The Life of a True Person

1. A life of true love simply means living for the sake of others. It is a life of giving to others first, for their sake, before wanting others to give to you, for your sake. It is giving to others and then forgetting what you have given to them. It is not a matter of wanting something in return for what you have given.

Rather, you feel sorry that you were unable to give more. It is a life of taking a humble position, even as you give to others and live for their sake. That is the love of parents and the love of an owner. Such is the heart of God, the True Parent of humanity. (433-179, 2004.01.27)

The philosophy and practice of living for the sake of others

2. If you love people as much as you love God, people will love you just as God loves you.

This is why in the Bible Jesus said, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven." (Matt. 10:32)

It is the same principle. That is why I am telling you to love people just as you love God. When you invest in something, do not think about it. Do not spare anything, and then do not remember what you invested.

You have to become a leader with the heart of a parent, with the heart that if you have something to eat, you would want to save it for others rather than eating it yourself, or you would not eat by yourself because you think of your members first. (70-166, 1974.02.09)

3. You should always be in the position of a subject partner, centered on God's love. You should be able to influence others. How can you influence others? By giving. When you give, how should you give?

You should not give leftovers. If you give leftovers from your meal, even if people eat them, afterward they will spit them out in disgust. Let's say you have five rice cakes to give out to people. If you pick up one, put it down, and then pick another, wondering how much to give, it is worse than not giving at all.

Without any hesitation, you should just pick up a handful of them and give them out. Then people will thank you. But if you hesitate to give, people will criticize you even after you do them that favor. Thus, when you give, you should do so with God's parental heart. (060-170, 1972.08.17)

4. When you act centering on yourself, it brings evil results, but when you act for the sake of the whole, it brings advancement. When you act for the sake of the whole, every door will open to you.

The doors of the individual, family, tribe, people, world, and heaven will open; the doors to every path, including the way of love, will open and welcome you. From this viewpoint, the Unification Church teaches the heavenly principle that we are born for the sake of others. So we choose the path of living for the sake of others and live our lives that way. (133-016, 1984.07.01)

5. If someone truly invested his or her life and sacrificed everything so you could receive a benefit of 100 percent, would your original heart tell you to repay 50 percent and put 50 percent in your pocket, or would it tell you to pay back as much as you can?

Our original heart tells us to repay even more than we received. If we truly know that someone gave us everything with a heart of love, our original heart will tell us to give back more than 100 percent. It is by this process that the concept of eternity is established. It is how eternity originated.

The principle of total investment was established in the very beginning. Advancement and prosperity flow from that point. (73-326, 1974.08.10)

6. Parents' love is good, but if the parents give it for their own sake, the children will not want it.

Children's love is good, but if it demands that the parents live for the sake of the children, the parents will not want it. If you gave ten with love for the sake of others, it will return as eleven.

Love for the sake of other works that way. If your partner loves you and lives for your sake, even in a small way, you want to give back more than you received. This cycle will continue to expand. If the cycle of giving continually expands throughout your life, this sacrificial way of life will extend itself beyond the nation to the world, the heavenly kingdom, and the entire eternal spirit world.

When you demand that others live for you, however, your benefit will diminish more and more. If you live like that, what is ten at first will the next time be reduced to eight. If you demand night and day that others live for you, your heart will shrivel up.

Since love comes from the other, only when we follow the way of living for the sake of other pure, ideal love flows back and forth between us.
(119-326, 1982.09.26)

7. There should be no such thing as selfish individualism. The union of Eve and the archangel was based on a self-centered consciousness the idea that the self should live for its own sake.

That is why we have to deny that path. Up to this point we have been talking about living for the sake of others, but not anymore. From now on, we need to talk about living for the sake of others and the self at the same time. Who are the others? “Others” includes “me.”

We say we have to live for the sake of the Cain world, but that is not exactly so. We must bring them to us because of those others and I. This is no longer the time for teaching the principle of living for the sake of others; rather, we should teach living for the sake of “others and me.”

We have to bring our partners to the point that they become one with us, and in so doing, we make something greater – “us.” Then we can go to the kingdom of heaven together.

Those who think that they alone are the best will not be able to enter the kingdom of heaven. This is a principle. If there is one model at the center, then everything for 360 degrees around the center must be divided into equal parts.

There should be no barriers, only equality, peace, unity, and freedom. Thus, we are not merely living for the sake of others. Our heart and body have to be united based on a greater heart through the principle of “others and I.”

In this way, we have to bring Cain to voluntary submission.
(409-282, 2003.06.29)

8. We have to repay our parents who have lived for our sake. Therefore, we must be filial children.

Life did not begin from us; it came forth from the Origin of the universe. The entire universe exists in the position of living for the sake of others, and any being that denies this is bound to perish. Such a being would have no origin and therefore no basis for existence.

Human beings are born to live for the sake of others. This means we must live for the sake of those who love us. We live for the sake of our father and mother until we die because we need to make their love grow after we first receive it.

If we live for their sake until the day they die of old age, our family will grow bigger. To inherit the nation, our family has to grow to the level where its love for the nation exceeds the love between the husband and wife. Then it will become a family that the nation can embrace.

We must live for the nation, which is greater than the family, and live for the world, which is greater than the nation. Then we must live for heaven and earth, which are greater than the world, and finally, we must live for God, who is the greatest of all. (435-176, 2004.02.04)

A life of true love by, God's Will

9. Satan began his invasion by violating God's heart. Therefore, the first step in subjugating and judging Satan is to revive God's heart. In other words, the foundation for victory begins by stimulating God's heart.

In the Last Days, there is judgment of the Word, judgment of personality, and judgment of heart. These three words, personality, and heart are the standards of judgment. How can we achieve these standards? We have to ascend to a stage higher than that of Adam and Eve when they fell.

Otherwise, we will not be in a position to raise the flag of victory. As people who were called by God, who is the original being of the Word, we have to stand in the position of people who have recovered the Word, and we have to stand in the position of people who have substantiated the Word and inherited God's heart.

These are the standards we have to reach, and to reach them we must be above the level where Adam and Eve fell. That is why the Unification Church teaches about the heart of God in the age of completion. (19-134, 1968.01.01)

10. When Adam and Eve fell at the completion level of the growth stage, they did not understand the heart of God. However, in this age of completion, the Unification Church teaches about the heart of God.

It also teaches what the Will of God is and how to fulfill it. Therefore, unless we stand above the level of Adam and Eve at the time of the Fall, we cannot resolve the problem that caused them to fall.

We have to move up to that place. Among all the people in the world, however, until now, not even one person has attained this position. That is why I am urging you to reach it. (19-134, 1968.01.01)

11. You must set your own goals and live according to those goals. You must live your life in a way that God can move with you and history can move with you. Your life should be a model for humanity and for your descendants to follow.

Also, you must be courageous and bold in your actions – as when God told Joshua, "Be strong and courageous; do not be frightened or dismayed; for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go." (Josh. 1:9)

Thus, God reveals His will to central individuals to fulfill His providence. When God orders a battle with an enemy, we certainly will win that battle. But if you are set on your own goals and live your life according to secular standards, Satan will invade you.

The matter is decided based on what your goals are. Life goals approved by the secular world will not do. They must be life goals that are approved in the realm of the heart. (14-322, 1965.01.10)

12. Behind your will, life, and action there must be heart. Your will, life, and action must be based on the heart of history, the heart of restoration, the heart of creation, and the hero for all humanity.

Adam and Eve were meant to face the matter of heart only after they reached perfection, after going through the formation, growth, and completion stages. The central issue in the new age to come will be heart. You must lead your life centered on the heart of God.

His heart consists of the heart of restoration and the heart of creation. If the Fall had not occurred, there would have been no such thing as the heart of restoration.

There would have been only the heart of glory – the heart of creation, which rejoices just to gaze upon it. The heart of restoration came about because of the Fall.

We have to fulfill the Will through restoration because of the Fall. That is why, based on God's Will and teaching, we have to relieve the heart of God, who has grieved throughout restoration.

Since Adam and Eve fell without being able to complete and offer God even one day of glory, we have to complete and offer that one day of glory to God. With the heart of restoration and the heart of creation, we must offer that one day of glory to God. (14-322, 1965.01.10)

The life of a true human being

13. People in England or America should not consider the Japanese or German people who visit their countries as enemies. Even though they are from former enemy countries, the British, and Americans should consider them to be an extension of their families.

By the same token, wherever you go in the world, if you see an elderly person, you should treat that person with more love than you would give to your grandfather or grandmother. That is how you come closer to Heaven. If we can, we should create such an environment that American grandmothers treat Japanese children as their grandchildren.

They would even want their grandchildren to intermarry with them, overlooking the difference of nationality. Love is a mighty thing. In the world of love, people keep their loved ones close to their hearts, regardless of the circumstances.

The family is the training ground for life in heaven. The kingdom of heaven on earth and in heaven is an extension of the family. This is the reason I have worried about America. (229-140, 1992.04.11)

14. The model family whose members are united by love is like a textbook of the kingdom of heaven.

The world is an extension of the family. The people of the world can be differentiated by age: those at the age of grandfathers and grandmothers, those at the age of mothers and fathers, those at the age of young couples and those at the age of children.

If the people of these different ages train themselves to unite and harmonize with one another within their families, they create a formula by which wherever they go, whether on earth or in heaven, they can inherit everything, participate in everything, and become the owners of everything.

The kingdom of heaven is one family. The kingdom of heaven on earth is a world where people treat one another with love as their brothers and sisters, beyond the national barriers.

People who live such lives then move on to the eternal kingdom of heaven in heaven. That is the greatest success in life and the path of greatest happiness. (217-104, 1991.05.04)

15. Men and women are supposed to be ideal partners who help each other reach perfection. Without a partner, there is no way to find true love and no way to attain perfection. Your mother and father should give you their signatures of approval, your grandmother, and grandfather should say, Okay,” your spouse should say, “Okay,” and your sons and daughters should say, “My father and mother are okay.”

When all of them recognize you as a good couple, your sons and daughters will be happy. They will be happy because they live with you, their parents, who represent God, the King of the Universe.

Your home, where they live, is a palace in which they are princes and princesses. Such a family is the kingdom of heaven. I have discovered this, and I am now teaching you by practicing it. (217-105, 1991.05.04)

16. The kingdom of heaven starts with the family. The grandparents represent the past, the mother, and father the present, and the sons and daughters the future. In this way, the past, present, and future are condensed in the family.

The mother and father represent the current world. The grandfather and grandmother are in the position of God in the past; the mother and father are in the position of God in the present, and the sons and daughters are in the position of God in the future. They all are equal in true love.

Based on the logic of true love, they attain equal value and ideal oneness. True love is love for the sake of others, and based on such love, the four directions blend into one.

The family where this occurs is eternally protected by the fortune of God's love. Its members are the partners of God's love, and therefore they will never die but live for eternity. (211-289, 1990.12.30)

17. True parents are horizontal beings, and horizontal beings need a vertical being – Heavenly Parent. It is our heart that resembles the vertical Parent. It is our conscience that inherits vertical love, life, and lineage, and it is our body that inherits horizontal love, life, and lineage.

God can only settle in the place where human beings join in a virtuous union, where their human hearts and Heaven'shares are joined at a 90-degree angle. From that place,ce all fortune springs and flows, and the world of eternal happiness and blessings begins.

We must form this kind of heavenly kingdom in the family. When this kind of life expands, it becomes the world. (211-290, 1990.12.30)

18. We should know God's love. We should know the love of our parents and learn how to attend them. We should know conjugal love and learn how to serve our spouse. We should know our children's love and learn how to understand and support them, not just give them directions.

Only then can we understand God's love. We need parents, spouses, and children as textbooks of love. Unless we have children, we are incomplete and cannot understand God's love because we cannot understand how much God loves us, His children.

Unless you are a husband, you cannot know a wife's love, and unless you are a wife, you cannot know a husband's love. Children do not know what parents' love is like until they become parents. Children, spouses, and parents are textbooks to learn from.

Hence, without sons and daughters, you cannot be true parents. You need your parents, your spouse, and your children so you can become first-class products that meet the standards of the original Principle.

Only then will the universe stamp you with its seal of approval as a Grade A product that can experience God's love. Then you will go into the kingdom of heaven automatically. (133-138, 1984.07.10)

19. One who can always discern whether God is happy or sad cannot become an evil person even if he or she thinks to do so. He or she cannot go against the law of Heaven, even if he or she tries.

The kind of person God deplores the most is the one who tries to use other people, whether in a private or public setting. Furthermore, God deplores those who evaluate matters based only on their self-benefit.

The people God cherishes are those who yield to others. To yield means that you continually follow the person to whom you yield. You continually do what that person says.

If you keep on doing it, you will find yourself orbiting in a circle, and you will acquire that person's position. In the end, you can possess everything that person owns. (40-297, 1971.02.07)

20. To your partner you should always be meek and humble; you should submit, obey, and surrender yourself to him or her. You do this to win him or her over completely. It is not just to occupy your partner, but to win him or her over in every respect.

Likewise, in the world of faith, you must use the strategy of denying yourself and completely complying with your leader's desires. This strategy is not to make you cease to exist but to win him or her over completely.

This is something of which you should be aware in your everyday life.
(40-298, 1971.02.07)

21. Arrogance is your enemy. Arrogance and insisting on your own are the essence and character of Satan. So instead of being arrogant, you should be modest; instead of insisting on your way, you should be humble.

Harmony creates friendship. Thus, you should be able to bring harmony to everyone. If you can do that, everything will start to flow. If people fail to unite in harmony, nothing greater can come.

Lack of harmony leads to stagnation. Therefore, you must not give in to jealousy or envy, which, along with arrogance and insisting on your way, are the essence of Satan's nature. (37-132, 1970.12.23)

22. The work of the Unification Church is to transform people into saints. Great people have to face enemies, but saints do not regard anyone as an enemy. Great people love their people, but saints love all humankind.

Therefore, when great people seek to stand before God, He tells them, “You loved your people, but you failed to love all the people of the world, whom I love and am I trying to save. Isn't that so?” Hearing that, they cannot stand in His presence.

On the other hand, those who fulfill the duties of saints can go directly into His presence. The Unification Church works on transforming people into saints.
(38-263, 1971.01.08)

23. Those who worship God need to shed their blood. Those who love God must shed tears. Tears should not dry from their eyes. Those who seek God must shed sweat.

Then, with the heart of a parent and in the shoes of a servant, they must sacrifice and serve humanity from the position of Abel, giving everything they have with utmost devotion. In giving, they should not boast to others but rather feel sorry that they cannot give something better. This is what Godism is all about.
(486-173, 2005.02.05) 24.

The reason I stay up all night meeting with people is so that I can love everyone. If I disliked anyone, I could not take responsibility for the work of restoration. I have to love everyone, the good, and the bad.

Unless I love everyone, I cannot represent God. The Fall means that the first human ancestors fell down from God's world to the opposite place. The Fall caused the world to plummet to a bad place.

Nevertheless, if God were to say that this world was bad, He could not be God. He could not fulfill the work of restoration. When God created the world, all the while He said it was good.

He could not be God anymore if He said this world had become bad because of the Fall. That is why it is a principle to treat even bad things as good things.

That is why Jesus said, “Love your enemy.” (Matt. 6:44) (40-108, 1971.01.24)

25. To love your enemy means that you stand in a position where you do not have an enemy. To stand in that position means that you return to the original position in the original world, to the Garden of Eden which has nothing to do with the realm of the Fall.

This is what we are fighting for. We fight so everyone can return to that state. Therefore, when you meet someone for the first time, do not reckon him to be a bad person, even if he is. (40-108, 1971.01.24)

The life of a true patriot and filial child

26. You must become families who can settle at the position of noon, where no shadow is cast.

The Garden of Eden was a place of true love, without any shadows. In love, there are no shadows. That is why everything in the world wants to come and be in that place. In the position of noon, no one asserts his or herself.

It is the place of absolute faith, absolute love, and absolute obedience. There is no assertion of self. This is what happens to everyone in the presence of true love. Adam's family must be established as a family without shadows.

Then from it will emerge Adam's tribe, Adam's people, Adam's nation, and Adam's world. (335-045, 2000.10.01)

27. There must be a place of Sabbath, without shadows, where God can come and freely settle anytime He likes, day or night. Establishing such a place is God's ideal of creation.

Therefore, the reason we live as we do, seeking that place, is to attend God as our eternal Father, from the individual level up, even in the heavenly world, and to become families of filial sons and daughters, patriotic men and women, saintly couples and divine sons and daughters.

Through such families, God can freely travel anywhere He wants. The kingdom of heaven on earth and the kingdom of heaven in heaven will be realized when the world without any shadows is connected to heaven and earth.

This world is where God can travel freely back and forth, visit anyone, from the youngest family to countless generations of our ancestors, all at once, and reach heaven and earth in all four directions, as He pleases. That is why the place of settlement at noon, where no shadow is cast, must come.
(335-045, 2000.10.01)

28. You are not to live a life with shadows. Therefore, I proclaimed the noon settlement. It is a marvelous concept. For there to be no shadows, the mind, and body must be united, and the family must be united as a four-position foundation. If the father did something wrong, he would create a father's shadow.

If the mother did something wrong, she would make a mother's shadow. If there were four members in the family and the four could not settle down, then the light would be blocked. No one likes the place of shadows.

That is why we must achieve the noon settlement. There shouldn't be any shadows, even after we go to the next world. God travels through the vertical line of eight stages from the shadow-free individual to the shadow-free family, tribe, people, nation, world, cosmos, and God.

Can there be any shadow cast on God's love? It is purity itself. That is why everyone wants that purity, even in his or her flesh and blood. No one likes shadows. The shadow is Satan.

This is why whenever we do wrong, we tend to cover it up. That is the enemy. That is the barrier. You must break down that barrier if you are to have the noon settlement. I am not saying this just symbolically. It must be done.
(333-294, 2000.09.27)

29. In front of the True Parents, we must fulfill our duties as true filial children, true patriots, true saints, and true divine sons and daughters. Only then can God's kingship be established.

The kingship of the heavenly nation is based on expanding the authority of the sons and daughters who attend the True Parents. Once the kingship is established, God will be enthroned and Satan's world will disappear. (400-195, 2003.01.01)

30. From now on, we need to establish a new tradition with the family as its center, based on the tradition of those who lived their lives as patriots, saints, and divine sons and daughters.

For this, we need to replace the traditions that existed during the age of indemnity. This new tradition is what we will follow for eternity in the kingdom of heaven.

Centering on the family, we should establish the ways of true filial sons and daughters, true husbands and wives who are faithful to each other, and true patriots, and prepare the ways of saints and divine sons and daughters. We have to prepare these ways here on earth. (482-054, 2005.01.08)