By Dena, Korea

My duty in the church was to cultivate gospel workers to bear witness. When I first started, I often prayed when I faced difficulties, and would seek with experienced brothers and sisters. I also practically equipped myself with the truth and watched gospel movies and videos. After a while, I had grasped some principles for preaching the gospel, and my duty was yielding some results. I thought to myself, “Even though I’m not the best on the team, I’m better than most. If I just keep this up, that’ll be good enough.” I was living in a state of self-satisfaction and complacency. The supervisor repeatedly reminded us to equip ourselves more with the truth. She said it was the only way to resolve the notions of religious people and that if we were content with how things were, we couldn’t achieve good results in our duty. I agreed on the surface, but in my heart, I thought, “To get good results in my duty, I’d have to not only equip myself with more truth but also find relevant materials. For the notions of religious people that I can’t resolve, I’d have to ask others about them as well. I’d have to pay a big price and expend a lot of mental energy! I’ve already learned some principles for preaching the gospel and gained some results in my duty. Just maintaining this should be fine. It’s so tiring to be stretched thin every day! Besides, my health hasn’t been anything like the same since I got sick during the pandemic. What if I wear myself out with exhaustion?” Thinking this, I became even more reluctant to expend mental energy on equipping myself with the truth. One time, I was checking in with the gospel workers and found they hadn’t fellowshipped to resolve a potential gospel recipient’s notions. As a result, that potential gospel recipient stopped attending gatherings. I later learned this was because the workers didn’t know how to resolve the notions of the potential gospel recipient. I realized there were still many deficiencies in how they preached the gospel and they needed more gatherings and fellowship. But then I thought about how I had deficiencies in this area, too. To fellowship with them, I’d need to ask experienced brothers and sisters, find materials, and watch relevant movie clips. It would take so much time and energy. How exhausting that would be! So, I just found one relevant movie clip, sent it to the gospel workers, and told them to resolve it themselves. I knew this would have limited results, but I still put off resolving the problem. Later, several other potential gospel recipients refused to join the Church because of the same kind of notion. During a work summary meeting, the supervisor pruned me for doing my duty mechanically. She said I was content as long as I was keeping myself busy, and I wasn’t seeking to achieve results. To put it plainly, I was being perfunctory and not putting my heart into it. Hearing her say this pierced me to the heart. My face immediately burned with shame, and I wished the ground would swallow me whole. But I knew it was true that I hadn’t been giving my all in my duty recently and that the results had indeed declined. I had to accept it, and reflect on and know myself. I remembered a hymn of God’s words I’d heard a few days before: “Even if you do not like something, or if you suffer because of it, or if it challenges and presses down upon your dignity and pride, so long as it is something that you should experience, something that God has orchestrated and arranged for you, you should submit to it, and you cannot make any choices” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (2)). The people, events, and things that come upon me each day all have God’s permission. I should accept them from God and learn lessons. So I prayed to God, “God, I know this pruning didn’t come upon me by chance, but I don’t know what Your intention is. Please lead me so I can learn my lesson.”

One day, I read a passage of God’s words and came to understand my problem. Almighty God says: “False leaders do not do real work, but they know how to act like an official. What is the first thing they do once they become a leader? It is to buy people’s favor. They take the approach of ‘New officials are eager to impress’: First they do a few things to curry favor with people and handle a few things that improve everybody’s day-to-day welfare. They first try to make a good impression on people, to show everyone that they are in tune with the masses, so that everyone praises them and says, ‘This leader acts like a parent toward us!’ Then they officially take over. They feel that they have popular support and that their position has been secured; then they begin to enjoy the benefits of status, as though they were their proper due. Their mottos are, ‘Life is all about eating well and dressing nice,’ ‘Life is short, so enjoy it while you can,’ and ‘Drink today’s wine today, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow.’ They enjoy each day as it comes, they have fun while they can, and they give no thought to the future, much less do they consider what responsibilities a leader should fulfill and what duties they should do. They preach a few words and doctrines and do a few tasks for appearance’s sake as a matter of routine—they do not do any real work. They are not unearthing real problems in the church and completely solving them, so what is the point in them doing such superficial tasks? Is this not deceptive? Can important tasks be entrusted to this kind of false leader? Are they in line with principles and conditions of God’s house for selecting leaders and workers? (No.) These people don’t have any conscience or reason, they are devoid of any sense of responsibility, and yet they still wish to hold some official position, to be a leader, in the church—why are they so shameless? For some people who have a sense of responsibility, if they are of poor caliber, they cannot be leaders—and that’s to say nothing of useless people who have no sense of responsibility at all; they are even less qualified to be leaders. Just how lazy are such gluttonous and indolent false leaders? Even when they discover an issue, and they are aware that this is an issue, they don’t take it seriously and pay it no mind. They are so irresponsible! Though they are good talkers and seem to have a little caliber, they can’t solve various problems in the church’s work, leading to the work grinding to a standstill; the problems keep piling up, but these leaders do not concern themselves with them, and insist on carrying out a few superficial tasks as a matter of routine. And what is the end result? Do they not make a mess of church work, do they not make a hash of it? Do they not cause chaos and a lack of unity in the church? This is the inevitable outcome” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (8)). God exposes that when false leaders are first elected, they’ll do some work for appearance’s sake to gain people’s admiration and buy their favor. Once they’ve achieved their goal, they start to indulge in fleshly comfort, being perfunctory and just going through the motions in their duty. Even when they go to gatherings, they only speak some words and doctrines without solving any real problems. This causes the church’s work to fall into disarray, and none of the items of work yield results. God particularly loathes false leaders. I thought about how when I first started this duty, I was willing to suffer and pay a price to earn everyone’s admiration. But after a while, when the work showed some improvement, I no longer wanted to put in more mental effort or endure more exhaustion to equip myself with the truth and resolve the difficulties and problems encountered by the brothers and sisters in preaching the gospel. Instead, I did whatever would save me trouble. Sometimes, I’d just send the gospel workers a relevant movie clip and have them resolve potential gospel recipients’ notions on their own. I was just the kind of false leader God speaks of, one who only does work for appearance’s sake. I was living by satanic poisons like “Life is all about eating well and dressing nice,” “Drink today’s wine today, and worry about tomorrow, tomorrow,” and “Treat yourself well.” I believed that in life, people should know how to enjoy themselves, live for today, and be happy for the moment. I thought it would be a disservice to myself to suffer every day, that living like this wasn’t worth it. Controlled by these thoughts and views, I became decadent and degenerate, and very prone to self-satisfaction and complacency. I’d want to coast on my past achievements, however small, and not allow my flesh to suffer in the slightest. I thought back to my school days. At first, I was willing to pay a bit of a price to get into a good university. But as soon as my grades improved a little, I was content. I didn’t want to put effort into studying anymore, so I started sleeping in and not doing my homework seriously. In the end, I didn’t even get into an ordinary university. After I found God, I was still the same. As soon as my duty showed any results, I’d stop striving to make progress. I felt the truth principles I understood were enough, and when I had free time, I didn’t want to study more. When gospel workers encountered difficulties and problems that needed resolution, I just tried to get them over and done with, and was perfunctory whenever I was able. I was so lazy and cunning, living without any integrity or dignity. I was just a waste of space! Now, the results of my duty were declining; this was God hiding His face from me. If I didn’t turn things around, I would eventually be revealed and eliminated. God exalted me by letting me do this duty. His intention was for me to equip myself with more truth and bring more people before Him. This was a chance for me to prepare good deeds in my duty. But I didn’t know what was good for me and only considered my flesh. I didn’t even fulfill my most basic responsibilities. I was living so wretchedly! I just wanted to slap myself. I then prayed to God, “God, I’ve been so deeply corrupted by Satan. I don’t want to live by satanic views anymore. Please lead me to rebel against my flesh.”

After that, I looked for relevant materials and discussed with the gospel workers how to fellowship step-by-step to resolve potential gospel recipients’ questions. In the end, their notions were resolved, and they accepted God’s work of the last days. Cooperating this way, I felt peace and ease in my heart. This felt like truly doing my duty. Not only did the results of my duty improve, but more importantly, by actually seeking the truth to resolve these issues, I felt God’s leadership. I began to understand how to fellowship about notions that I didn’t know how to resolve before.

Later, I read another passage of God’s words, and I gained a clearer understanding of the consequences of not striving for progress in my duty. Almighty God says: “God has given you sufficient caliber and superior conditions, allowing you to see some things clearly and be competent for this work. However, you do not have the right attitude, you have no devotion or sincerity, and you do not want to try your best to do it well. This greatly disappoints God. So, if you are lazy and always feel that the work assigned to you is troublesome and do not want to do it, and you inwardly grumble, ‘Why am I being asked to do it and not someone else?’ then this is a foolish thought. When a duty falls to you, it’s not an unfortunate event, it’s an honor, and you should happily accept it; you’re not going to wear yourself out doing the duty you ought to do. On the contrary, if you do your duty well, understand the truth and resolve problems, you will feel at peace and grounded in your heart, and you won’t have disappointed God. Before God, you will have faith and be able to conduct yourself with your head held high. If you haven’t fulfilled your duty and are always perfunctory, then even if you haven’t caused any losses, this transgression will leave a lifelong regret in your heart. This transgression will be like a bottomless black hole; whenever you think of it, you will feel pain and unease, an agony that pierces the heart. Not only will you have no peace or joy, but on the contrary, the pain of remorse and torment will accompany you for your entire life and can never be erased. Is this not an eternal regret? And what about from God’s perspective? God uses the truth principles to characterize this matter, so the nature of it is far more serious than what you feel. … Some people appear to have submission in doing their duty, doing whatever the Above arranges. But when asked, ‘Do you do your duty perfunctorily? Do you do it according to the principles?’ they cannot provide any definite answers, only saying, ‘I do as the Above instructs and dare not run amok committing misdeeds.’ When asked if they have fulfilled their responsibility, they say, ‘Well, I’m doing what I’m supposed to.’ See? They always have this kind of attitude when doing their duty—they are unhurried, do things slowly, and are half-hearted. You can’t really find fault with them, but if you measure their performance of duty against the truth principles, it is inefficient and not up to standard. And yet, they don’t care, they continue acting as they did before, and they still don’t do the things they should take the initiative to do—they do not change at all. Aren’t they shamelessly stubborn? They always maintain this attitude: ‘You may have a thousand brilliant plans, but I have my own set of rules. This is just how I am. Let’s see what you can do to me. This is my attitude!’ They haven’t done anything immensely treacherous or evil, but they have also done few good deeds. What path would you say they are walking? Is this kind of attitude toward belief in God and one’s duty good? (No.) In the Bible, God says this: ‘So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth’ (Revelation 3:16). Being lukewarm, neither cold nor hot—is this attitude good? (No.) Some people think, ‘If I do evil and cause disruptions, I will be quickly condemned. But if I positively and proactively do things, I will get tired, and if I make a mistake doing something, I might get pruned, or maybe I’ll even be dismissed, which would be so embarrassing! So I stay lukewarm, neither cold nor hot. Whatever you ask me to do, I will do it. But if you don’t tell me to do something, I won’t intervene. This way, I won’t get tired, and on top of that people won’t be able to find fault with me. This approach is great!’ Is this way of conducting oneself good? (No.) You know that it is not good, so how should your practice change? If you never seek to walk the path of pursuing the truth and still persist in living by Satan’s philosophies, then you are doomed to have no hope of attaining salvation” (The Word, Vol. 7. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (11)). After reading God’s words, and especially the words, “So then because you are lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spew you out of My mouth,” and “then you are doomed to have no hope of attaining salvation,” my heart ached as if pricked by needles. I felt that God’s disposition is unoffendable. If we don’t actively give our all in our duty, and instead always hold back, refuse to put in the effort when a price must be paid, and always consider our own flesh, then we are not being sincere or doing real work. This can only harm the work and leave us with transgressions before God. This is doing evil! If I don’t repent, there is no hope of salvation. Thinking about my attitude toward my duty during that time made my heart uneasy. I was always afraid of suffering and getting tired, so I didn’t focus on equipping myself with the truth principles. I just coasted on what I had done before, content with any results I achieved. Although it was easy for my flesh, the results of my duty declined. The gospel workers I was cultivating made no progress, and many potential gospel recipients couldn’t come before God in a timely manner. The damage I caused to the work is something I can never make up for. Whenever I think of this, my heart aches. But this transgression has already been committed and can’t be undone. I used to think that as long as my duty yielded some results and I wasn’t causing any disruption or disturbance, I could do my duty without exhausting my flesh and still gain blessings in the end. I was trying to get a big reward for a small price, taking shortcuts. I was so slippery and deceitful—I was one of the shamelessly stubborn people God talks about. God scrutinizes the depths of the human heart. When people don’t give their all or aren’t sincere in their duty, they aren’t preparing good deeds but are instead accumulating God’s wrath and doing evil deeds. In the end, they will only be loathed and eliminated by God. I was terrified when I thought of this, so I quickly prayed, “God, I’ve been so slippery and deceitful, and so perfunctory in my duty. I don’t want to go on like this. I’m willing to repent. Please lead me to find a path of practice.”

Later, during my spiritual devotions, I heard a hymn of God’s words, and I came to understand the value and meaning of human life.

Only Through Fulfilling Your Duty Can You Live Out the Value of Human Life

1  What is the value of a person’s life? In one respect, it is about fulfilling the duty of a created being. In another respect, during your lifetime, you must fulfill your mission; this is the most important. We won’t talk about completing a great mission, duty, or responsibility, but at the very least, you should accomplish something. In a person’s lifetime, after finding their place, they stand firmly in their position, hold their position, expend all their heart’s blood and all their energy, and do well and finish what they should work on and complete. When they finally stand before God to give an account, they feel relatively satisfied, without accusations or regrets in their heart. They feel comforted and feel that they have gained something, that they have lived a valuable life.

2  So, in order to live a valuable life and ultimately achieve this kind of harvest, it is worth it for a person to physically suffer a bit and pay a bit of a price, even if they become ill from exhaustion or have some health problems. When a person comes into this world, it isn’t for the enjoyment of the flesh, nor is it for eating, drinking, and having fun. One shouldn’t live for those things; that is not the value of human life, nor is it the right path. The value of human life and the right path to follow lie in accomplishing something valuable and completing one or several valuable items of work. This is not called a career; it is called the right path, the proper task. It is worth it for a person to pay any price in order to complete some work of value, live a meaningful and valuable life, and pursue and gain the truth.

3  If you truly desire to pursue an understanding of the truth, to embark on the right path in life, to fulfill your duty well, and to live a valuable and meaningful life, then you will not hesitate to give all of your energy, pay all of the prices, and give all of your time and the extent of your days. If you experience a bit of illness during this period, it will not matter, it will not crush you. Isn’t this far superior to a lifetime of ease, freedom, and idleness, nurturing the physical body to the point that it is well-nourished and healthy, and ultimately achieving longevity? Which one of these two options is a valuable life? Which one can bring comfort and no regrets to people when they face death at the very end? Living a meaningful life means that you will have gained the truth; in your heart you will be comforted and have joy.

—The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (6)

After hearing the hymn, I was very moved. I understood that as a created being, only by fulfilling my duty can I find true peace and ease in my spirit. That’s the only meaningful and valuable way to live. Indulging in fleshly comfort feels good at the time, but afterward, it’s just empty—it’s completely meaningless. I thought about how I didn’t put any mental energy into my duty—how I was afraid of suffering and getting tired and wouldn’t put in the effort to solve problems. Afterward, I often felt uneasy, my conscience accused me, and the Holy Spirit hid His face from me. I couldn’t feel God’s presence, and my spirit was shrouded in darkness and pain. God exalted me by giving me this duty. I should do everything in my ability to achieve good results. I thought of Noah building the ark. He faced many difficulties, and also had to face misunderstanding from his family and ridicule and slander from others. Although his flesh was tired and weary and he felt weak in his heart, when he thought about how this was God’s commission, he knew he had to persevere no matter how he suffered or how hard it was, and so he did it with all his heart and strength. In the end, he completed the ark, fulfilling God’s commission. I can’t compare myself to Noah, but if I can do everything in my power to bring God’s sheep back to His house so they can receive His salvation, what a meaningful thing that would be!

Later, I read another passage of God’s words and found a path of practice. God says: “If you truly possess caliber of a certain degree, truly have a grasp of professional skills within the scope of your responsibility, and are not an outsider to your profession, then you just have to abide by one phrase, and you will be able to be loyal to your duty. Which phrase? ‘Put your heart into it.’ If you put your heart into things, and put your heart into people, then you will be able to be loyal and responsible in your duty. Is this phrase easy to practice? How do you put it into practice? It doesn’t mean to use your ears to hear, nor your mind to think—it means using your heart. If a person can truly use their heart, then when their eyes see someone do something, act in some way, or have some sort of response to something, or when their ears hear some people’s opinions or arguments, by using their heart to ponder and contemplate these things, some ideas, views, and attitudes will come up in their mind. These ideas, views, and attitudes will make them have a deep, specific, and correct understanding of the person or thing, and at the same time, will give rise to suitable and correct judgments and principles. Only when a person has these manifestations of using their heart does it mean they are loyal to their duty” (The Word, Vol. 5. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers. The Responsibilities of Leaders and Workers (7)). Actually, God does not ask much of man. What He wants is our sincere heart. As long as people put their heart into it, they can discover the problems that exist in their duty; by seeking on and pondering these problems, they can find ways to solve them, and the results of their work will naturally improve. But if people don’t put their heart into it, they won’t even notice problems right in front of their noses. Even with their eyes open, they won’t see anything, and the results of their duty will only get worse. Putting your heart into your duty is so crucial! I thought about how I had so many deficiencies when I first started this duty. But I often prayed, entrusting my difficulties to God and looking to Him. Through God’s leadership, I slowly grasped some principles for doing my duty, and the work began to show some results. But when I became content with how things were and grew perfunctory, not solving the problems I discovered, the results of my duty kept declining. In the end, I could only look on as one potential gospel recipient after another was lost. I saw that not putting my heart into my duty truly harms both others and myself!

From then on, I started writing down the problems in my work one by one and put my heart into pondering them. If it was an issue related to a gospel worker’s attitude toward their duty, I’d find relevant words of God to fellowship on with them. If it involved resolving a potential gospel recipient’s notions, I’d find relevant materials. If there was something I didn’t understand, I’d ask my brothers and sisters, and then fellowship with the gospel workers to discuss how to address their notions. Practicing this way, my heart felt very at ease. Although experiencing this pruning was embarrassing at the time, it pushed me to come before God and reflect on my attitude toward my duty. By eating and drinking God’s words, I gained some understanding of the root of my indulgence in the flesh, and I learned that only by fulfilling your duty can you find true peace and joy. Thank God!