Perfection of Character

Sang Ik Choi
December 1971

Our world is built by truth so now is the day when we must know very plainly, by spiritual since and by science the truth and purpose behind the creation. Now is the time for us to accept the responsibility of embodying the truth fully. We were created to be perfect means that we have the right to accept our perfection when it comes. It is only natural for us to suffer when we see our position and realize the difference between it and our ultimate perfection of character. Yet, we must remain positive and continue to overcome our struggles through understanding and actualizing the truth in our daily life.

Perfect character controls self and environment. God said, "Be fruitful, multiply and subdue the earth." But before we can truly subdue others and the universe, we must train self and really be able to control our own emotions and thoughts. Thus, control means not only doing what you feel like, not being affected by external circumstances, but to overcome and to act positively. We know we must overcome any negative habit or difficult situation, yet many times we give in to the situation and to our emotions. We will never grow or perfect ourselves in this way. If we say we can't do it we will only self-justify our actions and stay at a partial level; the final judge we would have to face is ourselves. That is why we must train the self to the most truthful things first regardless of how we feel. How much we use truth depends on us.

To grow and develop our ideal character, we must continually involve ourselves in studying principle and manifest in action our understanding of the ideas. When we work hard for others' sake and when we give truth to others, we can quickly grow ourselves as well as help others to grow in the- right direction.

Oftentimes when we encounter negative feelings we like to place the blame on others rather than ourselves. This is a very immature attitude. Not yet being perfect, struggles are bound to appear so we need a broad mind to comprehend ourselves and others. We feel things from others because we are not mature. That is why to overcome this we must really train ourselves to carry out moment to moment seriously with whole effort the best for the highest value. Je, as heavenly children, are to use 100% of our effort -- out whole spirit mind and heart -- for the heavenly sake.

Resurrection means the death of our old self (character) and the birth of new divine life. So our struggles and challenges can be endurable if we really hate our old self and desire to bring out the new. In this process of resurrection of heavenly character, which is the image of God, we must have the spirit of an artist. Life itself is an art. At first the work will not come out well, but if we keep the faith and put forth all our effort, we can accomplish our goal. Dedicated artists work until they accomplish their ideal, but sometimes even if we know our goals, we only work partially and too easily give up. Artists love to establish eternal truth, beauty and love in our lives. Learn the spirit of the artist. Have the spirit of Michelangelo. Be proud and enjoy putting all effort to work.

To reach the perfection of our character we must always be open with love even though we have our own feelings and idea. Keep self but always put it secondary to helping others.

A sound spirit is necessary, but in order to get spiritual joy, a sound physical body must first be developed. A sound body and a sound spirit together make possible spiritual joy. Therefore to experience the happy, joyful life we must fundamentally provide a solid economic base, with physical civilization and culture. We need new ways which can help us to effectively maintain our physical bodies and to also improve our physical environment. Though we seek joy, love and an appreciation for beauty, we cannot truly feel and actualize these essential qualities of life without sound physical bodies.

What is the true life? The true life gives us true joy- based on the truth. Spiritual truth gives you joy and satisfaction in your life. The true life gives us joy based on a material foundation. Next, we must clearly understand the relationships between the physical and the spiritual aspects of life. We must understand that the spirit is the subject and the physical body is the object. For example, this house exists as a manifestation of a man's creative idea. In the same way, the universe is God's creative idea manifested materially. The idea itself is spirit. My speaking, my action comes from my spirit. External mass is the object; internal character and quality is the subject. Some people are too materialistic and they ignore the spirit, others are too spiritual and ignore the material. Emphasis on one or the other is a great mistake because we need both. Disorder of this relationship gives no unification, order and harmony to our life. Instead it brings chaos, struggling and destruction. Today's materialists say we need more than we actually need. Pouring all our energies into gaining material goods in this way our spirits have become slaves to the material. It is true that we need material things. But once we acquire a material foundation- our whole efforts should be towards the establishment of true human character.

Give and take between man and man is the true joy of human life. Give and take with an illusion is not actual life. We live in a material, physical world based on time and space. If you ignore the practical or the actual substantial reality, and just give and take with an illusion, then there is no positive effect in reality. Hippies taking LSD say that they feel love, beauty and truth. Whatever is felt as a result of give and take with narcotics has no lasting and constructive results in reality. Your love, beauty and truth must be manifested in actuality.

True joy comes from doing for the whole purpose before your own. This is an everlasting and universal joy. External and internal joy from order and harmony, beauty and love exists based on truth. Through the truth, this joy never becomes exhaustive-this joy is ever-lasting; this joy is universal. If people all over the world would develop their human characters, based on truth and love there would truly be a joyful life for all people in the world. This is good and everlasting for heaven and for earth. The truth is actual and life also is a reality. We must therefore study the truth and develop our character. As Jesus once spoke, "We must be perfect as our Heavenly Father is perfect."