Publisher's Synopsis
Most people experience moments of wavering faith. People have doubts in their hearts. If we do believe that God is watching over us all the time, why we fail to discipline ourselves? If people truly believe in God's plan, why people suffer from fear of the unknown?When it comes to the definition of a good person, most people think of boundless forgiveness, obligatory tolerance and charity, but countless people have no idea about the 7 heavenly virtues and 7 deadly sins. The fact is that most people underestimate the sins of pride, anger, apathy and jealousy.According to the Bible, a blessed life is not an easy life without any life troubles, worries and challenges. Countless people feel they are badly rewarded by God. Most people stigmatize their life troubles because they know nothing about "God's discipline" (Hebrews 12:11). According to the Bible, God only disciplines those He loves. As we stigmatize life challenges, we betray God's love and benevolence. What about the great figures in history? What about the life of Mater Teresia, Princess Diana, Queen Elizabeth II, or Albert Einstein? Evidently, God does not tend to make anyone's life perfect. Going through the hard times gives us the chance to witness unconditional love and sufferings teach us to be truly humble and compassionate to others' pain.There are too many temptations. It's never easy to live a life fully abide by the creeds laid out in the Bible. And we might commit sins that we do not even aware of, such as anger, pride, gluttony or apathy. And pride is recognized as a capital sin in the Bible. Material enjoyment might be temptations too because "love of money" is forbidden by God. According to the Bible, "It is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (NRSV, Mark 10:23-27). Because those who have been "given much, much will be demanded" (Luke 12; 47-48).God will train those He loves and test "genuineness" of their faith (1 Peter 1:3-9 ESV). Without God's discipline, we might be allured by unduly desires, greed or lust, all of which are included in the 7 deadly sins. Thus, when our life track differs from our original plan, don't be scared. God's discipline and God's love are intertwined. That fully explains the strong connection between God's discipline and post-traumatic growth. God abhors wickedness and God's punishment shows God's wrath and God's justice to the injustice and wickedness. God knows the motives of our prayers. I always believe that everyone is having the life as the leading character Truman Burbank in the film "The Truman Show." Because we are living under the camera of God. There's a famous Chinese saying: God is watching our every move, which means our daily lives are under the supervision of God. According to the Bible, God reads our minds and every spoken word will be judged by God. As to altruism, there are people who cast doubts on others' unselfish acts. There are people who tend to criticize those who make donations by wondering their intention or motives. Here's my response: We know what is right, what is charitable and what is good for the society. For example, volunteering is good. But most people prefer to spend their weekend partying or something. If we know something is morally correct or beneficial to the good of the whole society, and we never do it, then we are not qualified to judge or criticize those who do more than us. The fact is that it's totally ironic for those who do less criticize those who do more.
