By Zhang Huixin, China

When I was young, my grandfather loved listening to opera and often took me to watch performances. I saw how graceful the actors were on stage, how their songs touched the heart, and how the audience showered them with applause and cheers. I truly admired them, and couldn’t help thinking, “One day, if I could take to the stage and receive applause and praise, then I’d be living a life of fame and brilliance!” I really wanted to join a drama troupe and become an opera performer. But my family was poor, and our financial conditions weren’t good, so my dreams of the stage faded into a mirage.

After I got married, I had a daughter. After my daughter started kindergarten, I saw children around my daughter’s age, some attending dance classes and others taking music classes. During Children’s Day performances in particular, they attracted the attention of many teachers and parents, and were showered with applause. So I decided to have my daughter learn to dance, as this would not only help her develop a good figure and grace, but also give her the chance to perform on stage. But she was afraid of doing the splits and backbends and she refused to learn no matter what I said. I thought, “I can’t just follow your wishes. You need to learn a skill so that in the future you can get people’s attention on stage.” In 2012, I accepted Almighty God’s work of the last days, but I didn’t give up on my expectation of seeing my daughter perform on stage. Later, I thought learning an instrument would also enable her to take to the stage, so I took her to a music store to choose an instrument. But she wasn’t interested. I angrily told my daughter, “You’ve got to choose one. Only by learning a skill can you have a chance to perform on stage, and only then can you live a glamorous life. Think of how many people will admire you then!” Seeing I was very angry, my daughter reluctantly chose the guzheng. At first, my daughter didn’t want to learn it, so I found an experienced guzheng teacher and forced her to learn. To spark her interest in the guzheng, I often encouraged her, and the teacher also praised her for having natural talent. Gradually, my daughter became interested in the guzheng and quickly learned a few pieces. One day, my daughter happily said to me, “Mom, in the future, I can play the guzheng to praise God!” Seeing how sensible my daughter was, I felt particularly gratified.

Later, to help my daughter gain more stage experience, whenever I heard about a performance, I would actively sign her up. Even though I had a herniated disc and couldn’t stand for long, I still insisted on accompanying her at rehearsals. She made great progress and was outstanding in performances, and she would always be center stage. She also received praise from teachers and judges, and I was extremely happy. To go with her to her performances, I’d have to wake up around 3 a.m. to prepare. I’d be so busy running around her that I wouldn’t even have time to eat. And after a whole day of bustling about, I would feel dizzy and mentally and physically exhausted. But when I saw my daughter shine on stage, I thought to myself, “Although I didn’t fulfill my own stage dream, the fact that I’ve been able to have my daughter take center stage has made all the pain and exhaustion worth it!” Due to the exhaustion brought about by the performances, and with the pressure of studies, my daughter’s body couldn’t handle it, and she didn’t want to practice the guzheng anymore. I tried to coax and persuade her to continue, and eventually, she reluctantly agreed. Every day when she came home from school, I would make use of cooking or nap time to have my daughter practice the guzheng. When my daughter wanted to go out on the weekend, I also required her to finish practicing the guzheng before going out. If she didn’t listen, I would scold her, “Why do you think your father and I worked hard and saved money to pay for your lessons and make you practice? Isn’t it to help you take to the stage and succeed in the future? Can’t you bring us some honor?” Seeing how anxious and angry I was, my daughter had no choice but to cry and go practice the guzheng. By middle school, she was under heavy academic pressure, and she also had to rehearse frequently for various performances, so she stopped wanting to practice the guzheng again. I anxiously scolded my daughter, “No matter how busy you are, you’ve got to keep practicing the guzheng. If you practice well, you could take to the stage and earn a life of fame!” But she still didn’t practice. I angrily threw her books and pick holder to the floor, and said, “Fine. Don’t practice. Let’s just hope you enjoy picking up trash when you’re older.” Seeing how angry I was, my daughter hurried to practice. Sometimes, my daughter would feel unfairly treated and cry and say, “Why do you keep trying to control my fate?” I would angrily say to her, “Isn’t everything I do for you? Why don’t you understand what’s for your own good?” My daughter would angrily say, “I just don’t even like playing the guzheng! You’re the one who’s been forcing me to learn it!” Our arguments would always end on a sour note. When there was a conflict between performances and gatherings, I would make my daughter attend the performance first. If my daughter wanted to attend the gathering, I would quickly say, “There’s plenty of time for gatherings, but performance opportunities shouldn’t be missed. If you miss these opportunities, you’ll lose chances to shine on stage.” Because of this, my daughter missed many gatherings.

Before I knew it, my daughter had successfully managed to get into an arts high school. Whenever I talked about my daughter, colleagues and friends would look at me with envy and admiration. My vanity was greatly satisfied. Gradually, my daughter came to focus entirely on studying and playing the guzheng. To get into her ideal music academy and surpass her peers, she began putting in extra hours practicing the guzheng. I also spent a lot of money hiring a teacher to teach my daughter one-on-one. Seeing that my daughter’s skills on the guzheng had improved, I felt very happy. When my daughter returned from her break, I wanted her to attend a gathering, but she would make excuses like “I haven’t finished my homework” or “I haven’t practiced the guzheng yet.” Seeing that my daughter hadn’t attended a gathering for nearly a year, I felt a little anxious. But seeing her being extremely busy with homework and practicing the guzheng, I thought to myself, “Should I let my daughter drop her guzheng lessons on the weekend to attend gatherings?” But then I thought, “She’s worked so hard to improve her skills on the guzheng; if she doesn’t practice on the weekend, won’t she fall behind others? She can’t afford to let up on her practice. But if she goes for long periods of time without attending gatherings, her life will also suffer.” After thinking for a while, I decided to find time to gather with her. One day, my daughter told me she didn’t want to go to school anymore. She said the atmosphere at school is bad, and that there were people smoking, dating, and involved in gangs. She said it was hard to focus on studying and that she felt really repressed. When I heard my daughter say she didn’t want to go to school, I thought, “You worked so hard to get into an art school, and if you work for just two more years, you’ll be able to take the entrance exam for a prestigious art university, then once you get in, your bigger dream of taking to the stage will come true, and then your relatives, friends, teachers, and classmates will admire and envy you, and you’ll be able to do me proud as well.” So I angrily said, “You finally got into an art high school. If you don’t go, won’t your future be ruined?” Seeing how anxious and angry I was, my daughter just cried and went to school. Seeing how my daughter felt she was being unfairly treated, I felt heartbroken, but in order for my daughter to make it on stage and stand out, I felt I had to persist.

During one gathering, I told Sister Li Ling about my state, and she found a passage of God’s words for me to read. God says: “If their children are exposed to certain things that happen as a part of evil trends or certain incorrect arguments or thoughts and viewpoints during their early years, in cases where they do not have discernment they might follow or imitate them. Parents should detect these issues early on and provide immediate correction and accurate guidance. This is also their responsibility. In short, the goal is to ensure that children have a fundamental, positive, and correct direction for development in their thoughts, self-comportment, treatment of others, and perception of various people, events, and things, so that they might develop in a constructive direction rather than a wicked one. For instance, nonbelievers often say, ‘Life and death are preordained; wealth and honor are decided by Heaven.’ The amount of suffering and enjoyment a person should experience in life is predetermined by God and cannot be changed by humans. In one respect, parents should inform their children of these objective facts, and in another, teach them that life is not just about physical needs, and it certainly isn’t about pleasure. There are more important things for people to do in this life than eating, drinking, and seeking entertainment; they should believe in God, pursue the truth, and pursue salvation from God. If people only live for pleasure, for eating, drinking, and seeking entertainment in the flesh, then they are like zombies, and their lives have no value at all. They do not create any positive or meaningful value, and they do not deserve to live or even to be human. Even if a child doesn’t believe in God, at the very least let them be a good person and one who attends to their proper duty. Of course, if they are chosen by God and are willing to participate in church life and do their own duty as they grow up, that’s even better. If their children are like this, then parents should fulfill their responsibilities toward their underage children even more based on the principles God has admonished to people. If you don’t know whether they will believe in or will be chosen by God, at the very least you should fulfill the responsibilities you have to your children during their formative years. Even if you don’t know or are unable to comprehend these things, you should still perform these responsibilities. To the greatest extent possible, you should carry out what obligations and responsibilities you ought to perform, sharing what positive thoughts and things you already know with your children. At the very least, ensure that their spiritual growth follows a constructive direction, and that their minds are clean and healthy. Do not make them study all kinds of skills and knowledge from a young age under your expectations, cultivation, or even oppression. Even more seriously, some parents accompany their children when they participate in various talent shows, and academic or athletic competitions, following all kinds of social trends and going to events like press hearings, signings, and study sessions, and attending whatever competitions and acceptance speeches at award ceremonies, etc. As parents, at the very least they shouldn’t let their children follow in their footsteps by doing these things themselves. If parents bring their children to such activities, in one respect, it is clear that they have not fulfilled their responsibilities as parents. In another, they are openly leading their children down a path of no return, hindering their constructive mental development. Where have these parents led their children? They have led them into evil trends. This is something parents shouldn’t do. Furthermore, regarding the future paths their children will take and the careers that they will pursue, parents should not instill such things as, ‘Look at so-and-so, they’re a pianist who started playing the piano at the age of four or five. They didn’t indulge in playtime, they had no friends or toys, and they practiced the piano every day. Their parents accompanied them to piano lessons, consulted various teachers, and entered them into piano competitions. Look at the famous person they are now, well-fed, well-dressed, surrounded by an aura of light and respected wherever they go.’ Is this the kind of education that promotes the healthy development of a child’s mind? (No, it’s not.) What kind of education is it, then? It’s the education of the devil. This type of education is damaging to any young mind. It encourages them to aspire to fame, to covet various auras, honors, positions, and enjoyments. It makes them yearn for and pursue these things from a young age, driving them to anxiety, intense apprehension, and worry, and even causing them to pay every kind of price to get it, waking up early and working late to look over their homework and study different skills, and losing their childhood years, exchanging those precious years for these things” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (19)). After reading God’s words, I finally understood that the true responsibility of parents is to ensure that their children grow up healthy and happy in both body and mind during their childhood, to provide positive guidance in their thoughts, and to let them enjoy their childhood. It’s not about parents forcing their expectations onto their children, nor leading them to pursue fame, reputation, honors, status, and pleasures. I couldn’t help but reflect: My daughter didn’t like learning instruments from a young age, but to make her become famous and universally respected, I forced her to learn the guzheng, and when she received praise from judges and teachers, I felt that the dreams I hadn’t achieved were finally being realized through my daughter, and so my determination to cultivate her became even stronger. Whenever I heard of a performance, I would sign her up without her consent, fearing she would miss the chance to shine on stage. Whenever my daughter wanted to play around, I’d scold her out of fear it would delay her practice. To improve my daughter’s musical skills, I spared no expense in hiring a professional teacher to guide her, all to cultivate her to become famous and bring me glory. I used to think that by having my child learn various skills, and getting her onto a famous stage to become well-known, I was fulfilling my responsibility as a mother. Now I realized that this perspective was wrong. I never considered how much pressure and pain my daughter’s young heart was bearing, and I only ever thought about fulfilling my wishes. Under my education, my daughter also became very concerned about her reputation and status, and practiced relentlessly to surpass her classmates, losing the liveliness and innocence she once had. A gap started to form between us, and my daughter also lost interest in eating and drinking God’s words and attending gatherings, and she began to drift ever further from God. These consequences had all been caused by me. My child used to be willing to gather and eat and drink God’s words, but I didn’t guide her to believe in God and walk the right path, and instead, I led her to get caught up in evil trends, and to relentlessly pursue reputation and status. In what way was I fulfilling a mother’s true responsibility? Thinking about this, I deeply regretted my forceful approach to education. I’d never expected it would bring such great harm and ruin upon my child.

Later, I read God’s words: “Some people live for their children; you may say you do not wish to do so, but can you achieve this? Some people rush around and busy themselves for wealth, and for fame and gain. You may say that you don’t wish to rush around for these things, but can you actually achieve this? Unknowingly, you have already embarked on this path, and though you wish to change to a different way of living, you cannot. How you live in this world is out of your hands! What is the root of this? It is that people do not believe in the true God and have not gained the truth. What sustains man’s spirit? Where do they look for spiritual support? For spiritual support, people look to the reunion of family; to the bliss of marriage; to the enjoyment of material things; to wealth, fame, and gain; to their status, their feelings, and their careers; and to the next generation’s happiness. Does anyone not look to these things for spiritual support? Those with children find it in their children; those without children find it in their careers, in marriage, in status in society, and in fame and gain. The ways of life thus produced are therefore all the same; subject to Satan’s control and power, and in spite of themselves, all people rush about and busy themselves for the sake of fame, gain, their prospects, their careers, their marriages, their families, or for the sake of the next generation, or for fleshly pleasures. Is this the right path? However busily people bustle about in this world, however professionally accomplished they are, however happy their families are, however big their family is, however prestigious their status is—are they capable of embarking on the right path of human life? By chasing after fame and gain, the world, or by pursuing their careers, are they capable of seeing the fact that God created all things and holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind? It is not possible. Regardless of what people pursue, or what kind of path they are on, if they do not acknowledge the fact that God holds sovereignty over the destiny of mankind, then the path they walk is wrong. It is not the right path, but the crooked path, the path of evil” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). “Satan uses fame and gain to control man’s thoughts, until all people can think of is fame and gain. They struggle for fame and gain, suffer hardships for fame and gain, endure humiliation for fame and gain, sacrifice everything they have for fame and gain, and they will make any judgment or decision for the sake of fame and gain. In this way, Satan binds people with invisible shackles, and they have neither the strength nor the courage to throw them off. They unknowingly bear these shackles and trudge ever onward with great difficulty. For the sake of this fame and gain, mankind shuns God and betrays Him and becomes increasingly wicked. In this way, therefore, one generation after another is destroyed in the midst of Satan’s fame and gain” (The Word, Vol. 2. On Knowing God. God Himself, the Unique VI). Through the exposure of God’s words, I realized that Satan uses fame and gain to corrupt and harm people, inculcating people with ideas and views like “Stand out above the rest,” “Hold a position above others,” and “Bring honor to your ancestors,” driving people to relentlessly pursue fame and gain. In order to obtain fame and gain, they become more and more wicked and suffer more and more. Ever since I was young, I’d always dreamed of becoming a stage actor, taking to the stage to receive everyone’s admiration and envy, and to attain status and renown. But when my dreams couldn’t be realized, I was plunged into disappointment and pain. Later, I imposed my dreams on my daughter, letting her pursue reputation and status from a young age, and forcing her to learn the guzheng. I hoped she would one day take to the stage and shine. When my daughter didn’t want to learn the guzheng, I became anxious and angry, and scolded her. When my daughter wanted to attend gatherings, I’d stop her, as I feared it would delay her practice and get in her way. In what way was I fulfilling my responsibilities as a mother? What I was doing was simply evil! I’d believed in God for many years, yet my goals hadn’t changed at all, and I still lived according to Satan’s thoughts and viewpoints, pursuing fame and gain just like nonbelievers. I would rather my daughter stray from God and betray Him than not pursue fame and gain to satisfy my vanity. I was truly blinded by fame and gain, and my thoughts were clouded by them, and I brought both suffering upon myself and harm to my daughter. I realized that fame and gain were invisible shackles placed on me by Satan, and that they brought us endless sorrow and pain! I thought about how some celebrities achieved fame and gain in the entertainment industries, and yet ended up with depression and jumping to their deaths due to spiritual emptiness and pain. I saw that even when a person attains status and fame, it can only temporarily satisfy their vanity, but can’t resolve their inner emptiness and pain. Instead, these things gradually lead them away from God, and make them deny Him, and the outcome of this is that they will be devoured by Satan! Realizing this, I prayed to God, saying that I would no longer pursue fame and gain, and that I was willing to submit to His sovereignty and arrangements.

Later, I read more of God’s words: “Everything that parents do to realize their expectations for their children before they reach adulthood is contrary to conscience, reason, and natural laws. Even more so, it is contrary to God’s ordination and sovereignty. Though children do not have the ability to discern between right and wrong, or to think independently, their fates are still under God’s sovereignty, they are not ruled over by their parents. Therefore, aside from having expectations for their children within their consciousness, foolish parents also carry out more actions, sacrifices, and price-paying in terms of their behavior, doing everything they want and are willing to do for their children, regardless of whether this is expending money, time, energy, or other things. Though parents do those things voluntarily, they are inhumane, and they are not the responsibilities that parents should fulfill; they have already exceeded the scope of their abilities and their proper responsibilities. Why do I say this? Because parents begin attempting to plan and control their children’s futures before they reach adulthood, and also try to determine their children’s futures. Isn’t that foolish? (Yes.) For example, say that God has ordained that a man will be an ordinary worker, and in this life, he will only be able to earn some basic wages to feed and clothe himself, but his parents insist on him becoming a celebrity, a wealthy person, a high official, planning and arranging things for his future before he reaches adulthood, paying various kinds of so-called prices, attempting to control his life and future. Isn’t that foolish? (It is.)” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (18)). I read this passage of God’s words over and over, and I was deeply pierced and distressed. I realized that my expectations, efforts, and sacrifices for my daughter were contrary to humanity and against God’s ordinations and sovereignty. The destiny of a child is not something over which their parents can hold sovereignty, and I had to respect my child’s choices, submit to God’s ordinations, and not force my daughter to do things she didn’t like. What a person does in life and how they make a living has already been ordained by God. Just like how I really wanted to become an opera actor, but it didn’t work out as I wished. I couldn’t even change my own destiny, yet I wanted to change my daughter’s fate. I was truly foolish!

I then read more of God’s words: “Through dissecting the essence of parents’ expectations for their children, we can see that these expectations are selfish, that they go against humanity, and that they furthermore have nothing to do with the responsibilities of parents. When parents impose various expectations and requirements on their children, they are not fulfilling their responsibilities. So, what are their ‘responsibilities’? The most basic responsibilities that parents ought to fulfill are teaching their children to speak, instructing them to be kindhearted and to not be bad people, and guiding them in a positive direction. These are their most basic responsibilities. In addition, they should assist their children in studying any kinds of knowledge, talents, and so on, that suit them, based on their ages, how much they can handle, and their caliber and interests. Slightly better parents will help their children understand that people are created by God and that God exists in this universe, leading their children to pray and read God’s words, telling them some stories from the Bible, and hoping that they will follow God and perform the duty of a created being after they grow up, rather than chasing worldly trends, getting trapped within various complicated interpersonal relationships, and being devastated by the various trends of this world and society. The responsibilities that parents ought to fulfill have nothing to do with their expectations. The responsibilities they should fulfill in their role as parents are to provide their children with positive guidance and appropriate assistance before they reach adulthood, as well as to promptly care for them in their fleshly lives with regard to food, clothing, housing, or at times when they fall ill. If their children become sick, parents should treat whatever illness needs to be treated; they should not neglect their children or tell them, ‘Keep going to school, keep studying—you can’t fall behind in your classes. If you fall too far behind, you won’t be able to catch up.’ When their children need to rest, parents should let them rest; when their children are sick, parents must help them to recuperate. These are the responsibilities of parents. In one respect, they must care for the physical health of their children; in another respect, they must assist, educate, and aid their children in terms of their mental health. These are the responsibilities that parents ought to fulfill, rather than imposing any unrealistic expectations or requirements on their children. Parents must fulfill their responsibilities when it comes to both their children’s mental needs and the things that their children need in their physical lives” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (18)). After reading God’s words, I felt an indescribable sense of distress. Before, I’d thought that by having my daughter learn various skills, and getting her onto a famous stage to become well-known, so that everyone would admire and praise her, I was fulfilling my responsibility as a mother. But the true responsibility of parents is to ensure their children’s mental well-being and happiness while helping them establish positive thoughts and viewpoints, to guide them to have the right life goals, to cultivate them based on their interests and hobbies, and to guide them to submit to God’s ordinations and sovereignty. And in daily life, parents should provide their children with care in terms of essentials like food, clothing, shelter, and transportation. For example: They should tell them which foods are healthy to eat and which harm the body, take care of them when they are sick, give them medicine when needed, get them injections when required, and care for their basic living needs. These are things parents should do. Though it seemed I was doing right by my child by busying myself and rushing about for her, in reality, I just wanted my child to bring me glory and pride, even at the cost of depriving her of her childhood joy and keeping her from attending gatherings and eating and drinking God’s words. I was truly selfish! I should have guided her according to her caliber, interests, and hobbies, instead of forcefully suppressing her and imposing education on her. Furthermore, I should guide my child to come before God, have her pray, eat and drink God’s words, worship Him, and stay away from the evil trends of the world. After understanding God’s intention, I no longer took my daughter to participate in performances, and instead, I guided her to submit to God’s sovereignty and arrangements, and I spent more time with her eating and drinking God’s words and attending gatherings.

Later, when my daughter and I had a gathering, we watched a stage play, called Farewell, My Innocent Campus. After watching it, my daughter was deeply moved and understood that Satan uses fame and gain to harm people, and by eating and drinking God’s words, my daughter understood that only by doing her duties can she walk the right path in life. One day, when my daughter came back from school, she firmly said to me, “Mom, I feel really repressed at school, and I want to live a free and liberated life like the brothers and sisters. I want to give up my studies and do my duties in God’s house.” I was very surprised, thinking, “It hasn’t been easy for you to get where you are now. If you give up your studies, you’ll be forfeiting your dreams on stage once and for all. Doesn’t that mean all your previous efforts would have been in vain?” At that moment, I realized that I was again pursuing fame and gain, and I prayed to God in my heart, “God, my daughter is willing to give up her studies, but I still can’t bear it. God, please strengthen my resolve and help me break free from the shackles of fame and gain.” After praying, I remembered God’s words: “Through dissecting the essence of parents’ expectations for their children, we can see that these expectations are selfish, that they go against humanity” (The Word, Vol. 6. On the Pursuit of the Truth. How to Pursue the Truth (18)). “Which of you is performing your duty in God’s house right now by accident? Whatever background you came from to perform your duty, none of it was by chance. This duty can’t be performed by just finding a few believers at random; this was something predestined by God before the ages. What does it mean for something to be predestined? What specifically? It means that in His entire management plan, God long ago planned how many times you would be on earth, which lineage and which family you would be born into during the last days, what the circumstances of this family would be, whether you would be male or female, what your strengths would be, what level of education you would have, how articulate you would be, what your caliber would be, and what you would look like. He planned the age that you would come to God’s house and begin performing your duty and what duty you would perform at what time. God predestined each step for you early on. When you weren’t yet born and when you came to earth in your last several lives, God had already arranged for you what duty you would be performing in this final stage of work” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Part Three). From God’s words, I understood that the time for a person to come to God’s house and do their duty is something God has long since arranged. God had already long since ordained the time when my daughter would come and do her duty, and I couldn’t be as I had before, trying to control everything in her life for the sake of my own reputation and status. Since my daughter had chosen to follow God and do her duty, these were God’s ordinations and arrangements, and I had to give her positive guidance and let her walk the right path. This was my responsibility to fulfill. With this in mind, I gladly agreed to my daughter’s request. Not long after, my daughter gave up her studies and came to God’s house to do her duty. Seeing my daughter return to her usual bright and sunny self, I felt very happy, and I realized that only by submitting to the Creator’s ordinations and arrangements can one live with ease, freedom, and joy. This is something that no amount of money or fame can be exchanged for!

Afterward, I read two passages of God’s words, and I came to understand more about the value and meaning of human life. Almighty God says: “Everything in man’s life is empty and unworthy of remembering, apart from believing in God, pursuing the truth, and fulfilling their duty as a created being. Even if you have accomplished the most earth-shaking of feats; even if you have been to the Moon and back; even if you have made scientific advances that have been of some benefit or help to mankind, it is futile and all of it will pass away. What is the only thing that will not pass away? (The word of God.) Only the word of God, testimonies to God, all of the testimonies and works that bear witness for the Creator, and people’s good deeds will not pass away. These things will last forever, and they are so valuable. So, cast off all your restrictions, carry out this great endeavor, and don’t let yourselves be constrained by any people, events, and things; sincerely expend yourselves for God, and pour all your energy and effort into performing your duties. This is the thing that God blesses most of all, and it is worth any amount of suffering!” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only in Performing the Duty of a Created Being Well Is There Value in Living). “You follow God now, you listen to the word of God, and you accept the commission of the Creator. Sometimes it is a little difficult and tiring, and sometimes you receive a little humiliation and refinement; but these are good things, not bad things. What is it that you will gain, in the end? What you will gain is the truth and the life, and ultimately, the Creator’s approval and affirmation of you. God says, ‘You follow Me, and I favor you, and am pleased by you.’ If God says nothing other than that you are a created being in His eyes, then you have not been living in vain, and you are useful. It is amazing to be acknowledged by God in this way, and it is no small feat. If people follow Satan, what will they gain? (Destruction.) Before they are destroyed, what will those people become? (They will become demons.) Those people will become demons. No matter how many skills people acquire, how much money they earn, how much fame and gain they obtain, how many material benefits they enjoy, or how high their status is in the secular world, on the inside, they will become more and more corrupt, more and more wicked and dirty, more and more rebellious and hypocritical, and ultimately, they will become living ghosts—they will become inhuman. So how are such people seen in the eyes of the Creator? Just ‘inhuman,’ and that’s it? What is the Creator’s view and attitude toward such a person? It is aversion, disgust, detestation, rejection, and ultimately curses, punishment, and destruction. People walk different paths and end up with different outcomes. Which path do you choose? (To believe in God and to follow Him.) To choose to follow God is to choose the right path: It is to embark upon the path of light” (The Word, Vol. 3. The Discourses of Christ of the Last Days. Only in Performing the Duty of a Created Being Well Is There Value in Living). After reading God’s words, I understood that only by believing in God, pursuing the truth, and fulfilling the duty of a created being can one obtain the truth and live out a human likeness. Pursuing reputation and status is following Satan, and even if a person gains high regard from others, it is temporary, and they are still on the path to destruction. Now, both my daughter and I are doing our duties, and we have distanced ourselves from the various temptations and from the encroachments of evil trends in society. My daughter no longer feels repressed or in pain, and I have also come to feel at ease and liberated in my heart. In her duties, the brothers and sisters help my daughter with love; there is no mutual deceit, and everyone treats each other with sincerity. My daughter had bad habits, and the sisters patiently pointed them out and helped her, and in less than half a year, my daughter managed to correct many of her bad habits. Sometimes, my daughter notices my issues and takes the initiative to fellowship the truth with me. Seeing my daughter walk on the right path and make progress and changes, I thank God from the bottom of my heart! If it hadn’t been for God’s words guiding us, my daughter and I would still be living in the suffering caused by Satan, and we would have just kept rebelling against God and drifting ever further from Him, and in the end, we would have perished together with Satan. Thank God for saving us!