Jealousy, the Chronic Illness of the Heart

He Jiejing Hezhou City, Guangxi Province

Jealousy, the Chronic Illness of the Heart

A sister and I were paired up to revise articles together. As we were meeting, I realized that it didn’t matter whether it was singing, dancing, understanding God’s word, or fellowshiping about the truth, she was better than me in all these things. The brothers and sisters of the host family all liked her and would seek her out to fellowship with her. Because of this, my heart was quite unsettled and I felt like I was being given the cold shoulder—even to the point of thinking that as long as she was there, there was no place for me. In my heart, I began to feel fed up with her and I didn’t want to work with her in fulfilling our duties anymore. I hoped that she would leave so that the brothers and sisters would like me and think highly of me.

I Experienced God’s Salvation

Cheng Hao Yongzhou City, Hunan Province

By the grace of God, my wife and I were promoted to the second-line gospel team to fulfill our duties. A little while ago, my wife was promoted to team director, while I, as a result of my own arrogance and wanton behavior, lost the work of the Holy Spirit and was sent home to reflect on my actions. Given that my wife and I began fulfilling our duties at the same time, it was a hard pill to swallow seeing her promoted while I was dismissed from my duties. Tears came to my eyes as I thought: “It’s over for me. God is separating out each after his kind and, given that I’ve been dismissed, this is certainly that I’ve been revealed and eliminated. Oh! Who would have thought that after all these years, my life as a believer would end in such utter failure. All I can do now is wait for my punishment.” Then I headed home with a heavy heart. From then on I became mired in defeat and full of misunderstanding and blame for God. I was hopelessly sunk in darkness.

I Experienced God’s Salvation

The Real Face of a So-called Good Person

Kemu Zhumadian City, Henan Province

The Real Face of a So-called Good Person

In my own mind, I’ve always thought of myself as having good humanity. I’ve thought this because, my neighbors often complimented me in front of my parents for being sensible and showing concern for our family; saying I was the apple of my parents’ eyes. After getting married, my in-laws praised me in front of neighbors for being kind and filial to them. In my unit, my leader praised me for being honest and competent.

The Secrets Hidden Behind the Pursuit

Li Li Dezhou City, Shandong Province

Not long ago, I was uplifted by God and promoted to region worker. One day, when gathered with my co-workers, I couldn’t help but think to myself: I must do well. If I performed poorly, how would my leaders and co-workers see me? As a consequence, when we discussed a subject together, so long as I had just a little understanding of the subject, then I would try to be the first to say something, however when I had no understanding of the subject at hand and was unable to say anything, I found myself getting anxious. During those few days of meetings, I felt very tired and especially anxious, as though I was in some combat arena. Later, I brooded over what I revealed and I realized this type of situation was simply down to my own vanity and there was no real problem.

The Secrets Hidden Behind the Pursuit

Guileless People Are Not Necessarily Honest People

Cheng Mingjie Xi’an City, Shaanxi Province

Guileless People Are Not Necessarily Honest People

I consider myself to be an outgoing and forthright kind of person. I speak with people in a very straightforward manner; whatever I want to say, I say it—I’m not the type to beat around the bush. In my interactions with people I tend to be a pretty straight shooter. Often, I get cheated or ridiculed for too easily placing trust in others. It was only after I started going to church that I felt I had found a place I could call my own. I thought to myself: In the past my guilelessness has put me at a disadvantage and made me vulnerable to the deception of others; but in church God wants honest people, people who have been scorned by society, so I don’t have to worry anymore about being too guileless.

What Is the Nature of God’s Love?

Siqiu Suihua City, Heilongjiang Province

What Is the Nature of God’s Love?

Whenever I see the following passage of God’s word, “If you’ve always been very loyal and loving toward Me, yet you suffer the torment of illness, the constraints of life, and the abandonment of your friends and relatives or endure any other misfortunes in life, then will your loyalty and love for Me still continue?” (“A Very Serious Problem: Betrayal (2)” in The Word Appears in the Flesh). I feel particularly unhappy—a sense of misery creeps up within me and my heart speaks its voiceless grievance: Dear God, how can You allow those that are loyal to You and love You to meet with such misfortune? As a result, I’ve had a hard time understanding the meaning of the man used by the Holy Spirit who said, “God’s last demand of man is loving and sincere.”

There Is Great Happiness in Honesty

Gan’en Hefei City, Anhui Province

There Is Great Happiness in Honesty

In my life, I’ve always gone by the phrase, “One shouldn’t have the heart to harm others, but must be vigilant so as not to be harmed” in social interaction. I never grant my trust to others lightly. I’ve always felt that in situations where you don’t know someone’s true intentions, you shouldn’t show your hand too soon. Thus, it’s enough to keep a peaceful attitude—in this way you protect yourself and will be thought of by your peers as a “good person.”