? How severe is it? Will they give up their work? When they sulk, will they go into a huff, go home, and stop doing their duty, refusing to return no matter who calls on them? People of this sort are very difficult to handle. Never use them—they are a prickly sort. Coaxing them doesn’t work, disciplining them doesn’t work, and no matter how you fellowship about the truth, they find it hard to accept. Only when they figure it out themselves and understand it on their own can they recover and revert to normal reason. Therefore, aside from having corrupt dispositions, if someone’s humanity also has many defects or flaws, then once they encounter something unpleasant, it can cause them to become so negative that they cannot recover. Even if they have some resolve and are willing to pursue the truth to attain salvation, and even if they have a mind to do their duty well and be up to standard as a created being, when difficulties or unpleasant situations arise, they can no longer move forward. Therefore, if a person wants to pursue the truth and do their duty well, they must seek the truth to resolve any defects or flaws that may exist in their humanity. If you do not possess a heart that has a tremendous desire for God or longs for the truth, and you are unwilling to overcome these defects of humanity or have insufficient resolve to do so, then the challenges you face will be numerous. If you cannot even change or surmount these personal defects, it will be even more difficult to cast off your corrupt disposition.

Loving to Take Advantage

Let’s now talk about “loving to take advantage”—what kind of problem is this? (A defect of humanity.) Is this a defect of humanity? Loving to take advantage is a problem of character. If someone takes advantage in every situation, even over something as small as a vegetable, a piece of paper, or a little water bottle, this is a problem with their character—their character is vile. This is not a defect of humanity. Do you understand? (Yes.) Such people have vile character and no integrity. When they shop at a store, they always try to haggle and ask for discounts. When they buy vegetables at the market, they argue endlessly over a few cents. When they stay at a hotel and see complimentary items like disposable towels, toothbrushes, and toothpaste, they take everything home without leaving a single item behind, afraid to miss out on anything. Some people say, “Do they love to take advantage because they’re poor?” No, this kind of person simply has this kind of character. Their family isn’t short of money, but they nevertheless insist on taking advantage. After believing in God, this kind of person even takes advantage of God’s house. Some people don’t eat at their own home but always go to the host home to freeload meals, pretending they’re there to help do things for the host home. They secretly use the belongings of the brothers and sisters. They avoid using their own things and always use others’ belongings. They don’t wear their own clothes and always wear someone else’s. When they see someone doing laundry, they ask them to wash a couple of items for them while they’re at it and end up giving them seven or eight pieces to wash—this is clearly taking advantage. They simply have this kind of character. Even though their family clearly has money, they still borrow money from the brothers and sisters. When asked when they will repay it, they say, “I’ll pay it back when I have money. If I don’t have money, how can I pay it back? I have no money—just my life!” What do these words mean? They clearly don’t want to repay and never intended to—they just want to take advantage, using other people’s money for their own enjoyment and to spend freely. This is their purpose. When they see someone has bought something new, they become very interested and constantly think about borrowing it. If the owner needs it and doesn’t want to lend it, they forcefully borrow it anyway. They use it until it’s old or broken and still don’t return it, treating it as if it were their own. This kind of person takes advantage everywhere, borrowing things and never returning them. Is this a defect of humanity? (No.) This is having no integrity and vile character. Have you ever seen this kind of person? (Yes.) There are quite a few of them. Tell Me, can this kind of person practice the truth? (No.) What kind of people are most of these individuals? Aren’t they scoundrels? No matter how much they take advantage of others, their conscience feels no self-accusation. Tell Me, do they have a conscience? (No.) What kind of person are those without a conscience? Let’s not say whether they are good people or evil people—at the very least, they lack the most basic standards and conditions of humanity required to practice the truth. We previously fellowshipped that to practice the truth, a person must at the very least possess a conscience. A person’s conscience includes a sense of shame. Do those who are always taking advantage of others without feeling any self-accusation in their conscience have a sense of shame? (No.) Can people without a sense of shame practice the truth? (No.) They commit evil without feeling anything and without any reproach from their conscience. Therefore, doing just deeds and walking the right path holds no appeal for them because their humanity has no need for such things. What are their needs? Their need is to protect their own interests from any loss while also taking others’ interests and using them to serve themselves. Their humanity has no sense of reproach or self-accusation for such behavior, nor any sense of shame. Therefore, it is very difficult for this kind of person to practice the truth. Their creed for conducting themselves is: Anything beneficial to themselves, whether in material terms or in a psychological sense, must not be given up in the slightest. As for others’ good and valuable things, they always want to own, seize, or even forcibly take possession of them. Once they have the opportunity, they will seize others’ good things for themselves. They absolutely cannot allow themselves to miss the opportunity, and if they do miss it, they will regret it for a lifetime. This is their creed in how they conduct themselves. Because they are governed by this creed, they feel justified and at ease when taking advantage of others and claiming others’ benefits as their own, feeling a great sense of accomplishment. If they fail to take advantage or miss an opportunity to do so, they feel that they’ve failed and think of themselves as foolish. When they take advantage, they feel good, delighted, and at peace. But when they see an opportunity to take advantage and don’t, they feel upset and unsettled: “If I don’t take this advantage, it’s a waste. If someone else takes it, won’t I be the one losing out?” Look at that—can someone governed by this creed try to be a good person? (No.) When practicing the truth, people need to let go of many things, such as their cherished sense of pride, status, and other psychological things, as well as some material things. All of these involve personal interests, and practicing the truth requires people to rebel against, overcome, cast off, and let go of these things. People who love to take advantage can’t do any of this at all. They can’t let go of their pride or status, and they are even less capable of giving up any material interests. When practicing the truth, they can’t do any of it. So, can they practice the truth? (No.) Therefore, it is extremely difficult for them to practice the truth. They want to possess all the psychological and material good things for themselves and can never let them go, which directly conflicts with and goes against the principles of practicing the truth. That’s why they cannot put the truth into practice. Just look at those who especially love to take advantage—how far do they go? When visiting someone’s home, they even make sure to drink some of their water and eat some of their food before leaving. Tell Me, can people with this kind of character practice the truth? (No.) Their standard for measuring everything is based on the principle of whether they can take advantage and gain benefits. Personal gain is the principle by which they measure everything. Their self-conduct is focused solely on taking advantage of others. As long as they don’t suffer losses and can take advantage, they feel it’s worthwhile. They believe that in conducting oneself, one must be able to take advantage, and that one is only intelligent and shrewd if they have frequently taken advantage—if someone doesn’t know how to take advantage, that person is foolish! Their standard for self-conduct is to only take advantage and never take any losses. They take this approach as their standard for conducting themselves—can they practice the truth? (No.) Does the truth have any place in their hearts? Can it hold power in their hearts? (No.) Then what truths can they practice? (None at all.) They cannot practice any truths at all—their character is too low, causing others to despise them. Some people do duty in God’s house; God’s house provides some items to them for daily use, and they frequently request more using the excuse that they’ve run out, when actually they still have some left. Why do they always request more? They think, “If I don’t take advantage of this and someone else does, won’t I be the one losing out?” Look at that—what kind of character is this? The standard this kind of person uses for measuring everything is based on the principle of whether they can take advantage and gain benefits. Their hearts are entirely consumed by thoughts of interests. No matter how you fellowship with them about positive things or the truth, they refuse to accept it, which has nothing to do with their caliber or whether they can understand—it’s that their creed in how they conduct themselves is problematic. They absolutely won’t accept or practice positive things, nor adhere to the truth principles. Their character is extremely low. Tell Me, is it necessary to fellowship about the truth with this kind of person? (No.) Why not? (Because they will never practice the truth.) They lack a sense of conscience in their humanity and do not possess the basic conditions for practicing the truth. Their hearts are focused solely on taking advantage and gaining benefits. It can be said that this kind of person is simply unworthy of hearing the truth and unworthy of listening to sermons about attaining salvation. See, you didn’t fully understand what kind of problem loving to take advantage is, did you? You even thought it was a defect of humanity. Is it a defect of humanity? (No.) You understand now, don’t you? What kind of problem is it? (It’s a problem of character—this kind of person is of low character.)