How to Love Your Neighbor as You Love Yourself? The Lord Jesus taught us to love others as ourselves. So what should we do to conform to God’s will? Read now to find the answer.
By Sun Yun
Editor’s Note: Still stressing about how to get along with your co-workers in the workplace? Sun Yun used to be the same way: When she observed how her co-worker took all the easy work for herself but received the same salary, she felt this to be incredibly unfair and became unhappy with her. She had come to an impasse in her relationship with this co-worker. Later on, however, she was able to easily resolve these issues, and not only established a good relationship with her co-worker, but even earned her praise. Do you want to know how she achieved all this? Read on to hear her story.
So This Is What’s Going On!
In September of 2017, I was working as a dishwasher in a large hotel. There were two dishwashing stations and most of the time there would be two dishwashers working at station one. If the hotel was hosting a big reception, one of the workers from station one would be reassigned to station two. From what I had heard from other work units in the hotel, dishwashers were always vying to be assigned to station two. They would constantly fight over assignments, which made for a discordant atmosphere among co-workers. As a result, the hotel was always having to hire new dishwashers as old ones quit. Yet, I didn’t know any of this when I first arrived.
My work partner was a long-time employee named Ms. Wang. Whenever I had any questions on the job she would always fill me in. At first, Ms. Wang and I both worked at station one. This station had a very high volume. Not only did we process all the guests’ tableware, we also had to wash all of the equipment used by the kitchens for food preparation and cooking, including large and small pressure cookers and square and circular plates. Tableware with leftover oil, seasoning, foods, soup and rice would often be covered with plastic wrap and would be particularly difficult to clean. It was a hard day’s work, but we got along very well and were always chatting and laughing.
One day, the hotel was holding a big reception and Ms. Wang said to me, “You’ve just started here and aren’t up to speed yet. Station two is a lot busier. I’ll take it easy on you and let you work at station one, I’ll go over to station two.” I found it heartwarming that Ms. Wang would do this for me and so I smiled and thanked her for her consideration. In this way, every time there was a big reception, Ms. Wang would go to station two to wash dishes. When Ms. Wang left and it was just me working at station one, I’d be so busy cleaning all those dirty, oily plates that I’d barely have time to eat or go to the bathroom. My back would ache, my legs would be sore and I’d feel as though it were almost too much stress for my body to take. Yet, when I got off work, I’d find that Ms. Wang seemed full of energy, and didn’t look at all like I did at station one, tired to the point of utter exhaustion. As time went on, I began to have my reservations. “Why does she always want to go to station two? Isn’t it even busier at station two? But why does Ms. Wang always look all relaxed after working a whole day at station two? What was the work like at station two anyways? Was it much easier than working at station one?” I began to have all kinds of questions and became particularly curious about the nature of work at station two. I thought to myself, “Next time there’s a reception, I’ve got to go see station two for myself.”
One day, when the hotel was holding another reception, I asked Ms. Wang, “Ms. Wang, would it be alright if I went to station two today?” Ms. Wang calmly agreed. When I went to station two, I was surprised to find that the work there consisted of just washing tableware like wine glasses, regular glasses, and fruit platters. Also, the tableware there was not at all oily or dirty—just a light rinsing would suffice to clean most things. The work barely took any energy and was far easier than the work at station one. The longer I was there, the angrier I became—my heart was nearly boiling over with rage. I thought, “So all this time Ms. Wang has been leaving all the hard work at station one to me and even dressed it up by saying she was taking it easy on me. Being the idiot I am, I believed her lies and even thanked her, but she was tricking me all along. How selfish Ms. Wang is, taking all the easy work for herself and leaving all the dirty and tiring work for me. How unfair! Hmph! I can’t keep getting the short end of the stick. Next time I’m going to take station two again and let her experience what it feels like to work alone in station one.” The next time the hotel was hosting a reception, as soon as I heard about it, I went directly to station two without even saying anything to Ms. Wang. However, after I had done this twice, Ms. Wang started having a gloomy, somber look on her face and wouldn’t pay any attention to me. Sometimes she would completely close herself off and not say a word to me the entire day. Slowly, our relationship grew cold and distant.
Why Can’t We Get Along Well With Our Co-workers?
One day after work, as I was walking home I thought about how my relationship with Ms. Wang had turned sour and I became very sad. Given that I had gotten the upper hand these two times, it stood to reason that I should have gotten out all of my frustration and should be happy. So why was it that I still felt awful? Before, Ms. Wang and I had gotten along great, but now, just for a little personal benefit, our relationship had become strained, alas! However, whenever I thought about how we received the same pay even though I had to do all the dirty and tiring work at station one while Ms. Wang was sitting pretty with the light loads at station two, it just seemed so unfair. I couldn’t help but sigh to myself, saying, “Why is it so hard to get along with others? What can I do to repair my relationship with this co-worker?”
When I got back home, I prayed to God, “Oh God, I find it very unfair how I have to work much harder than Ms. Wang for the same pay. Sometimes we even fight over who will get the easier work. Now I’ve grown very distant from Ms. Wang. Dear God, I feel awful and don’t want to go on in this way. I pray that You enlighten and guide me to know Your intention.” After finishing my prayer, I found the following passage of God’s word: “Until people have experienced God’s work and gained the truth, it is Satan’s nature that takes charge and dominates them from within. What, specifically, does that nature entail? … By now, you all have come to understand that the main reason behind all these things is that they contain Satan’s poison. As for what Satan’s poison is, it can be fully expressed with words. For example, if you ask some evildoers why they act that way, they will answer, ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.’ This single phrase expresses the very root of the problem. The logic of Satan has become people’s lives. They may do things for this purpose or that, but they are only doing it for themselves. People all think that since it is every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost, they should live for their own sakes, doing everything in their power to secure a good position and what food and clothing they need. ‘Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost’—this is the life and the philosophy of man, and it also represents human nature. This statement is precisely Satan’s poison, and when internalized by people, it becomes their nature. Satan’s nature is exposed through these words; they completely represent it. This poison becomes people’s lives as well as the foundation of their existence, and corrupted humanity has been consistently dominated by this poison for thousands of years” (“How to Walk the Path of Peter”).
Through God’s words, I came to understand that the reason it is so hard for people to get along is that we have all been corrupted too deeply by Satan. Satan tempts and corrupts us, going through the words of the famous and influential and our school educations to instill us with logic and principles such as, “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost.” This idea leads us to believe that all people should live for themselves alone and that this is perfectly acceptable behavior. If people don’t act on their own behalf they’re just getting the short end of the stick and are being stupid. We’ve accepted Satan’s fallacious and absurd notions and live by its logic and principles. As such, we have become selfish, lowly, calculating and speak and act according to the maxim, “Take advantage of others, but never be taken advantage of.” Everything is done in the name of profit. We only consider our own profit and never think of how others will feel. There are even those that resort to conniving and mutual slaughter to protect their own interests. In this way, we lose our good conscience and reason and become devoid of humanity. There remains not a sliver of love or support between people. This is the consequence of our living according to satanic logic and principles.
Was this not exactly the issue between me and Ms. Wang? When we worked in station one together, we were doing the same work and earning the same wage, neither of us infringed upon the interests of the other and so we got along great and had a very good relationship. However, when the hotel held receptions, Ms. Wang intentionally deceived me in order to get the easier workload at station two. When I found out what she was up to, I was extremely offended and thought that I had been working so much more than Ms. Wang. As a result, I carried around this hatred of Ms. Wang with me every day and even fought with her over who would get station two. Because of this, our relationship came to an impasse and neither of us was happy. Were our attitudes toward personal profit not the result of being deeply corrupted by Satan and living by the principle “Every man for himself and the devil take the hindmost,” fighting and fussing for our personal benefit? Reflecting on my attitude and behavior during this period, I felt very ashamed. I’m a Christian, but I was living according to Satan’s logic and principles just like an unbeliever, fighting with others for personal benefit. How selfish and lowly I was! I had not the slightest semblance of a real Christian. Having realized all this, I decided to put aside my personal profit and stop fighting with Ms. Wang.
Source From: Faith and Life
Explore more topics:
True Stories of Faith in God－God Saved My Daughter From Death
Reflection about life－How can we break free from the shackles of money, get rid of the empty and painful life, and gain true peace and joy?
Write a comment