To Obey is Better than Sacrifice

(Based on the words of President SA Gilja from her book Testimony to God’s Words)

The tree composed of Roots, Trunk, Branches, Stems and Fruits. God and True Parents are the roots. They are the Alpha & Omega, the beginning and the last. The fruits are property of the tree and came from the root. They are the substantial outcome of the tree and purposely for the tree.

Father explained that in relation to the tree, all of us, members, are small branches and the only way to hold on hanging unto the tree, the only CONDITION and Method necessary, is thru Absolute Obedience. It means in relation to God’s providence the only way we can keep our position is thru our absolute unity with our True Parents.

President Sa said “We must not have SELF-Consciousness”. “Father sows the seeds and he will reap the results. Therefore it’s important to absolutely unite with True Parents who started and the very central axis of the providence.”

She mentioned the common mistake made by some pastors is by acting stubbornly just to make results. “When fruits are being reaped it is important for us to do it according to True Parents’ instructions” “Father told us, that it is okay if we couldn’t show any results at the moment as long as we worked hard according to True Parents’ directions.” “Even though, we produce little providential results, it is important to uphold True Parents’ command”. “It is a CONDITION.”

One example she mentioned is: Even though we are working on something already IF True Parents asked us to work on something NEW, it is necessary to stop what we are doing and start with the new mission as we are told to.

It is important to set the STANDARD of unity with True Parents’ shimjeong! Because we are creating a condition for Satan not to accuse us and to be separated from Satan.

ABSOLUTE UNITY to True Parents & ABSOLUTE OBEDIENCE to True Parents’ commands are conditions necessary to bring down God’s infinite power to work on the earth. True Parents attained complete ONENESS with God with respect to His Shimjeong; and thru unity with True Parents, we become one with God’s shimjeong, therefore absolute obedience is necessary.

She said there are 3 things we need to be aware of in our life of faith: DON’T Criticize True Parents, DON’T Complain about True Parents’ directions and DON’T Worry about our situations. To criticize, to complain and to worry are 3 things Satan like the most.

Why we should not criticize, complain and worry? President SA said, it is because True Parents is moving the Spirit World, and is working in accordance with the Sp World.

There are many directions True Parents gave and asked us to do. Many of them seem illogical and unreasonable. Some are inappropriate or out of context but President Sa said, “that idea are only according to our own humanistic views and mindset.”

She mentioned that some members who left the church are people who thought of themselves as smart and use their own judgment to measure things out and even told Father “don’t do this and that don’t say this, etc. They even criticize some of True Parents’ works.

We must all be aware that everything True Parents do are all connected to spirit world where, by our own physical senses, we can’t see and our limited mind can’t comprehend.

In conclusion, for us to be eternally connected to heavenly will, we have to maintain a life of absolute unity & absolute obedience as our path to attending Heavenly Parent & True Parents. Bible words from 1 Samuel 15:22-23:

But Samuel replied: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obeying the LORD? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have rejected the word of the LORD, he has rejected you as king.”

True Parents’ words:

You have probably heard the Divine Principle lectures several times. They include the Principle of Restoration, the formula for fallen humankind to find God. How does that formula proceed? It is not through knowledge or through mere words; it is through the heart. If we look at Adam’s family, Cain and Abel’s positions were determined by heart. What matters is who loves God more, not who receives more of God’s love. (33-095, 1970.08.09) (CSG Bk8 Ch3 Sec1 #2)

You should not have selfish ambitions. You must become completely and absolutely one with me. There is only one root. If the root is being pulled, the entire tree is being pulled. A trunk or branch cannot have an awareness of itself. They cannot assert themselves. There cannot be two directions. There is only one. We will have a freedom to move in all four directions only after we have built a victorious foundation and secured our position. Unless that is accomplished, there is no freedom. Do you understand what I mean? Therefore, you cannot act freely. (169-499, 1957.10.31)

Everyone can and must be obedient, but not everyone can submit himself. Indemnity can be done only through submission. You who are following Heaven should not clamor against what I am doing when you are only judging base on appearances. Be obedient to commands. Although a command may not be just, be obedient to it because in obedience you become one with the subject and take part in his glory. (The Way of God’s Will: Obedience)

What matters is not that you work well in order to be praised by me, but that you are connected with me internally through heart. (The Way of God’s Will: Heart)