I Am Purely Open and Honest and My Spirit Feels at Ease
And so, I went to the owner and, mustering up my courage, said to him, “I’m so sorry! Actually, apart from simple greetings, I don’t know how to say anything in a foreign language. And I’ve only ever worked in a restaurant once before. I was afraid that you wouldn’t hire me, so I lied to you.” I’d thought the owner would give me a telling off, but to my surprise, he said calmly, “Oh, don’t worry about it. If you can’t speak a foreign language, then just clear and lay the tables and wash up the cups and glasses. I’ll get the waiters who can speak foreign languages to do the rest.” I was so moved when he said this to me, and the stone that had lain in my heart was gone at last. I then did as he had asked. When I saw that a customer had finished their meal, I hurried over to clear the table, and when I saw cups and glasses beginning to pile up in the kitchen, I rushed over to wash them…. Before I knew it, it was almost time for my shift to finish. The owner said to me, “Don’t bother washing up anymore. I’ll do it in a bit. There’ll be a bus at the door in a few minutes. Finish what you’re doing and get yourself home, otherwise you’ll have to wait 20 minutes for the next one.” The owner then paid me my wages for the evening and, much to my surprise, I saw that he’d paid me at the rate of a skilled worker. On the bus, a coworker said, “The restaurant was so full tonight and I saw you working the whole time without taking a break. You’re a real dependable person.” I felt so moved. I knew that God had caused this situation today to unfold; God was using this situation to make me see how strong my sense of self-regard was, and God had given me this opportunity to recognize my own corrupt disposition, to practice the truth and to be an honest person. Once home, I sent the owner a message, apologizing again for having lied to him. He replied, saying, “It doesn’t matter. I never thought someone as young as you could be so honest and dependable.” I felt so ashamed when I read this. In truth, it wasn’t me who was honest and dependable, but instead these were qualities I had only managed to achieve by understanding God’s words and then putting them into practice!
Through this experience, I saw that I had been corrupted so deeply by Satan. I knew perfectly well that God loves honest people and that He requires us to be honest, and yet I was still capable of lying and engaging in deception for the sake of my own interests—I’d caused such grief to God’s heart! It was only the revelations and guidance of God’s words that had enabled me to come to some understanding of my own corrupt dispositions and to have a clear path of practice. When I let go of my self-regard and vanity and I practiced being an honest person in accordance with God’s words, not only did I not lose my job, but I also obtained approval and praise from the owner and my coworker, and I knew these to be the fruit of God’s words. From the bottom of my heart, I came to appreciate that only by being an honest person could my spirit be truly peaceful and at ease.
Should I Be Honest When Another Job Comes My Way?
Not long after, I had cause to move to another city, and I began to look for a job so as to be able to support myself. As luck would have it, a woman I’d met when I was looking for a job before, who was the wife of a restaurant owner, called me up and said that they needed someone to work weekends, and that I could start immediately if I wanted to. After the call ended, it took a long time before I could figure out what just happened. “Did I hear right?” I thought. “I can’t speak a foreign language and I’m lacking in work experience, so why would this lady purposefully want me for the job?” In my seeking, I became clearly aware that this was one of God’s tests to see whether I would be able to practice the truth and be an honest person, and to see whether I would dare to tell the truth about my situation, and not pretend otherwise or deceive people. Thinking this, I said a silent prayer to God in my heart: “O God, although the lady didn’t ask me about my competency in a foreign language or my work experience, and I won’t be deceiving anyone by starting work there, I know that if I conceal the truth of my situation then I’m still not being honest, and neither would this accord with Your will. O God, I wish to let go of my interests, and I wish to practice the truth and be an honest person. Even if the lady chooses not to hire me, I will be left without regrets. O God, please give me the courage to practice the truth.”
After praying, I called the owner’s wife up and told her the truth about my situation and asked her to think it over again. To my surprise, the lady heard me out and then, laughing, said, “You’re so honest! And because of what you’ve told me just now, you’re hired. Come on over, and I’ll teach you anything you don’t know how to do.” Once the call ended, my heart filled with gratitude to God. Never had I thought that, by practicing being an honest person in accordance with God’s words, it would be so easy to get a job.
I Make Mistakes in My Trial Period but Get the Job by Telling the Truth
When I went to work that weekend, I met two girls who were working their trial periods like me. After we’d introduced ourselves, I found out that they were foreign students and, although they had no work experience, they could speak excellent English. This made me feel a little unsettled and I thought: “Their English is good, and they can communicate with the customers without any problem. I, on the other hand, don’t know how to speak any foreign language. Any restaurant owner would choose someone who can speak a foreign language over me. Oh dear. I think that maybe after today, it will be a case of ‘close but no cigar’ with this job.” Thinking this, I couldn’t help but feel a little down. While I worked, the more I wanted to do a good job, the more mistakes I made. When I took dishes out to the customers, I got two tables mixed up and gave them the wrong food, and it was really hard to sort out. When I was taking sushi to another customer, I was so nervous that my foot slipped and the sushi fell onto the floor. The customer frowned and looked unhappily at me, and all I could do was keep apologizing in my embarrassment. I wanted to tell the owner’s wife about it immediately and take another plate of sushi to the customer, but just as I turned around, I suddenly thought again about how I was nowhere near as good as those two foreign students. If I told the owner’s wife that I’d dropped a plate of sushi, wouldn’t she then be unhappy with my clumsiness and not want me to come back? If she scolded me in front of everyone, I would lose a lot of face, so I thought it best if I avoided the owner’s wife and instead spoke immediately to the kitchen staff about it; she didn’t see me drop it, after all. Just as I was thinking this, however, my heart felt uneasy, and I realized that I was once again trying to be deceptive for the sake of my own self-interest, and God’s words came to mind: “If you wish for others to trust you, first you must be honest. To be honest, you must first lay your heart bare so that everyone can see your heart, see all that you are thinking, and see your true face; you must not pretend or try to cover yourself up. Only then will people trust you and consider you honest. This is the most fundamental practice, and the prerequisite, of being honest” (“The Most Fundamental Practice of Being an Honest Person”). God’s words showed me clearly the exact path of practice I should follow. If I wanted to obtain others’ trust, then I mustn’t deceive them. If I made a mistake, then I made a mistake, and I had to be brave and admit responsibility and not try to cover it up. Only by doing this would I be an honest person and someone worthy of trust. If I engaged in deceit in order to keep this job and was not truthful with the owner’s wife, then although I may get to keep the job, my actions in engaging in deceit and hiding the facts would be despicable and foul, I would be without normal humanity and I would make God loathe me greatly. Once I’d understood God’s will and requirements, I went and found the owner’s wife. I told her honestly about my mistake and expressed my willingness to admit responsibility. To my surprise, she didn’t reprimand me, but just told me instead to be a little more careful. Just then, I felt incredibly happy and free from worry, and I knew that this was God blessing me for having put His words into practice.
Over the next few hours, I threw myself into the busy job. When I came across a word I didn’t understand, the owner’s wife would take it upon herself to teach me, and when I didn’t know how to communicate with a customer, my coworkers would come over and lend a hand without me even asking them. Before long, my busy shift came to an end. At the end of our shift, the owner’s wife gave us our wages, and said to me, “I’ll see you next time.” She then turned and said to the two foreign students that they didn’t need anyone else at present, and that she would contact them again when they got busy. I was amazed to hear her say this, and I thought: “I can’t speak a foreign language and I have no work experience. I kept making mistake after mistake on my first day, so why would she want to keep me on? Those two foreign students can speak a foreign language well, so why would she ask them to leave?” Seeing the look of surprise on my face, the owner’s wife said to me, “When we hire someone, we look mostly for someone of good moral character. Work experience can be gained over time. I don’t want people who can speak foreign languages but who slack off. You are a dependable worker and you are honest. I’m happy to have you working here.” As I listened to her, tears welled up in my eyes and I felt incredibly moved. I knew that the reason I had been kept on was not because I was better than anyone else, but because I practiced the truth and was an honest person in accordance with God’s requirements—this was God granting me His grace and His blessing!
In that job, I asked my coworkers when I didn’t understand a word, and they were always happy to teach me, and they said that I was really easy to get along with. When they saw I was busy, they would all come to help me, and we all got along great. Later, I moved to another place and could no longer work at that restaurant, but the owner’s wife still called me up several times to ask me to work there, and she asked me if I could introduce her to a trustworthy friend who could work at her restaurant. Seeing how the owner’s wife approved of me, my heart felt so warm, and I knew well that it had been God’s words that had changed me and enabled me to let go of my personal interests, practice the truth, be an honest person, and win the trust of others. I offered up my thanks and praise to God again and again!
My Firsthand Experiences Fill My Heart With Gratitude
These experiences allowed me to truly appreciate that everyone, no matter who they are, likes an honest person. This is because honest people do not deceive people, because they act in a grounded, reliable way and are worthy of trust. I also came to truly appreciate the fact that only honest people are able to live out a genuine human likeness, and live out a life of integrity and dignity; only honest people can win God’s praise and blessing! Thanks be to God. In my future life, I wish to continue practicing the truth of being an honest person, and I wish to continue to be someone who pleases both God and other people, and someone whom both God and other people can trust.
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