By Xiaoke
One day, I happened to read a short story, which immediately attracted me with its plot. The story goes like this: The protagonist’s sister became a second wife of his factory manager. At first, when hearing this news, the protagonist was filled with moral indignation. He thought it was shameful and wanted to settle with the factory manager at once. But before he did that, the factory was ready to downsize the staff to improve efficiency. Because he was worried about losing his job, then he turned to his sister for help. As a result, he was not laid off. Immediately after, the factory would hold an election for a workshop manager. He asked his sister for help again, and then he became the workshop manager. He was really up, secretly thinking that it was pretty good if he could claim relationship with the factory manager. …
After finishing reading this storiette, I thought carefully and found it sounded ironic. From the outset, the protagonist burned with anger at the news that his sister made a kept woman of the factory manager, and regarded it as a shameful thing. However, when the situation changed and the interest of him was involved, his attitude changed dramatically—from originally rejecting his sister as a kept woman to supporting his sister to be a third person who broke up others’ family. Seeing the change of the protagonist, I couldn’t help sighing that I was going the same way as him. When I first began to work, and saw others please and flatter our leaders, I had an extreme aversion to them, and disdained to do like that. But when I saw others could get high positions, favorable treatment, and high pay by currying favor with leaders, my mentality gradually changed from previous aversion to acceptance, and then followed it. Sometimes, when I quieted my heart and considered it, I was shocked: What is it that makes us become what we are today?
After that, I read a passage of word in a spiritual book: “If people don’t understand the truth, before the human life inside them understands the truth, it can only accept and accommodate these things. So within an environment, whatever this environment instills in you, you then become; whatever it instills in you, you then obtain; however it controls you and leads you, in the end you become that kind of person. … You become like this, and you don’t know when the change began, you’re unclear about it. You’re unclear on how this change has happened. Anyway, you have become who you are today. You don’t know how on earth you came to be this way, you’re unclear about why you took this path in the beginning, unclear about why you have now become like this; in short, you came to be this way in a state of confusion. This is the process of Satan’s corruption of man, and it is the method it uses, and people are therefore corrupted and degenerated in this way. … Satan corrupts people while they are unaware. Every day, every year, people unknowingly learn some survival skills and unknowingly accept some ideologies. Because they have seen and experienced some things, unknowingly their ideologies undergo a transformation, they undergo different kinds of transformations” (“Only When One Has the Truth as Life Can One Resist Evil Trends”).
Think carefully, it is really as what these words say: We don’t have any resistant ability when the evil social trends engulf us, because we totally do not know what the right is or what the wrong is, much less know how Satan corrupts mankind. Facing these evil trends, we can only passively fit, accept, and follow the rules of living and thoughts that are instilled by Satan. For example, just when we are in the workplace, and see others get what they want by pursuing the rules of living such as “observing others’ speech and behavior,” “those who do not flatter accomplish nothing,” and “everyone for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” we unknowingly accept such thoughts and logic. And then, we live by these living rules of Satan, have less and less conscience and sense and human likeness, and even when we see the evil and negative things, we also don’t have the perception of conscience, but take an attitude of acquiescence. Thinking that we have been corrupted by Satan like this, I felt shivery. I couldn’t imagine what we will be like if we go on in this way.
In confusion, I continued to read. The book says, “The truth that man needs to possess is found in the word of God, a truth that is the most beneficial and helpful to mankind. It is the tonic and sustenance that your body needs, something that helps man restore his normal humanity, a truth that man should be equipped with. The more you practice God’s word, the more quickly your life will blossom; the more you practice God’s word, the clearer the truth becomes. As you grow in stature, you will see things of the spiritual world more clearly, and you will be more powerful to triumph over Satan” (“Practice the Truth Once You Understand It”). “When he has a life goal and comports himself according to the truth; when he absolutely submits to God and lives by God’s word; when he feels assured and brightened deep in his soul; when his heart is free of darkness; and when he lives completely freely and unrestrained in God’s presence—only then does he live a true human life and become a person possessing truth. Besides, all the truths you have are from God’s word and from God Himself. The Ruler of the entire universe and all things—God Most High—approves of you, as a real man living the true human life. What could be more meaningful than God’s approval?” (“How to Know Man’s Nature”). In these words, I understood: God’s word is the truth. Only by accepting God’s word, can I know the truth, see through Satan’s evil essence, have discernment of the ways in which Satan corrupts mankind, and reject being eroded by evil trends. Only the truth can bring me the light, show me the direction ahead, and let me live out a meaningful and valuable life. From these words, I found the way forward, and also saw the only way of breaking away from Satan’s corruption—coming before God and accepting all the truths from God. At the time, I felt a great release in my heart. …
