1. People Do Not Thoroughly Understand Their Own Natures
You currently know about some of your own difficulties, you know the corruption that usually happens easily, and which things are easy for you to do; however, the most difficult thing is being able to control yourselves. You don’t know when you will do something or which serious things you will do. Perhaps there is something that you thought you would never do, but in a given time or environment that happened; you really did it and said it. These unexpected things are things that people are not able to control; how can this be? It is because people nowadays do not thoroughly understand the substance of their own natures; they do not really understand or deeply recognize their own substance in several big ways; therefore putting truth into practice is very strenuous for them. For example, if a person is quite deceitful, and dishonest in his words and deeds, then what will he say when you ask him what his biggest shortcomings are? He will say: “I am a little deceitful.” He will merely say he is a little deceitful, but he won’t say that his nature is deceitful, and he won’t say that he is a deceitful person. He doesn’t see his own nature all that deeply, he doesn’t see it as critically or thoroughly as other people see it. As other people see it, this person is too deceitful and crooked; every word he speaks carries lies, his words and actions are never honest, but he doesn’t see how deep it is. Even if he recognized it a little, it would only be a superficial recognition. So when he speaks and works, he always reveals something about his nature, yet he is unaware of it. He thinks that he is being honest in what he is doing and that he is doing things in accordance with truth. Actually, from the perspective of bystanders, this person is very crooked and deceitful; he is still dishonest in his words and actions. This is to say that there is always a huge discrepancy between the way people understand their own natures and the way God has revealed human nature. This is not a mistake in what God reveals, but rather it is mankind’s profound lack of understanding of his nature. People do not have a fundamental or substantial understanding of themselves, but rather they focus on and devote their energy to their actions and outward expressions. Even if someone occasionally said something about understanding himself, it wouldn’t be very profound. No one has ever thought that they are this type of person or have this type of nature for doing this type of thing or revealing something in a certain aspect. God has revealed the nature and substance of man, but man understands that their way of doing things and way of speaking is flawed and defective; therefore it is a strenuous task for people to put truth into practice. People think that their mistakes are merely momentary manifestations, which are revealed if they are not careful, rather than being revelations of their nature. People that understand themselves in this way are not able to put truth into practice, because they are not able to accept truth as truth and do not thirst after truth; therefore, when putting truth into practice, they perfunctorily follow the rules. People do not view their own natures as being too corrupt, and believe that they do not reach the level of being destroyed or punished. They think that it is not a big deal to lie occasionally, and they are much better than before; but in fact, according to the standards, there is a big difference, because people only have some practices that outwardly don’t violate truth, but in fact they are not putting truth into practice.
