Words on Performing a Duty (Excerpt 30)
What is a duty? The commission that God entrusts to man is the duty that man should perform. Whatever He entrusts to you is the duty you should perform. To perform your duty, you must learn to keep both feet on the ground and not reach for what is beyond your grasp. Do not always think the grass is greener on the other side and insist on doing what is not suitable for you. Some people are suited to hosting, yet they insist on being leaders; others are suited to be actors, but they want to be directors. It is not good to always strive for higher positions. One must find and pinpoint their own role and position—that is what a person with reason does. Then they should perform their duty well with a firmly grounded attitude to repay God’s love and satisfy Him. If one has this attitude while performing their duty, their heart will be steady and at peace, they will be able to accept the truth in their duty, and they will gradually come to perform their duty in accordance with God’s requirements. They will be able to cast off their corrupt dispositions, submit to all of God’s arrangements, and perform their duty adequately. This is the way to gain God’s approval. If you can truly expend yourself for God and perform your duty with the correct mindset, a mindset of loving and satisfying Him, you will be led and guided by the work of the Holy Spirit, you will be willing to practice the truth and act in accordance with the principles while performing your duty, and you will become a person who fears God and shuns evil. In this way, you will fully live out true human likeness. People’s lives gradually grow as they perform their duties. Those who do not perform duties cannot obtain the truth and the life, no matter how many years they believe, because they lack God’s blessing. God only blesses those who truly expend themselves for Him and perform their duties to the best of their ability. Whatever duty you perform, whatever you can do, consider it your responsibility and your duty, accept it and do it well. How do you do it well? By doing it exactly as God demands—with all your heart, with all your mind, and with all your strength. You should contemplate these words and consider how you can perform your duty with all your heart. For example, if you see someone performing their duty without principles, doing it carelessly and according to their own will, and you think to yourself, “I don’t care, it’s not my responsibility,” is this doing your duty with all your heart? No, it is being irresponsible. If you are a responsible person, when such a situation befalls you, you will say, “This won’t do. It may not be under the scope of my supervision, but I can report this issue to the leader and have them handle it in accordance with the principles.” After doing so, everyone will see that it was appropriate, your heart will be at ease, and you will have fulfilled your responsibility. Then you will have done your duty with all your heart. If, no matter which duty you are performing, you are always inattentive, and you say, “If I do this work in a simple and cursory way, I can get by with just muddling through it. After all, no one will check it. I’ve done the best I can with the limited abilities and professional skills that I have. It’s good enough just to get by. Besides, no one will ask about it or get serious with me—it’s not that important.” Is having this intent and this mindset performing your duty with all your heart? No, this is being perfunctory, and it is a revelation of your satanic, corrupt disposition. Can you perform your duty with all your heart by relying on your satanic disposition? No, that would not be possible. So, what does it mean to do your duty with all your heart? You will say: “Even though the Above has not inquired about this task, and it doesn’t seem very important among all of the work of God’s house, I will still do it well—it is my duty. Whether a task is important or not is one thing; whether I can do it well or not is another.” What is important? Whether or not you can perform your duty well and with all your heart, and whether you can adhere to the principles and practice in accordance with the truth. This is what is important. If you can practice the truth and do things in accordance with the principles, then you are truly performing your duty with all your heart. If you have performed one kind of duty well, but you are still not satisfied and wish to perform an even more important type of duty, and you are capable of performing it well, then this is doing your duty with all your heart to an even greater degree. So, if you are able to do your duty with all your heart, what does this imply? In one respect, it means that you are doing your duty in accordance with the principles of God’s words. In another respect, it means that you have accepted God’s scrutiny and have God in your heart; it means that you are not doing your duty merely for show, or however you please, or according to your own preferences—instead you are regarding it as a commission entrusted to you by God and you are doing it with that responsibility and heart, not according to your own will but entirely according to God’s requirements. You are putting your whole heart into your duty—this is performing your duty with all your heart. Some people do not understand the truths about performing duties. When some hardship befalls them, they complain, and they always make a fuss about their personal interests, gains, and losses. They think, “If I perform the work given to me by the leader well, it will bring them honor and glory, but who will remember me? No one will know that I did the work, and the leader will get all the credit for it. Isn’t performing my duty in this way serving others?” What kind of disposition is this? It is rebelliousness—these people are absurd types. They do not understand God’s commission in the correct way. They always want to be in positions of authority, to take credit and be rewarded, and to make themselves look good. Why do they always focus on fame and gain? It shows that their desire for fame and gain is too strong, and that they do not understand that performing a duty is about satisfying God, or that God scrutinizes the depths of every person’s heart. These people lack true faith in God, so they pass verdicts based on the facts that they can see with their own eyes, which leads to them forming erroneous views. Consequently, they become negative and passive in their work and unable to perform their duties with all their hearts and all their strength. Because they lack true faith and they do not know that God scrutinizes the depths of people’s hearts, they focus on performing their duties for others to see, on making the sufferings and hardships they endure known to others, and seeking praise and approval from the leaders and workers. They think that performing a duty is only worthwhile if they do it in this manner, and only glorious if everyone sees them do it. Is this not vile? They believe in God, but not only do they have no faith, they also do not accept or understand the truth to any degree. How can people like this perform a duty well? Is there not a problem with their disposition? If you try to fellowship about the truth with them and they still do not accept it, then they have an evil disposition. They fail to attend to their proper responsibilities and they do not hold to their duties. Sooner or later, they must be eliminated. Those who perform duties must be people with normal humanity. They must have sound reason and they must be able to submit to all of God’s arrangements and orchestrations. God bestows different calibers and gifts on different people, and different people are best suited to perform different duties. You must not be picky and choose a duty based on your preferences, choosing only to perform comfortable, easy duties that line up with your own wishes. This is wrong. This is not doing a duty with all your heart and this is not performing a duty. In order to perform a duty the first thing you must do is put all your heart into it. Next, regardless of what you are doing, whether it be a big task or a small one, a dirty one or a tiring one, a task that is done in front of other people or one that is done out of sight, an important task or an unimportant one, you should regard them all as your duty and adhere to the principle of doing them with all your heart, all your mind, and all your strength. If, after performing your duty, you end up feeling that your conscience is not completely clear regarding some of the work that you have done, and that even though you have put all your heart into it, some of your work has not been done well and the results of your efforts are not very good, what should you do? Some people think, “Well, I’ve put all my heart into my duty, but the results were not very good. It’s not my problem. It’s in God’s hands now.” What kind of view is this? Is it the right view? They are not truly expending themselves for God because they are unwilling to seek the truth to resolve problems; they are unwilling to satisfy God and they still have a perfunctory perspective on their duty. These kinds of people, it seems, have no heart. When we speak of doing your duty with all your heart, it means using your entire heart—you cannot do your duty half-heartedly, you should devote yourself, perform your duty attentively, and show your loyalty, adopting a responsible attitude to ensure that tasks are done well, achieving the results that you ought to achieve. Only then can this be called performing a duty with all one’s heart. If you see that the results of your work are not so good and you think to yourself, “I’ve done my best. I’ve sacrificed sleep, skipped meals, and stayed up late, sometimes remaining behind while others have gone out to relax and take a stroll. I have endured hardships and not been greedy for the comforts of the flesh. That means that I’ve done my duty with all my heart.” Is this view right? You have invested your time and you have exerted effort. On the surface, you seem to have gone through all of these motions, but the results that you have gotten are not good, and you do not accept responsibility for this and you do not care. Is this doing your duty with all your heart? (No.) This is not doing your duty with all your heart. When God determines whether a person is doing something with all their heart, what does He look at? In one respect, He looks at whether you approach that thing with a conscientious and responsible attitude. In another respect, He looks at what you are thinking while you do it, whether you are attentively performing the duty you should perform, and whether you are consistently doing it in accordance with the truth principles, and whether, when hardship befalls you, you are intently seeking the truth to resolve problems so that you can perform your duty well. As humans do things, God watches and scrutinizes. He is observing their hearts the whole time. Although people do not know it, they can sometimes sense His scrutiny. Some people are always perfunctory in their duties, and eventually, God arranges an environment to reveal them. At that point, they sense His abandonment, and everyone sees that they do not resemble believers—that they resemble unbelievers, devils, and Satans. These kinds of people are eliminated during the performance of their duties. Some people often reflect on themselves while performing duties. Sometimes, the results that they get are not good, or a problem arises, and they can feel it in their hearts, and they think, “Am I being perfunctory again?” They feel reproached. How does this come about? It is brought about by God, it is the Holy Spirit’s enlightenment. So, why is God enlightening you? Upon what basis is He enlightening you? Within what context is He reproaching you? You must have the right mindset and say, “I must do my duty with all my heart, and that means doing it in accordance with the truth. Have I truly done my duty with all my heart?” If you always ponder on this, God will enlighten you and make you understand, “I didn’t do that task with all my heart. I thought I was doing quite well, I would have scored myself 99 out of 100. But now I see that’s not really the case—I was actually barely adequate.” Only then will you discover God’s dissatisfaction. This is God enlightening you and allowing you to understand how well you actually perform your duty and how far you still are from His requirements. If someone falls far below the minimum standards in the performance of their duty, will God still enlighten them? Probably not. Who does God enlighten? Firstly, those who love the truth; secondly, those with an attitude of submission; thirdly, those who long for the truth; and fourthly, those who examine and reflect on themselves in all respects. These are the kinds of people who can gain God’s enlightenment. By practicing and experiencing in this way, your personal experience of doing your duty with all your heart—this aspect of the practice of the truth and this aspect of reality—will grow ever greater. Gradually, you will become clear on which people do their duties with all their hearts and which do not, and the attitudes and behaviors of various individuals toward performing duties. When you know yourself, you will be able to discern others, and you will become more and more meticulous in your duty. The slightest instance of being perfunctory will not escape your notice, and you will be able to seek the truth to resolve it. You will be able to handle things in accordance with the principles while performing your duty, you will be practicing the truth more and more, and your heart will be steady and at peace. If one day you know in your heart that you have not performed a duty well, what should you do? You must ponder on it, look for information, and seek advice from others, then before you know it, you will gain an understanding of the matter. Will this not assist you in the performance of your duty? (Yes.) It will be helpful. This will be the case no matter what duty you are performing. So long as people do their duties with all their hearts, seek the truth principles, and persevere in their efforts, they will ultimately achieve results.
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