When I was young, my family was very poor. Our relatives and neighbors all looked down on us, and our neighbors’ kids didn’t play with me. I remember there was one time when I cheerfully went to see if the neighbors’ kid wanted to play, but when I was about to reach the entrance to her home, she suddenly closed the door.
This scene is imprinted in my childhood memories like a stamp. It hurt my self-esteem very badly. Once I started school, my classmates and teachers also looked down on me. When I saw that the children of other families had nice backpacks and pencil cases and pretty clothing, knowing I didn’t have any of that, I thought every day of how great it would be if my family could have as much money as other families.
Then people wouldn’t look down on me. When I was 10 years old, my family was in great debt due to a traffic accident, and my father went to borrow money from my relatives. Because we were poor, they didn’t dare lend it to us. After that, my father became so gloomy that he would often sigh in despair, and he often said to me, “Our relatives and neighbors look down on us because we don’t have money.
When you grow up, you’ve got to bring honor to the family name; only when you earn more money will people think highly of you.” My father’s words and the memory of being bullied as a child were both etched into my mind, and I resolved to make lots and lots of money when I grew up, lead a life of affluence, get rid of my “poor person” label once and for all, and make all those people who once looked down on me take notice.
In 1996, my father began working as an intermediary in the freight transport business. A few years later, our family business was flourishing more and more. Not only had we paid off our debt, we also bought a freight truck and got telephones and mobile devices. Once our family got money, the relatives and neighbors who had looked down on us in the past began to pay us visits. Wherever we went, we were thought highly of by others. I could finally walk with my head held high. That made me believe even more firmly that living in this world, one has to earn more money. Only when one has money in their hands will people respect them.
After reading God’s words, I better understood the value and significance of pursuing the truth. Although now I was not as rich as before and my clothes were not as bright and pretty, I was enjoying God’s supply of life. This was something that one could not get in exchange for any amount of money.
