Faith & Life

Mother’s Teaching No. 3

“When we look at things beautifully without hatred in our hearts, we can achieve perfect love.”

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There is no one perfect in the world because we are all sinners. Everyone has his merits and demerits. No matter how good one’s character seems to be, he has demerits in some ways, and no matter how faulty one’s character seems to be, he has merits in some ways. If we have hate, we will only find faults in others, but if we have a beautiful mind, we can find something good and gracious. It is not easy to have a beautiful mind in all circumstances. However, if we try to look at our brothers and sisters with a beautiful mind, relying on the word of God, we can achieve the perfect love and give joy to our God…

Mother’s Teaching No. 4

“As Abraham received more blessings when he yielded for his nephew Lot, we, too, will receive more blessings when we yield for our brothers and sisters.”

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God told Abraham to go to the land of Canaan with his nephew Lot. As their flocks and families grew in number, the land where they lived became too small for both of them. Then dissension grew among their herdsmen. Abraham suggested that Lot go his separate way so that their herdsman wouldn’t fight with each other. Although Abraham could have chosen first and selected the good land for himself, he allowed Lot to choose his land first, and then Abraham received the land that Lot didn’t choose. And quarreling arose between Abram’s herdsmen and the herdsmen of Lot. The Canaanites and Perizzites were also living in the land at that time. So Abram said to Lot, “Let’s not have…

Mother’s Teaching No. 5

“Arrogance is feeling disappointed when our expectations are not met.”

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A man feels disappointed when the treatment or service he receives does not meet his expectations. Such feeling of disappointment comes from a mind that wants others to acknowledge or serve him, which is an arrogant mind. We are sinners who committed grievous sins in Heaven and were cast down to the earth. So we should never be arrogant because sinners do not have the right to be acknowledged or to be served. When we look at the systems in this world, criminals who committed a serious crime are confined in prison and all their rights and freedoms are taken away. However, sometimes we forget that we are spiritual sinners. When we forget this, we come to have an arrogant…

Mother’s Teaching No. 6

“Although others do not work, let us work faithfully without complaining. When we work with the mindset of an owner, we can work with joy and ease.”

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We often face a situation where we have to work alone while others are not working. We may think, ‘Why aren’t they working?’ or ‘Why should I work while everyone else is doing nothing?’ However, God taught us that when we have the spirit of ownership, we can work with joy. Let’s think about an owner and his servants. Servants do not care much about the harvest and make minimum effort. They pretend to work hard only when their master is watching because they receive their wages based on the amount of time they work. However, an owner is different. He is always concerned about the crops in his field and tries to find better ways to take care of…

Mother’s Teaching No. 7

“Arrogance arises from a heart full of complaint. When we always serve God with gratitude, arrogance and complaint disappear, and humility will dwell in our hearts.”

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Complaint is having dissatisfaction in our heart. Those who don’t know how to be content come to complain. No matter how much God prepares favorable situations, rather than giving thanks to God, they always see negative points first. Mother said, “Arrogance comes from a mind full of complaint.” We complain when we think, ‘That is not the way,’ ‘My way is much better than that,’ or ‘He shouldn’t treat me like this.’ From these complains, arrogance forms in our heart and we think, ‘I am better than everybody.’ Since arrogance leads our soul into destruction, we should make every effort not to complain in any situation. Then, what should we do to avoid complaining? We should always serve God with…

Mother’s Teaching No. 8

“When we compliment our brothers and sisters, compliments will return to us.”

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Words have great power and are like an echo. When we compliment others, compliments return to us. When we blame others, they blame us as well. This is the reason Mother taught us, “When we compliment our brothers and sisters, compliments return to us.” When we remember this teaching and compliment and encourage one another even in small things, the compliments and encouragement will return to us. In addition, God, who remembers everything, will compliment us and give us blessings. “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.” Mt 7:12 We should also remember that God is pleased when brothers and sisters are united in…

Mother’s Teaching No. 9

“As the sea receives all the dirt and purifies it, we should have a broad and beautiful heart to embrace the faults of our brothers and sisters.”

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Heavenly Mother has told us that a broad mind like the sea is a beautiful mind. A broad mind like the sea covers the faults of brothers and sisters. It is not easily angered, but rather understands and tolerates others with humility and kindness. Heavenly Mother regards such a mind as beautiful. Then how can we have a broad mind like the sea? It is by thinking about God who forgave our grievous sins. We are sinners who came down to the earth after committing unforgivable sins. However, God became the atoning sacrifice for our sins and forgave us. When we think about such great love and grace of God, we can willingly cover up all the faults of our…

Mother’s Teaching No. 10

“Whoever wants to be led by the Lamb should become a lamb smaller than the Lamb.”

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Heavenly Mother said that whoever wants to be led by the Lamb must become a lamb smaller than the Lamb. It is because we cannot follow wherever the Lamb leads us if we do not become smaller than the Lamb. As long as we are bigger than the Lamb, we may follow the Lamb for some time when His lead is in accordance with our thoughts. However, we will begin to act on our own initiative when His lead is no longer aligned with our thoughts. We must become smaller lambs by getting rid of our thoughts and follow wherever the Lamb leads us. To be led by God who is the Lamb and enter the Kingdom of Heaven, we…

Mother’s Teaching No. 11

“Sacrifice is needed in the process of becoming a greater vessel.”

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God likened us to vessels. We cannot hold many fruits in a small vessel. Likewise, no matter how much we want to receive blessings and serve as great Gospel workers, we cannot receive such blessings if we are a small vessel. Only when we have a large vessel can we embrace many souls and receive great blessings of the Holy Spirit. However, the process to make vessels wider and deeper requires much suffering and refinement. There are many souls in Zion; sacrifice is needed to tolerate and embrace many souls. Some have just begun their life of faith, so we have to consider and care for them; and some have a rough and unrefined character. We need to sacrifice ourselves…

Mother’s Teaching No. 12

“Even God came to serve, not to be served. When we serve one another without wanting to be served, God will be pleased.”

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Our God Himself set us an example of faith by showing us what we should do. One example is serving others. God is the most honorable and holy One who deserves to be served by all creatures in the entire universe. However, He served us. We must follow such an example set by God and serve our brothers and sisters. Also a dispute arose among them as to which of them was considered to be greatest. Jesus said to them, “The kings of the Gentiles lord it over them; and those who exercise authority over them call themselves Benefactors. But you are not to be like that. Instead, the greatest among you should be like the youngest, and the one…

Mother’s Teaching No. 13

“We should endure present sufferings for the Kingdom of Heaven will be ours.”

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While living a life of faith, we face rough and painstaking moments. Sometimes we are persecuted for the truth or tempted by Satan; we have troubles with brothers and sisters in Zion; or we encounter problems in our daily life. Each and every member walks the path of faith, bearing suffering and hardship. God told us to endure all suffering by thinking of Heaven that is to come. God is preparing unimaginable blessings for us in Heaven. There will be no more suffering, pain, or sorrow. It will only be full of eternal joy and happiness. Although our life on the earth may be difficult and painful, when we think of the glory of Heaven, we will never give up.…

Change Family Habits for the New Year

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit,” said a philosopher. You make habits, but later habits make you. While good habits lead you to the right path and make you a better person, bad habits become an obstacle to your path. Moreover, a small and trivial habit may lead into conflict with your close family members. Everybody has a plan for new habits whenever a new year begins. Why don’t you decide what habits you want to correct or what new habits you want to have and share them with your family? And encourage each other for success. Small changes can make big changes! Tip Talk about habits to change. Listen to…

A Millionaire Who Paid Back

A wind of change blew in a small humble village in Jiangxi, China. Rough roads were well paved and dilapidated mud huts were replaced with luxury villas. The village is equipped with basketball courts, table tennis facilities, and a free library that residents can use. There is also a restaurant where low-income elderly residents can enjoy free meals. How much did the townspeople have to pay for these benefits? Surprisingly, they were all provided for free. Xiong Shuihua who was born and grew up in this small village worked very hard to get out of poverty with his three brothers and became wealthy. Once he become successful, he thought about his humble beginning. Although their parents passed away, he wanted…

The Most Beautiful Mind, Devotaion For Life

A few months ago, some members from the Lima Church in Peru donated noodles, rice, sugar, oil, and water to volunteer fire fighters. When we asked what kind of food they needed, they answered with excitement, “We all like noodles because it’s easy and simple to cook.” Fire fighters were very satisfied, receiving our donation, and they gave many thanks to Elohim God. The reason we had been motivated to donate food was because volunteer fire fighters live in poverty; nobody is paid. We already knew the reality, but by visiting the fire station and offering the donations, we were able to understand how difficult their lives were more deeply. Most of the equipment that the fire fighters had were…

Elton Wilson Zelaya from Lima, Peru

Emotional Habits

Philip Brickman, a social psychologist at the Northwestern University in the U.S., conducted an experiment. It was to observe the changes of emotions over time among those whose happiness greatly increased through an unexpected fortune and of those who drastically became unhappy due to paralysis caused by a sudden accident. As time passed by, their level of happiness was reexamined; those who had felt high levels of happiness, owing to their sudden claim of fortune, no longer felt much happiness. Those who felt low levels of happiness due to an accident no longer felt unhappy. The human brain has a habit of returning to its familiar previous state of emotion as time goes by even if it goes through emotional…

Worthwhile Time

There was a man who enjoyed fishing at night. After work when it was the best time to relax, he hit the dusky road with a sandwich and fishing tackle in his hands. Sometimes there was no fish biting all night, but he didn’t care at all. Even if he caught a lot of fish, he gave them all to his neighbors. Seeing him doing that, his wife asked with a puzzled look: “Honey, didn’t you spend several hours to catch those fish? If you give them all away, why do you go fishing? Why don’t you just rest at home?” Then he replied, “When I was young, my dad used to take me night fishing. Stars in the night…

The Opportunity to Restore Love

“Is God coming down?” When I was a child, I mumbled to myself, looking at the sunlight emerge from the gray clouds and shine straight down on the ground. Though nobody taught me, I was convinced that God exists for sure. So I went to a Protestant church since I was in elementary school. After becoming a university student, I was eager in my religious life; I even played the guitar on the street to preach. However, as time passed by, the sermons which were like cloud drifts in the air didn’t touch my heart at all. Whenever I did something for the church, I felt empty in the end. When I saw the secular life of the church members…

Shin Se-hee from Seoul, South Korea

A Shortcut

During the dry season, wildebeest living in the plains of Africa migrate over hundreds of miles in search of water and food. A zoologist observed month-long massive migrations of wildebeest, and discovered that they moved along a very long and arduous trail, rather than taking a shortcut. It typically caused death to the weak and feeble wildebeest, but they rarely changed the route. The cause of the problem was the leading wildebeest. The leader formed a habit of traveling the same route even though the herd was dying. It is also difficult for us humans, the lord of creation, to change bad habits or lifestyles we are accustomed to. This is why many times we just choose to do what…

How to Cope with Stress

Stress causes all kinds of illnesses, and if it worsens, can even lead to death. It is impossible to have no stress at all while living in this world. But what is important is our attitude toward stress. If we regard stress as bad, stress becomes a real enemy; but if we think of it in a positive way, it cannot harm us. In an experiment, Harvard University researchers said, “You don’t need to regard any physical response you have under stress as anxiety or a sign of failure in coping with stress. Your heart’s pounding makes your body ready to face trouble, and hyperventilating supplies more oxygen to the brain.” When the participants viewed stress positively, they became less…

Menopause, a Second Adolescence

she feels as if an old lady is sitting in front of the mirror. She also feels her heart starting to pound all of a sudden, and it is hard to control her feelings no matter how hard she tries. However, nothing happens without a cause. If this continues, she needs to think about whether she has reached menopause, which is called a second adolescence. Life is like a flow of seasons. The time from infancy when a baby takes her first step into the world with a loud cry until adolescence—a time for growth spurts, is like spring when a seed in the dark ground sprouts on the earth. The time of youth when a person lets the flower…