The Words of Reverend Chong Jik Woo 

The Main Elements of Success in the Life of Faith

by Rev. Chong Jik Woo

This is excerpted from the Sunday Sermon on September 4, 1994 at the church in Washington DC.

The historical year of 1994 is nearly gone. Time passes so fast. In one sense it is good that time is moving quickly, but on the other hand, because we need more time to fulfill our responsibility, it seems that time moves too fast.

Everyone wants to have a successful life of faith. Isn't that true? Then, how can we bring success in our life of faith? According to my understanding, if we take action by following the way that he has shown, taught and trained us, we will have success in our life of faith.

We have to have a personal awakening and a genuine repentance by understanding the truth and opening the window of our heart. Today, I would like to share with you Jesus' teaching from the Sermon on the Mount. This was the priceless and timeless education which he gave to his disciples. It is just as relevant for us today.

In our life of faith, we need to experience incredible creative development rather than just depending on the circumstances of the moment. The times require us to have a right attitude in the life of faith, which means we should always study, be awake, experience repentance, confession, development and growth. If we do, we can bear fruit and gain many accomplishments. That kind of hopeful life of faith is what we need.

What shall we do right now? Because of our present difficult situation, do we feel hopeless and just give up? Even thought we may struggle, go forward anyway and make a new start in our life of faith.

In order to accomplish anything, we have to take responsibility. We are people who believe in God and eternal life, not only this secular life, and therefore, no matter how hard it is, we have to follow Father with our utmost sincere heart. In fact, we should even try to go ahead of him rather than just following him. I have been thinking about our life of faith and what we must do to bring success. With such a life of faith we can become a historical person in God's providence.

Obedience, purity and cleanliness

The Bible says, "blessed are the poor in spirit for theirs is the Kingdom of heaven." Such a person does not have a selfish mind full of private desires. Their mind is merciful and pure. A person who is pure in heart can see God. We are restoring the pure and bright spirit of Adam and Eve before the Fall. So we have to make a deeper relationship with God. God dwells with this kind of person and helps him. Even in a hungry and difficult situation, God can help.

In the mind of a child nothing is hidden or secret. Children are very open. There is nothing that is strange about them and they have no unnecessary desires. They depend on their parents and obey the word and seek the reward of the warm love of their mommy and daddy. That's how children mature. Also children don't tire out easily. They have a fresh point of view. They are interested in everything, even if they get scolded, they bounce back quickly and don't bear a grudge. Children don't live at a distance from God. Their mind is not heavy and hard. They always have the same heart and spirit. We should try to learn many things from children and our second generation, especially about having a pure and bright spirit. Whoever can learn from children can become a humble adult. You can stay young and always dwell with God and live in the Kingdom. Who wants to do that? Then, let's give more to our second generation. We have to establish that kind of environment in which they mature with purity and beauty. Unfortunately, most children learn bad habits from their parents in the home. So we should try, one more time, to understand that our portion of responsibility is to establish a good foundation for our children.

Instead of learning from their children about having a pure and bright spirit, we see many cases of child abuse and teen pregnancy. This world looks like it is going against God's will. Who will take responsibility for this society as we near the turning point from the first generation to the second generation? We have to totally repent and start again. In order to have success in our life of faith, we have to have a child-like mind and the quality that will maintain the beauty of our character forever.

Serving, sacrifice and thanksgiving

God has been struggling behind the main road of history with the hope to embrace his children. He has been waiting for the hopeful day while enduring suffering and pain with blood and tears waiting to see his lovely children blessed. With a mournful and wishful heart, he endures...."Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the merciful for they shall obtain mercy."

The parent's heart is the closest to heaven. If our mind is a parent's mind while our body, a servant's body, then we can interact with God's heart, if we serve and sacrifice constantly.

Of all the minds in the world, the most beautiful, high, widest, deepest and round is the parent's mind. Only with a parent's mind can we get close to God and True Parents.

Parents may have a struggling and painful heart. No one may understand them. They may have to endure hardship until they are tired and broken. They can't express their true heart to their children. Parents continuously serve and sacrifice with a thankful and hopeful mind toward their children.

A person with a parent's mind offers good things to God and other people. He is eager to work hard and is willing to work without help. He'll do the most thankless and unpleasant job with a thankful mind.

We need a sacrificial, serving lifestyle in our life of faith. With such a lifestyle, we will have results that will give us pride forever. We have to know clearly the way and mind of True Parents. So, with sacrifice, service and a thankful mind, we will find success in our life of faith.

Meekness, humility and heavenly wisdom.

The Bible says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth" What if Abel, all those years ago, had been humble and wise in front of Cain? If Abel wasn't proud and emotional, Cain wouldn't have killed Abel. God's providence, as a result, would have been very different. Cain and Abel could have fulfilled at that time.

We can learn a lot from the Cain and Abel relationship. For instance, we have to try to have a humble mind, to try to understand a situation, to respect others, not to be proud and leap to conclusions or make quick judgments. We should try to see things from the other person's point of view. We can try to help and encourage others.

We need that kind of attitude in order to make better Cain and Abel relationships. The humble person never loses, because he has good relations with people. However, the proud person is cut off from others. People don't like him, and won't help him in a time of need.

God cannot dwell in our relationships unless we make harmony between parents and children, husband and wife, from top to bottom, among our family, and in the neighborhood. Without God, we cannot enter the kingdom. In order to establish the kingdom, we have to try to make unity, harmony, and be a peacemaker.

If we have a meek and humble mind, full of heavenly wisdom, we can accomplish God's will and make peace wherever we go.

Love, patience and action

Father said, the purpose of life is to live for others. We are born to live and die for the sake of others. This is the way of true love, life, and truth. Only by going this way can we separate from evil and Satan, keeping them apart from the earth.

Because Satan took power, sovereignty, glory and position from God, and misused them for six thousand years, then these all must be restored back to God. The purpose of our life of faith is to love our neighbor as ourselves. So we have to separate ourselves from Satan and separate our neighbor, society, nation, world, and universe from Satan, as well. We have to completely kick Satan out!

We have to achieve the natural surrender of Satan, so he can return to his original position of goodness. Who is going to burn the candle of true love in this desperate society? Sadly, a dry heart and love are typical of these Last Days.

Human beings have dual purposes: the purpose of the individual and the purpose of the whole. In order to be a true righteous person, we must make beautiful harmony between the two purposes. We were not born human just to eat and live for ourselves. We are a social animal, so we have to share together. We eat together, love, live, and have joy together. We should try to unite with our poor neighbors, to bring comfort, peace and unity. True love must bear fruit, otherwise it is dead.

God blessed us for the sake of others; that is, for the public purpose. So we have to push forward. The completion of our humanity and true love is to expand and broaden our sense of life. Jesus Christ sacrificed his life for the sake of the world. True Parents, too, spent all of their lives struggling and sacrificing in order to restore the heavenly kingdom. To restore all things to heaven, they showed us the standard lifestyle. They showed us the formula course. We should follow that.

Conviction, creativity and accomplishment

"Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness." For the sake of righteousness we have to overcome all difficulty and circumstances and go forward with confidence and zeal. Our ultimate purpose is the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth and in heaven. So in order to accomplish this mission in our lifetime we have to unite our mind and body with True Parents. We have to have a single destiny for our life and death, suffering and joy.

We have a great common responsibility, which means, in order to go into the promised land we have to build the heavenly kingdom, no matter how much suffering comes during the 40 year wilderness course. Although we have been waiting so long for the Completed Testament Age, still, we have to clean up our past. We have to have a new discovery of ourselves. We must do this with a strong and bold determination. Through such great adventures we will gain a wonderful result.

Don't postpone until tomorrow what can be done today. We have to have conviction to do the job of today. With that confidence let us join the historical bonfire. We have to find spiritual children and go forward to establish a new America.

In this Completed Testament Age we must understand America's responsibility, let us go forward with conviction, creativity and achievement.

As True Parents have shown us all their life, we have to reach the completion of the word and strive for perfect heart, personality and life.

We should avoid self pride, carelessness and laziness in our life of faith. With a sincere spirit, we have to harvest a great victorious result. We have to overcome all circumstances and be a success in our life of faith.

In this historical turning point, let us follow True Parent's directions, absolutely obey and become a unforgettable person.

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