True Filial Duty Starts from Understanding

Whenever I read a Bible verse, “Anyone who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me” (Mk 8:34), I was reminded of my family. My father, who received a pastoral education in a Protestant church in his youth, opposed my faith when I said I attended the Church of God. Even my mom, who wasn’t interested in religion, stood on my father’s side; an invisible wall was built between my parents and me.

When I was about to get married, there was a change. To prepare for the wedding, I had to talk with my parents frequently. While conversing with them, I realized that I had mistaken my parents; I felt through their words how much they’d been loving and worrying about me.

I tried to put my filial piety into practice, with my husband who is walking with me in the life of faith. My mother said I had changed after I got married, and she really liked it. However, the best filial duty that I could do was to let them receive the blessing of heaven. In order to do that, I had to resolve their misunderstanding about my religion. I prayed earnestly and told them the truth little by little.

As I preached with an earnest heart, my mom who didn’t seem interested at all understood better than I thought, and asked questions. Besides, she remembered all the contents of the Church introduction video and the press reports about our Church, which I showed since my school days. At that time, she didn’t really react to it, so I thought she wasn’t listening; however, she was listening carefully. Eventually, she received the truth on the first day of the New Year 2019.

Seeing my mother being born again as a child of God, I came to reflect on myself. I thought my family would never have a chance to receive salvation, but that was my misunderstanding. There was no reason for my family to be left out from the blessing of salvation, as God wants all seven billion people to be saved. It was just that I was afraid of being hurt by them, and so I didn’t take care of them.

I repented and made up my mind to do better to my parents spiritually and physically. I’d been only saying with my mouth that I would repay Heavenly Parent for Their grace, but I never took any action. This year, I will give more thanks to God. Heavenly Father and Mother, thank You for saving me. Thank You for allowing me to please You with fruit.