«　WEEK 7　DAY 5　»

　　John 19:26-27 Then Jesus, seeing His mother and the disciple whom He loved standing by, said to His mother, Woman, behold, your son. Then He said to the disciple, Behold, your mother. And from that hour the disciple took her into his own home.

　　3:6 That which is born of the flesh is flesh, and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

　　In his training in 1948 Brother Nee told the saints, especially the sisters, that they should be a mother to another young saint. Many sisters could each take care of two or three children in the spirit. For the most part, children do not like to respect the word of their own parents, especially when they become teenagers. But if I would take your children as my children, they would respect my word. If my children have some problems, they would not open themselves to me. But if you would take them as your children, they would open up their whole being to you. Although they would not take anything that I would say to them, they would receive whatever you would say. There are many problems with the parents and the teenagers. Very few teenagers would be submissive and obedient. Yet even the troublesome ones would be happy to listen to someone other than their own parents. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 50-51)

　　We all need a second birth, and we all need a second mother. If you sisters would pick up the burden by looking at the cross, getting yourself transferred in life, and take some young ones of junior-high age to be your children, within five years there will be a revival in the church. The best way is to have a life transfer by looking at the cross. You need to bring a young one to the cross to look at the crucified Jesus. He will say, “Look at your mother. This is your mother.” And He will say to you, “Look at your son. This is your son,” or, “This is your daughter.”

　　All the sisters of all ages need to be a mother to someone else. Taking care of a child will cause you to grow and to be mature. In the natural life the best way for the young ones to mature is for them to have two children. Even more, to pick up some younger ones as your children in the spirit will cause you to grow.

　　However, to take care of some in this way is a big test. If your natural life has not been crossed out, has never had a transfer, this practice will become a snare. You will fall into the natural love and be trapped by the fleshly emotion. Such a practice will work only by a life transfer through the cross.

　　In the church life we need the real sisters and the real brothers, and especially we need the real mothers. All the sisters need to be encouraged to take care of some children in the spirit. This is not a matter that can be assigned to the sisters, but there is the need for you to pick up the burden. The matter of being a mother will bring in many lessons, and it will put you on the real test in every way. You will see how you love yourself more than others, how you care only for yourself. All these things will be tested and exposed. Without this testing, you could never realize how selfish you are and how much you are in yourself.

　　It is not adequate to be a brother or a sister in a general way. All the sisters need to be serving sisters, and whether or not we have children, we all need to be the mothers. This is the best way to receive the blessing, the growth, the spirituality, and the real enjoyment of the Lord.

　　If you would pick up a child and take care of that child, right away you will become very practical. No one else can help you so much to stay away from your natural disposition. Such a child will take you from the earth to the third heaven. (CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 1, pp. 51, 53-54)

　　Further Reading: Life-study of Malachi, msgs. 2-3; CWWL, 1981, vol. 2, “The History and Revelation of the Lord’s Recovery,” chs. 6, 8