Let’s all just face this fact and stop living in denial about reality: people who desire to be pious/selfless are outcasts of a society that rewards the mindset of survival of the fittest (ie get to the top of the food chain at all costs). If you desire to be an upright man or woman, you are liable to be used, abused or trod upon by those who could care less about your wellbeing.
Let’s face the fact that this world is ruled by narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths who have a veneer of being good people but it’s more about presenting a positive and false self image than truly being respectable characters. If you even want to advance in society you have to play by their rules and compromise on true piety one way or another. Many have given up on being pious and gone the opposite direction after being hurt. The selfless love of most have gone cold just as it was prophesied and it is rare to even find someone you can trust.
Even in relationships, men and women no longer choose pious, unassuming and quiet partners because they appear “boring” but choose instead those who are loud, rude, flirtatious, those who are sensual and good at manipulating and seducing the opposite gender with their charms. They steal other people’s boyfriends and girlfriends with no shame, two time people in the name of friendship, flirt with every man and woman they meet, and change partners faster than the four seasons. Worse yet, men and women continue to choose such who lack virtue as spouses, then wonder why they are used and abused down the road. People who are selfless in their relationships but not “interesting” and “stimulating” get used by those who lack virtue while those who lack virtue but are good at seducing the opposite gender for selfish reasons get all the love and adoration because of the pleasures or resources they bring. So people are left with two choices: either become like those who lack virtue but win favor with their charms or lose out to them. Who even cares about the character of a potential partner anymore? It is better to remain single the rest of my life because of this and I refuse to become a seductress who suck every man dry even if I could.
But against all this I hold one hope, that this temporal life is a testing ground and a time of choosing for everyone. The battle of good vs evil was allowed to take place because mankind need to choose their sides and have their hearts tested. If it was easy to be pious then it would be worth little. Just like how diamonds are rare but precious, so are those who choose to become pious from a pure heart. Just like gold is tried by fire, so are the hearts of people tried by trials and injustice.
This world has no understanding why certain people suffer continued misfortune for doing nothing wrong so lacking in sympathy instead mock them as unfortunate or lacking in good karma but no, these people are in fact being tested and refined in their characters. It is not those who are righteous when it is convenient that are truly righteous, but those who choose to be so at whatever the cost and who resist every and all temptations to go the other way. No achievements in this world can match the glory of an upright character, every choice and action will either lead one closer or further away from it.
“What profit is it for a person to gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” For “God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
Let’s face the fact that this world is ruled by narcissists, psychopaths and sociopaths who have a veneer of being good people but it’s more about presenting a positive and false self image than truly being respectable characters. If you even want to advance in society you have to play by their rules and compromise on true piety one way or another. Many have given up on being pious and gone the opposite direction after being hurt. The selfless love of most have gone cold just as it was prophesied and it is rare to even find someone you can trust.
Even in relationships, men and women no longer choose pious, unassuming and quiet partners because they appear “boring” but choose instead those who are loud, rude, flirtatious, those who are sensual and good at manipulating and seducing the opposite gender with their charms. They steal other people’s boyfriends and girlfriends with no shame, two time people in the name of friendship, flirt with every man and woman they meet, and change partners faster than the four seasons. Worse yet, men and women continue to choose such who lack virtue as spouses, then wonder why they are used and abused down the road. People who are selfless in their relationships but not “interesting” and “stimulating” get used by those who lack virtue while those who lack virtue but are good at seducing the opposite gender for selfish reasons get all the love and adoration because of the pleasures or resources they bring. So people are left with two choices: either become like those who lack virtue but win favor with their charms or lose out to them. Who even cares about the character of a potential partner anymore? It is better to remain single the rest of my life because of this and I refuse to become a seductress who suck every man dry even if I could.
But against all this I hold one hope, that this temporal life is a testing ground and a time of choosing for everyone. The battle of good vs evil was allowed to take place because mankind need to choose their sides and have their hearts tested. If it was easy to be pious then it would be worth little. Just like how diamonds are rare but precious, so are those who choose to become pious from a pure heart. Just like gold is tried by fire, so are the hearts of people tried by trials and injustice.
This world has no understanding why certain people suffer continued misfortune for doing nothing wrong so lacking in sympathy instead mock them as unfortunate or lacking in good karma but no, these people are in fact being tested and refined in their characters. It is not those who are righteous when it is convenient that are truly righteous, but those who choose to be so at whatever the cost and who resist every and all temptations to go the other way. No achievements in this world can match the glory of an upright character, every choice and action will either lead one closer or further away from it.
“What profit is it for a person to gain the whole world but lose his own soul?” For “God will repay each person according to what they have done. To those who by persistence in doing good seek glory, honor and immortality, He will give eternal life. But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow evil, there will be wrath and anger.”
