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We are walking the path of faith, looking forward to the everlasting kingdom of heaven. So we need to examine our daily life and check whether or not we are living a worthy life in God’s eyes. There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven (Ecc 3:1). If we want to be able to confidently say that we have lived a life of no regrets when we arrive at the gate of heaven after our earthly life, we must give thanks and glory to our Elohim and obey Their teachings every day.
Mother has given all the good teachings to Her children. Among the teachings of Mother, let us think about “being considerate of others” and take some time to look upon ourselves to see how much we have been trying to put into practice considerate love for people around us, following the example that our Father and Mother have shown us during Their gospel life.
Being considerate of others means fathoming their hearts
Once upon a time, there was a general who was blind in one eye. Before he went out to a severe war to save his nation, resolutely prepared to die, he wanted to leave his last portrait to his descendants. So he asked a famous artist to paint his portrait, but he was quite disappointed when the picture was completed. The problem was not that it did not look like him; what displeased him about the picture was that one of his eyes was covered by an eye-patch. He wanted his descendants to think that he was good looking as well as brave when they looked at his portrait.
So he called another famous painter. The painter knew that the reason why the general called him, although the other painter’s portrait was well drawn, was because he wasn’t happy about one of his eyes in that picture. So he drew both of his eyes as if he had not been one-eyed. The general didn’t like the second picture, either; because he didn’t want his descendants to see his eye with an eye-patch on, but moreover he didn’t want to leave a fabricated picture to his descendants.
Then another painter who was a little girl visited him and volunteered to paint a portrait for him. Although the general wasn’t sure about her, he let her draw his portrait because the time for him to go to war was drawing near and he didn’t have time to call another painter. But this time, the general was very satisfied with his portrait that the girl drew for him. When he saw the picture, he said, “Now I can die without any regrets, because my descendants will remember me like this!”
The reason why he was happy with his new portrait that the girl painted was because it was his profile; she only drew one side of his face with his good eye, and it was exactly what he looked like. So the general was very satisfied and pleased with the fact that he was able to leave a picture of his good profile to his descendants.
This comes from the heart of being considerate and wise. Even the top painters could not please the general although they drew a perfect portrait for him. It was because they were not considerate of him. If we cannot fathom other people’s hearts, no matter how well we express or explain things about them, we will just end up leaving a deep wound in their hearts. It seems that the girl, although she was very young, had an insight into understanding the hearts of others and being considerate of them.
Being considerate of others brings forth a perfect love
Being considerate of others means understanding their hearts and taking care of their difficulties. When we are considerate of others, we can please and satisfy them. The true love described in the Bible also comes from being considerate of others.
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal . . . but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude . . . And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.1 Co 13:1–5, 12–13
1 Corinthians 13 talks about the attributes of love. When we examine the verses above, we can see that being considerate of others is the most basic starting point for love. We can cover up other people’s faults and be patient with them when we are considerate of them, right? It is also possible for us to be kind to others and not to be rude to them when we are considerate of them.
If we want to be fully reborn as the children of God who is love, we must put into practice that kind of considerate love. Since the Bible says that love is the greatest of all, let us examine ourselves and see how much love we have shown to people and how much help we have given to them, according to the will of God.
Through the following parable of Jesus as well, we can think about considerate love. There was a man who was beaten up by robbers and left half dead. At that time, some people saw him. At first, a priest who was respected by the people and called righteous saw him, and then a Levite also saw him, but both of them just passed him by, pretending not to have seen him. But the third person who saw him was different from the other two. He was a Samaritan; in those days, people looked down on the Samaritans and did not even talk to them. The Samaritan took pity on the man who had fallen into the hands of robbers. Then he approached him, bandaged his wounds, took him to an inn, and asked the innkeeper to take good care of him, saying that he would come back and reimburse him for any extra expense.
Jesus asked, “Which one of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The first two turned their faces away from the man who needed help, but the third person took pity on him and showed him compassion. Among them, which one do you think was a neighbor to the man? Of course, it was the last person. Jesus said, “Go and do likewise” (Lk 10:25–37).
God is considerate of humankind
Like the Samaritan in the parable, God has become a true neighbor to us. He did not look away from us, who were destined to die because of our sins, but approached us to save us, taking pity on us. So, He came to this earth in the flesh.
“For the Son of Man came to seek and to save what was lost.”Lk 19:10
God first thought of His children who were to be punished in hell and took pity on them. He was more concerned about the sufferings of His children who were groaning in the pain of death than His own safety, and He came to this earth for His children who were destined to die forever. So, He saved them and led them to the way of eternal life by giving them His flesh to eat and His blood to drink. If God had not given us His considerate love, we would not have received the promise of eternal life or the kingdom of heaven (ref. Heb 2:14–15; Jn 6:53–58; Mt 26:17–28).
. . . through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires. For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; and to godliness, brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness, love. For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. But if anyone does not have them, he is nearsighted and blind, and has forgotten that he has been cleansed from his past sins . . .2 Pe 1:3–11
God wants His children to participate in His divine nature and put considerate love into practice. Let us fill our hearts with faith, goodness, knowledge, self-control, perseverance, godliness, brotherly kindness and love. We will surely be able to bear fruit if we live a life of self-control, a life of perseverance, a life of faith, a life of brotherly kindness and a life of love. Those who do not have these virtues are no different from the spiritually blind people who do not understand though they see many words of the Bible, and they are those who have even forgotten that God has cleansed them from their past sins.
How much our Heavenly Father and Mother have been considerate of us to forgive our sins which are like scarlet! If They had thought about Their own safety and stayed only in the kingdom of heaven, there would have been no need for Them to suffer the humiliation of the cross and the ridicule or mockery from human beings who are like worms and maggots. They endured all the pain and suffering because They thought of Their mortal children first, although They deserve to receive praise, worship, honor and glory from thousands upon thousands of angels and all the other spiritual beings in the universe.
With the same kind of heart as God’s, we must give considerate love to all people, both physically and spiritually. Now, all you brothers and sisters in Zion are helping our neighbors in need, following the example and teachings of Heavenly Mother. You are doing so because you are considerate of them. Since you are concerned about their hunger, thirst, illness and difficulty, you can help them.
In addition to helping our neighbors physically during their short and temporary life on this earth, helping them eternally by preaching God’s words to them is also an act of being considerate of them and loving them spiritually. To satisfy their temporary hunger is, of course, an expression of love, but the more true and valuable love is to lead them to the everlasting kingdom of heaven. Since we are God’s children, we must think of others first and lead them to the way of heaven, having compassion for the souls who are destined to suffer the punishment of eternal destruction and being patient with them, according to the example of God.
Let us put into practice considerate love for others by saving their souls
Just like the man who was robbed and left half dead, there are numerous souls around us, who will enter into eternal torment in hell if we just leave them alone. Everyone living on the earth is like the man who was robbed and left alone. Will you act like the priest or the Levite who saw the man and just passed him by? Or will you show your concern to those souls and put your heart into the work of saving the souls like the Samaritan?
The priest and the Levite were indifferent to the dying man. If they had been concerned about him, they would have at least tried to shake him in order to find out if he was injured or asked him if he was okay. Now we must think about whether or not we are being selfish and indifferent to other people, like the priest and the Levite.
God came to this earth with a considerate heart, thinking of the safety of Their children’s souls first. With the love of God, let us look around us. There are many souls who are running towards the way of death, not knowing anything about the everlasting heavenly kingdom. We must show our concern to them and help them, having the same kind of gracious heart as that of the Samaritan. With a considerate heart, let us lead them to the way of salvation of the soul. This is the kind of heart God truly desires.
God’s love is eternal, so God asks us to give eternal love to all people around the world more than just temporary, transient love. If we want to go to heaven after living a life of no regrets on this earth, we must give them the same kind of considerate love as that of the Good Samaritan, just as God has taught us. By planting the love of Christ and the hope of heaven in the hearts of people who are spiritually dry, we should lead all human beings to the glorious way of heaven.
Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love . . . he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.1 Jn 4:7–11
Love belongs to God, so it has great power. Love changes a weak woman into a strong mother, and a coward trembling with fear into a brave warrior. God who is love has changed us through His love. God has changed sinners into righteous persons, those who cannot be saved into those who can receive salvation, and the weak and worthless ones into special beings.
There are so many poor souls around us. Instead of just leaving them alone, thinking, ‘That person doesn’t believe in God,’ or, ‘That person believes in another religion,’ we should be concerned about every one of them and lead them all from the wrong path to the way of eternal salvation.
Father and Mother came to this earth in the flesh to save us, Their children, and walked the path of pain, willing to endure all the ridicule and persecution. However, They never blamed us. It was because They were so considerate of us.
Without a loving, considerate heart, we cannot continue to follow in the sacrificial footsteps Father and Mother have walked for us, sinners. Since we have received the noble and holy love of Father and Mother, we need to share Their love with others. Brothers and sisters in Zion! Let us lead many souls to the way of salvation by putting into practice considerate love, which Father and Mother have personally taught and shown us, and preaching it to all people around the world.