What is going on, when some people are too lacking in professional knowledge to perform their duties, and it is very difficult for them to learn anything? It is because they are of poor caliber. The truth is beyond reach for people of excessively low caliber, and they do not learn easily. Most of them have fatal shortcomings; not only do they not have a conscience or reason, but they also do not have a place for God in their hearts. Their eyes are lifeless and dull and they’re in a stupor, just like animals. They only know how to eat, drink, and have fun, and they don’t study or have any skills. They only learn things on a superficial level, and think that they’ve understood when they’ve only just scratched the surface. When others try to explain more, they refuse to listen, believing that it’s unnecessary. They don’t listen to or accept anything others say, and as a result, they can’t accomplish anything and are basically useless. Being of poor caliber itself is fatal. If one also has a bad disposition, lacks morality, doesn’t listen to advice, can’t accept positive things, and is unwilling to learn and embrace new things, such a person is useless! Those who perform their duties must possess a conscience and reason, know their own measure and their own shortcomings, and understand what they lack and need to improve. They must always feel they are lacking so much, and that if they don’t study and accept new things, they may be eliminated. If they have a sense of impending crisis in their heart, it gives them motivation and a willingness to learn things. In one aspect, one should equip themselves with truths, and in another aspect, they should acquire professional knowledge related to performing their duties. By practicing this way, they can make progress, and performing their duties will yield good results. Only by doing one’s duties well and living out the semblance of humanity can one’s life have value, so performing one’s duties is the most meaningful thing. Some people have a bad disposition, and are not only ignorant but also arrogant. They always think that seeking in regard to all things and always listening to others will make others look down on them, and make them lose face, and that comporting oneself in this way lacks dignity. In reality, it’s the opposite. Being arrogant and self-righteous, not learning anything, lagging behind and being outdated in everything, and lacking knowledge, insight, and ideas is what’s truly embarrassing, and this is when one loses integrity and dignity. Some people can’t do anything well, have a rudimentary understanding of everything they learn, are satisfied with understanding just a few doctrines, and think they’re competent. But they still can’t accomplish anything, and they have no tangible results. If you tell them that they don’t understand anything and have accomplished nothing, they are unconvinced and persistently argue their point. But when they’re doing things, they do them poorly, and are half-baked. Is one not useless if one cannot handle any task well? Is one not good-for-nothing? People of excessively low caliber cannot handle even the simplest tasks. They are good-for-nothings and their lives have no value. Some people say, “I grew up in the countryside, without education or knowledge, and my caliber is poor, unlike you people who live in the city, and are educated and knowledgeable, so you can excel in everything.” Is this statement correct? (No.) What’s incorrect about it? (Whether a person can achieve things has nothing to do with their environment; it primarily depends on whether a person makes an effort to learn and improve themselves.) How God treats people does not hinge on how educated they are, or what kind of environment they were born in, or how talented they are. Rather, He treats people based on their attitude toward the truth. What is this attitude related to? It is related to their humanity, and also to their dispositions. If you believe in God you must be able to handle the truth correctly. If you have an attitude of humility and acceptance of the truth, then even if you are of slightly poor caliber, God will still enlighten you and allow you to gain something. If you are of good caliber but are always arrogant and self-righteous, thinking that whatever you say is right and whatever others say is wrong, refusing whatever suggestions others propose, and even unaccepting of the truth, however it is fellowshipped about, and always resisting it, then can such a person as you gain God’s approval? Will the Holy Spirit work on such a person as you? He will not. God will say that you have a bad disposition and are not worthy of receiving His enlightenment, and if you do not repent, He will even take away what you once had. This is what it is to be revealed. People like this lead pathetic lives. They are clearly nothing, and inept at everything, yet they still think they are pretty good, and are better than everyone else in all respects. They never discuss their flaws or shortcomings in front of others, nor their weaknesses and negativity. They are always feigning competence and giving others a false impression, making others think they are adept at everything, devoid of weaknesses, do not need any help, have no need to listen to others’ opinions, and do not need to learn from the strengths of others to make up for their own shortcomings, and that they will always be better than everyone else. What kind of disposition is this? (Arrogance.) Such arrogance. People like this lead pathetic lives! Are they actually capable? Can they actually accomplish things? They messed up many things in the past, and yet people like this still think they can do anything. Isn’t that so unreasonable? When people lack reason to such an extent, they are muddleheaded people. Such people don’t learn new things or accept new things. Inside they are dried up, narrow-minded, and impoverished, and regardless of the situation, they fail to figure out and grasp principles or understand God’s intentions, and only know to stick to regulations, speak words and doctrines, and show off in front of others. The upshot is that they have no understanding of any truth and haven’t the slightest bit of truth reality, yet they remain so arrogant. They are simply muddleheaded people, and are utterly impervious to reason, and they can only be eliminated.

When you are cooperating with others to perform your duties, are you able to be open to differing opinions? Are you able to let others speak? (I am, a little. Before, a lot of the time I wouldn’t listen to the suggestions of the brothers and sisters and would insist on doing things my own way. Only later, when the facts proved I was wrong, did I see that most of their suggestions had been correct, that it was the resolution that everyone discussed that was actually suitable, and that by relying on my own views I was unable to see things clearly and that I was lacking. After experiencing this, I realized how important harmonious cooperation is.) And what can you see from this? After experiencing this, did you receive some benefit, and understand the truth? Do you think anyone is perfect? No matter how strong people are, or how capable and talented, they still are not perfect. People must recognize this, it is fact, and it is the attitude that people should have to correctly approach their own merits and strengths or faults; this is the rationality that people should possess. With such rationality, you can properly deal with your own strengths and weaknesses as well as those of others, and this will enable you to work alongside them harmoniously. If you have understood this aspect of the truth and can enter this aspect of the truth reality, then you can get along harmoniously with your brothers and sisters, drawing on their strong points to offset any weaknesses you have. In this way, no matter what duty you are performing or what you are doing, you will always get better at it and have God’s blessing. If you always think you are pretty good and that others are worse by comparison, and if you always want to have the final say, then this will be troublesome. This is a problem of disposition. Are such people not arrogant and self-righteous? Imagine someone gives you good advice, but you think that if you accept it they might look down on you, and think you are not as good as them. So, you just decide not to listen to them. Instead, you try to overshadow them with lofty and high-sounding words to make them hold you in high regard. If you always interact with people in this way, can you cooperate with them in harmony? Not only will you fail to achieve harmony, but there will also be negative consequences. Over time, everyone will perceive you as too deceitful and crafty, someone they can’t fathom. You don’t practice truth, and you’re not an honest person, so others are repelled by you. If everyone is repelled by you, doesn’t this mean you are rejected? Tell Me, how would God treat someone whom everyone rejects? God would also detest such a person. Why does God detest people like this? Although their intentions in performing their duty are genuine, their methods are what God detests. The disposition that they reveal and their every thought, idea and intent are wicked in God’s eyes, and are things that God detests and which disgust Him. When people always employ despicable tactics in their words and actions with the aim of making others hold them in high regard, this behavior is detested by God.

When people do their duty or any work before God, their heart must be pure: It must be like a bowl of fresh water—crystal clear, without impurity. So what kind of attitude is correct? No matter what it is that you’re doing, you are able to fellowship with others whatever is in your heart, whatever ideas you may have. If someone says that your way of doing things will not work, and they propose another idea, and if you feel it is a pretty good idea, then you give up your own way, and do things according to what they think. By doing that, everyone sees that you can accept others’ suggestions, choose the correct path, act according to principles, and with transparency and clarity. There’s no darkness in your heart, and you act and speak sincerely, relying on an attitude of honesty. You call a spade a spade. If it is, it is; if it isn’t, it isn’t. No tricks, no secrets, just a very transparent person. Isn’t that a kind of attitude? This is an attitude toward people, events and things and it is representative of a person’s disposition. On the other hand, someone might never open up and communicate what they think with others. And in all that they do, they never consult with others, but instead they keep their hearts closed off to others, seemingly constantly on their guard against others at every turn. They enshroud themselves as tightly as can be. Is this not a deceitful person? For example, they have an idea that they feel is ingenious, and think, “I’ll keep it to myself for now. If I share it, you could use it and steal my thunder, and that just wouldn’t do. I’ll hold back.” Or if there’s something they don’t fully understand, they will think: “I won’t speak up now. If I do, and someone says something more elevated, won’t I look like a fool? Everyone will see right through me, see my weakness in this. I shouldn’t say anything.” Regardless of the considerations, regardless of the underlying motive, they’re afraid everyone will see right through them. They always approach their own duty and people, events, and things with this kind of perspective and attitude. What kind of disposition is this? A crooked, deceitful and wicked disposition. They seem, on the surface, to have said everything to others that they believe they can, but below the surface, they hold some things back. What do they hold back? They never say things that touch upon their reputation and interests—they think these things are private and they never speak on them to anyone, not even to their parents. They never say these things. This is trouble! You think that if you don’t say these things, God won’t know about it? People say that God knows, but can they be sure in their hearts that God knows? People never realize that “God knows everything; that which I think in my heart, even if I haven’t revealed it, God scrutinizes in secret, God absolutely knows. I cannot hide anything from God, so I must speak it out, openly fellowship with my brothers and sisters. Regardless of whether my thoughts and ideas are good or bad, I must speak them truthfully. I cannot be crooked, deceitful, selfish, or despicable—I must be an honest person.” If people can think this way, this is the right attitude. Instead of searching for the truth, most people have their own petty agendas. Their own interests, face, and the place or standing they hold in other people’s minds are of great importance to them. These are the only things they cherish. They cling to these things with an iron grip and regard them as their very lives. And how they are viewed or treated by God is of secondary importance; for the moment, they ignore that; for the moment, they only consider whether they are the boss of the group, whether other people look up to them, and whether their words carry weight. Their first concern is with occupying that position. When they are in a group, almost all people look for this kind of standing, these kinds of opportunities. When they’re highly talented, of course they want to be top dog; if they are of middling ability, they’ll still want to hold a higher position in the group; and if they hold a low position in the group, being of average caliber and abilities, they, too, will want others to look up to them, they won’t want others to look down on them. These people’s face and dignity are where they draw the line: They have to hold on to these things. They could have no integrity, and be possessed of neither God’s approval nor acceptance, but they absolutely cannot lose the respect, status, or esteem they have strived for among others—which is the disposition of Satan. But people have no awareness of this. It is their belief that they must cling to this scrap of face to the very end. They are not aware that only when these vain and superficial things are completely relinquished and put aside will they become a real person. If a person guards these things that should be discarded as life, their life is lost. They do not know what is at stake. And so, when they act, they always hold something back, they always try to protect their own face and status, they put these first, speaking only for their own ends, to their own spurious defense. Everything they do is for themselves. They rush to anything that shines, letting everyone know they were a part of it. It didn’t actually have anything to do with them, but they never want to be left in the background, they’re always afraid of other people looking down on them, they’re always fearful of other people saying they’re nothing, that they are incapable of anything, that they have no skills. Is this all not directed by their satanic dispositions? When you are able to let go of things like face and status, you will be much more relaxed and freer; you will have set foot on the path to being honest. But for many, this is not easy to achieve. When the camera appears, for example, people scramble to the front; they like having their face on camera, the more coverage the better; they’re afraid of not getting enough coverage, and will pay any price for the chance to get it. And is this not all directed by their satanic dispositions? These are their satanic dispositions. So you get coverage—what then? People think highly of you—so what? They idolize you—so what? Does any of this prove you have the truth reality? None of this has any value. When you can overcome these things—when you become indifferent to them, and no longer feel them important, when face, vanity, status, and people’s admiration no longer control your thoughts and behavior, much less how you perform your duty—then your performance of your duty will become ever more effective, and ever more pure.