Do these trivial life matters I just mentioned involve the principles of self-conduct and doing things? Are they helpful to you? (Yes.) Then let’s continue. Once, a water pipe in our yard’s lawn sprinkler system broke at some point, and the leaking water flowed into the neighbor’s yard. I had someone quickly go tell the neighbor and see if we needed to clean it up for them. The neighbor was a bit unhappy to see so much water flooding in, but because we took the initiative to tell them, they didn’t make much of it out of politeness. Later, at Christmas, we gave them a box of chocolates as an apology. They were quite surprised and happy, and told us to just say the word or feel free to come to their door and ask if we needed any help. By evening, they even brought their child over to give us a basket of fruit, saying, “Happy holidays! Thank you for your gift, and welcome to our community!” We exchanged a few pleasantries and then they left. I thought handling the matter this way was pretty good; if we get along with our neighbors like this, the relationship shouldn’t be too bad. This is giving the other party a gift as an apology in order to ease the relationship or smooth things over when an issue arises, having a simple exchange of favors. Of course, they don’t receive your gift for free, taking advantage of you; they give something in return. You see, Westerners are quite particular. When they give gifts, they are incredibly sincere. It doesn’t matter whether the gifts are expensive; the key is that their hearts are exceptionally sincere. This is exchanging favors, and handling the matter this way is quite appropriate. Of course, there is a context for handling this kind of matter. When nothing is going on, there’s no need to cozy up to anyone for no reason, take the initiative to make Chinese food for them or give them gifts, going out of your way to maintain a relationship with them. There’s no need to do this. In normal interactions, just greeting them when you see them and coexisting amicably is enough. But when an issue arises—for example, if you do something wrong and need to apologize—then go apologize. It is out of the rationality of normal humanity that you do this; it’s not at all exaggerated or pretentious. Tell Me, is handling it this way appropriate? Is it in accordance with the principles? (Yes.) It is not being servile, nor is it being arrogant and overbearing. You do not act superior, but you also maintain your dignity. Some people think, “Westerners like to eat Chinese food. To avoid them filing a complaint against us if we violate some rules in the future, let’s make them some dumplings and give them some snacks.” Currying favor for no reason—tell Me, is this appropriate? (No.) In one respect, there’s no telling whether the food you make tastes like it came from an authentic restaurant and whether the other party would even be willing to eat it. Besides, they don’t know you well either. If you give them food you made yourself, would they trust you? In another respect, what are you giving them gifts for when nothing in particular has happened? Do they know you well? Do you have any dealings with them, or friendship? You don’t, so wouldn’t always trying to give them Chinese food be what a crazy person would do? (Yes.) Wouldn’t people find it annoying? (Yes.) Look at My principles for interacting with neighbors. Is My thinking normal? Do I apply the principles accurately and appropriately? (Yes.) Do I have any manifestations of disordered thinking logic? (No.) My interactions with people are all normal. Under normal circumstances, I never give people gifts. If someone really helps Me, I’ll give them something to express My gratitude. Interacting with people this way is appropriate. This is being normal and practical, and this is also conducting oneself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully. Most people do not understand these principles; this is called being foolish and ignorant. Don’t you agree? (Yes.) Some people show their foolishness in how they do things. They are always giving people gifts and currying favor for no reason, and when people see this, they think there’s something wrong with them. I do not do this. I do not cozy up to people. I have dignity, and I have My principles for doing things. When an issue really arises, I act according to principles. I abide by the rules, I have a boundary, and My way of thinking is logical, in line with normal thinking, and in line with rationality. There are lots of details regarding this aspect, the normality and practicality of God incarnate, but there’s no need to go into detail about many things. In short, His thinking in this regard is definitely normal.

I never introduce Myself when interacting with people; even when meeting brothers and sisters, I never introduce Myself. In My interactions with people, I never put on airs as the incarnate God. Do you find these to be normal and practical manifestations of conducting oneself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully? (Yes.) For example, some brothers and sisters say, “You are God, You are the Creator. It is an honor for anyone to do things for You. If they don’t do them well, they are courting death!” When I meet such people, I say, “Stay away from Me! What is the use of saying those things? Even if brothers and sisters do things for Me, I don’t make such demands of them.” No matter who I interact with, I never tell them My identity. Tell Me, is this a manifestation of normal thinking and normal humanity? (Yes.) You see, a crazy person would always be introducing themselves, saying, “I am the Jade Emperor! I am the Queen Mother of the West descended to earth! I come from heaven. If you little minions don’t listen to me, I’ll wipe you out!” What would someone like this be? (A Satan and a devil.) They would be a Satan and a devil. In human terms, they would be called a mentally ill person, someone without normal rationality. Will someone who doesn’t have normal rationality conduct themselves in a rule-abiding manner and do things dutifully? (No.) You can only conduct yourself in a rule-abiding manner and do things dutifully if you possess an optimized conscience and standard rationality, at the very least. Since the incarnate God has normal humanity, His conduct and actions are regulated by the conscience and reason of normal humanity, and He naturally lives within such a normal humanity that has conscience and rationality; therefore, in conducting Himself and doing things, He strictly abides by the principles of conducting Himself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully. If some nonbelievers mess up a personal matter for Me, or intentionally deceive Me, or intentionally damage things, I draw a lesson from this and never use them again. As for nonbelievers, no matter how nice their words sound, I must be on guard; if I am not careful, I will fall for their ruses. There are too many deceivers in this world. They don’t care who you are; as long as they can deceive you, they will. In the spiritual realm, Satan and devils clearly see God holding sovereignty over all things, and see God’s almightiness and God’s essence, but they never respect God, fear God, or acknowledge God’s identity and essence. Now that God has become flesh, tell Me, who among the human race corrupted by Satan can acknowledge God and submit to Him? Even the people who believe in God do not fully acknowledge Him, let alone submit to Him. Some people say they will bow down and worship before God—they are fine with kneeling before heaven, kneeling before the cross, kneeling before the name of Jehovah, or kneeling before a portrait of the Lord Jesus, but in their hearts they cannot get past kneeling to Me, this person: “Is it you that I believe in? You don’t look like god! If I kneel before you, wouldn’t I be lowering myself? I can kneel before heaven, earth, and my parents—how could I kneel before a small-timer like you? Especially since you’re a woman, your appearance is unremarkable, you’re not famous, and you have no status or prestige in the world—why should I kneel before you?” They feel uncomfortable inside. When they want to kneel, they hesitate, and before they even kneel down, they stand up again, unwilling and reluctant. I say, “Do not kneel before Me. If you want to kneel, kneel before the God in heaven. I do not need you to kneel before Me; I can’t accept it. I don’t have such great power that I could take you up into the air and take you to the third heaven. I’m just an ordinary person. I bring you, a corrupt human being, before God. I then tell you the truths I know and understand for you to practice, so that you can attain salvation, fully transforming you into a standard created being and then returning you to the Creator—this is My responsibility and My ministry. As far as you’re all concerned, that’s the only use I have. I haven’t accomplished anything worthy of credit with respect to you, nor have I done so with respect to the God in heaven either. I am just an ordinary person who has done the things I ought to do, spoken the words I ought to speak, and done the work I ought to do. Regardless of whether you are willing in your heart, from the perspective of My humanity, I am not at all willing to accept your kneeling and worship. What’s more, you are unwilling and resistant in your heart, so I can accept it even less.” You see, is My thinking normal? Regardless of which aspect of humanity it comes from, this is a manifestation of normal thinking. Because the incarnate God lives within normal humanity, and lives like an ordinary person in real life, and is not extraordinary, how He treats and handles various matters is largely governed by the conscience and reason of His humanity. This causes many people to develop notions; they think, “Isn’t He just an ordinary, normal person?” Even if people acknowledge the incarnation and accept God’s work, in their hearts they do not want to kneel before and worship this person or submit to Him. Actually, speaking from My heart, I do not want to accept your kneeling and worship, because I have dignity and rationality. Never mind when you’re reluctant, even if you were willing to kneel before and worship Me, I wouldn’t be willing to accept it. What does this mean? It means that within the conscience and reason of the humanity of this incarnate God, there is also a sense of shame. What does having a sense of shame mean? It means that, if someone were to say, “I am reluctant to kneel before and worship this person; I am a bit unwilling inside”; or if someone were living in a state of muddleheadedness; or if someone were kneeling and worshiping while being filled with imaginings about God, I would say that these kinds of kneeling and worship are all illegitimate. I do not need rituals like this; you absolutely mustn’t engage in such ritualism. Even if you did kneel before Me, I would be embarrassed to accept it. If you insisted on kneeling before Me, should I say “Bless you” or “Thank you”? I really wouldn’t know what to say. Why? You are not even clear about your own situation in various aspects right now, yet you still try to kneel before and worship Me; I really cannot accept it. I do not know if you are genuinely worshiping God. If I tried to accept you as a person who fears God and shuns evil, you really would not measure up. So that’s where things get held up with this matter—it’s very embarrassing. I’m still not clear about what I should accept you as or what would be appropriate to say to you, so I am particularly resistant to this matter inside. You all must absolutely not kneel before and worship Me. I do not need it, and I do not like it. If you need to understand any aspect of the truth or need any aspect of the principles of self-conduct and doing things, I can fellowship on them. But if you want to engage in this formality, I advise you not to do it, at least not now. Before you have true submission to God in your hearts and before you have embarked on the path of fearing God and shunning evil, do not do this; don’t engage in this formality. Doing this would not be good; it would make things awkward for both of us. It is best to avoid doing this thing; engaging in such ritualism is useless.

In fellowshipping on the issue of people’s notions and imaginings about God incarnate, I gave many examples involving the normality and practicality of God incarnate. In these examples, you can see that God incarnate is not extraordinary, transcendent, supernatural, or unconventional. These and other such things are what people should understand regarding the normality and practicality, and the humbleness and hiddenness, of God incarnate. His living out, and His credos and principles of self-conduct, are all particularly practical and particularly normal, and when He encounters things, He can also be patient and tolerant. No matter what He does, everything God incarnate lives out and reveals in His life reflects that there is a practical side to how God’s incarnate flesh conducts Himself. That is, how He faces various things and handles various problems is entirely based on His credos and principles of self-conduct, which are to conduct Himself in a rule-abiding manner and to do things dutifully. A few years ago, our neighbor’s child was going to college, and they held a party in the yard to celebrate, singing and dancing. They were still singing with a microphone at one or two in the morning, and lots of nearby neighbors could hear it clearly. Westerners like to file complaints, but in this situation, no one filed a complaint, because we’d all been neighbors for many years at that point. Everyone felt, “The kids have been in school for so many years, and it’s rare for them to get to let loose, so let them go wild. Being disturbed like this once in a while and not sleeping well for one night is not a big problem; we’ll just treat it as staying up late.” Is thinking like this normal? Should one have this kind of patience and tolerance for others? (Yes.) Some people say, “You are God, how can You exercise patience toward corrupt humans making noise? You shouldn’t be patient; Your rest is so important!” I say, “Whose isn’t? Everyone’s rest is important.” But adults sometimes need to have some tolerance and show some understanding; especially toward children, we should show them some tolerance. Besides, when you live in this world, many things don’t go your way, and a lot of the time, you just have to be patient. These things are nothing; you also have to endure things that are more serious than this and that truly cause you harm. Living in this world, in the course of surviving, everyone faces many situations where they have no choice. Are you actually going to just get stuck when you face such situations? Will you be unable to go on living? The sun will still rise the next day. Life must go on. There’s no need to be petty over a trivial matter, getting hung up on it and acting like it’s the end of the world. There’s no need to make a fuss or make a mountain out of a molehill. For things like this, you must be tolerant and patient. When one day you have experienced more, you will gain insight and know how to treat them. Tell Me, is this kind of thinking normal? (Yes.) What would a person with abnormal thinking think? “You brat, you’ve grown up and started partying it up. These nonbelievers are truly devils! Do you know who I am? You disturbed my rest, so I’ll make you regret it. I curse you!” Are such thoughts normal? (No.) These thoughts are abnormal, so you mustn’t think that way. I wouldn’t think that way Myself. When these things happen, I can be patient and treat them correctly; I can treat and handle these things with the thoughts and views of an adult. Of course, these are also specific manifestations of conducting oneself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully. Some people say, “God’s magnanimity is as vast as the sea and sky, so such insignificant people are nothing to God. No matter how noisy it gets, He does not hear it; He feels nothing. This is called being on a higher level, this is called being on a different plane, this is called having breadth of mind.” Is this how it is? (No.) I really do not focus on “breadth of mind.” I’m not sure what “breadth of mind” means, nor do I understand what “being on a different plane” is, and I am not on that “high” of a level. I just know what normal thinking and normal rationality are, how to act in a way that accords with humanity and rationality, what things should be borne patiently and what things should be treated seriously, and what principles and credos should be strictly abided by when interacting with people, as well as how to think in a way that is not distorted, radical, supernatural, or extreme in certain situations, and how to think normally without veering to one side or the other. I know these things, but I’ve never known what “being on a different plane,” “having breadth of mind,” and “keeping a low profile in conducting oneself” mean. I just abide by the principles of conducting Myself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully. Isn’t this simple? (Yes.) No matter what matter I handle, from My perspective and stance I view every matter and every person correctly, justly, reasonably, and rationally as an ordinary, normal person, striving to achieve justice, fairness, reasonableness, and rationality in everything I do, without being radical, hollow, or unconventional. Additionally, I don’t act superior, and I never view anything from such a hollow position as the third heaven. Although My handling of many things in real life like this seems very unremarkable to people, these are some thoughts and views, and ways of conducting oneself, that one must have in living and surviving as a member of humankind. Living this way is quite grounding and not tiring, so lots of people feel that I’m easy to get along with, without all sorts of unnecessary complications. My purpose in telling you these things is not to just let you know some things, but to tell you that I have principles when interacting with anyone or handling matters—I never take things by force or trickery, I never smooth-talk, I never want to take advantage of anyone when dealing with people, and I certainly will not break the law to handle any matter. In short, the principles of My self-conduct are to abide by the credos of conducting Myself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully, so as to be at peace in My conscience and be fair in doing things, to not harm or cheat anyone, and to not harm other people’s interests. Even if I do benefit somehow, it will not occur on the foundation of harming other people’s interests; rather, I strive to be fair and just. I have told you these things and given these examples, and I have also spoken to you about the principles of this aspect, how to conduct oneself, in theory. This is just the kind of person I am. If you want to learn more so as to verify the normality and practicality, and the humbleness and hiddenness, that I spoke of, and to verify that I do indeed act according to these principles of “conducting Myself in a rule-abiding manner and doing things dutifully,” I welcome you to investigate and gather evidence everywhere to see if what I say is factual. In short, you should all be clear about these things. These are basically all the matters regarding the life and existence of God incarnate. These are what you should understand, and what you must understand as well.