How to Be Perfected

I
If you want to be used
and perfected by God,
then you must be possessed
of every aspect of the truth:
the resolve to suffer, faith,
endurance, submission,
and the ability to seek the truth
and understand God’s intentions,
the ability to be considerate of His sorrow
and painstaking intentions, and so forth.
Perfecting a person is not easy,
and every single refinement
that you experience
requires your faith and love.
If you want to be perfected by God,
it’s not enough to merely run around,
nor is it enough
to merely expend yourself for God.
You must possess many things
to be able to become someone
who is perfected by God.
II
When you face suffering,
you must be able
to lay aside concern for the flesh
and to not make complaints against God.
When God hides Himself from you,
you must be able
to have the faith to follow Him,
to maintain your previous love
without allowing it to falter or dissipate.
No matter what God does,
you must let Him orchestrate as He wishes,
and rather curse your own flesh
than make complaints against Him.
III
When you are faced with trials,
you must be willing to endure the pain
of giving up what you love,
and be willing to weep bitterly,
to satisfy God.
Only this is true love and true faith.
No matter what your actual stature is,
you must first possess
both this resolve to suffer
and this true faith,
and you must also have the resolve
to rebel against the flesh.
You should be willing to personally suffer
and to experience losses
to your own interests
in order to satisfy God’s intentions.
You must also be capable of feeling regret
about yourself in your heart:
In the past, you were unable to satisfy God,
and now, you can regret yourself.
You must not be lacking
in any of these regards—
it is through these things
that God will perfect you.
If you cannot meet these criteria,
then you cannot be perfected.

from The Word, Vol. 1. The Appearance and Work of God. Those Who Are to Be Made Perfect Must Undergo Refinement