Our understanding of God and our level of faith depend on the breadth and depth of our relationship with Him. Breadth is the quantity of how much we want God and how strong our desire to be closer to Him is. Depth is our experience of and with God through trials and how much spiritual growth we have gained throughout the journey of life. The power of love can be explained in the same way: quantity and quality. Quantity of love is how much we love God and how much we want God. Quality of love is the application of this desire to follow Him and serve Him; it’s the fruit of the spirit, the action of the heart, the hand of the mind, and the result of our faith.

Recently I learned a big lesson about the quality of love in corporate world. Yes even in the midst of the storm, in the ugliest place of the human heart, God’s light still shines despite the lies darkness put on and the schemes Satan plans. In corporate world, it’s very common and even expected for one to steal credit from another. All of us have stories of how our bosses take our credit as their own to present to the C-suite. Of course our boss climbs higher and higher in the corporate ladder and we continue to do the lowly work that everybody needs but nobody knows about. At first I was very frustrated when this happened to me until I seeked wisdom from my dad. Instead of supporting me to remain angry at my boss, my dad said something so profound: I should be rejoiced instead! At first I didn’t understand but then eventually I got it. My boss takes credit from me because he is insecured with his job. He can only rely on himself and the mercy of the executive to keep this job. The financial burden on him is also a lot more than me. He has a mansion; I live in a small apartment. He drives a fancy car; I have my 11-year-old Ivan. But I have something much much much better and way more valuable that he doesn’t have: I have GOD. I don’t rely on myself or anyone else to keep my job. Even better I rely on the Most High God. This is the God that parted the Red Sea for the Israelites; this is the God that gave Goliath into the hand of David; this is the God that raised Christ from the death; this is the God that moved the heart of a bunch of weak, hopeless men with His Spirit to change the world and spread the gospel. So from that logic, if He really wants me to keep this job, who would dare to say no to Him? Who would have the power to take this gift away from me?

Jesus taught us “so when you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honored by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you” (Matthew 6: 2-4). So that gave me an idea: what if we extend the application of this lesson to more than just giving? What if we apply this message to corporate world? So instead of being angry about my credit got stolen from me, I decided to voluntarily give my credit to my boss. I got on my knees and prayed to God that if this is His will, He would use me to make this poor man feel more secured in his job and be more happy in his life. Insecurity leads to worriness, worriness leads to anxiety, anxiety leads to anger and frustration, which when have their full effect, can destroy a family. I don’t want to see that happen to anybody because I experienced first hand how it destroyed my family. If he wants the credit that bad, why not let him have his reward? I don’t lose anything. And I already have my reward, a bigger better everlasting reward from above, the kind of reward the world desperately needs but knows not of. God knows my heart; He will reward me for my obedience to Him. But even if He doesn’t, that’s still ok too because I already have the reward: I already have Jesus, the rock of my world, the foundation of my faith. In corporate world language, if I already have a Mercedes, why would I be angry or jealous of somebody else’s Corolla? I might as well give him my Corolla because what I have is already much better with higher value. If I already have my reward from the God of heaven and earth, I might as well give him the tiny little credits from the world. So my dad was right; I should be rejoiced. I’m joyful and peaceful with this decision.

On the surface it may seem to be unfair, but that’s only temporary at the moment. Eventually the truth will come out. “Fire tests the purity of silver and gold, but the Lord tests the heart” (Proverbs 17:3). So if I’m the gold, why should I be afraid of fire? Instead I should be rejoiced because the fire will help me shine, prove my worth, and speak the truth about my identity. Using the same concept, I should rejoice and thank God for trials because every trial I receive is one step closer to Him. It’s hard to go through trials at the moment of the test, but the view on the other side is so much worth it. God is worth it, and being closer to Him, even just as small as an inch closer, is still worth it.

The trials of my life have brought me closer to Him and confirmed my identity in Christ. My faith has grown in way I could have never imagined. If I had never gone through the loss of my mom, the bankruptcy, and multiple times near deportation, I would not have had the kind of faith and courage I possess today. I probably would not have even known God. And I wouldn’t trade God and our relationship for anything, not even for my mom or to get my family back. Why? Simple, He’s worth it! “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. Whoever finds their life will lose it, and whoever loses their life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 10: 37-39). The process is very simple: Jesus told me to give up everything to follow Him. I said ok, took my cross, and follow. He says go to the left, I go to the left. He says go to the right, I go to the right. He says run, I run. He says fight, I fight. He says stop, I stop. He says wait, I wait. It’s not easy. Sometimes I get frustrated and just want to run away. Most of the times I complaint. Sometimes I even fight Him, which is bad for me anyway at the end. But through all of this, I didn’t put down my cross. I continue to take my cross; I continue to fight the battle; I continue to follow; I continue to love Him regardless. At first when I don’t get what I want, I always get frustrated and angry at Him. But then later on, I realize that it’s such a GOOD thing that He didn’t give me what I asked for. If He had let me win the lottery in the past two years, the green card process would have been delayed. If He had given me the job I settled and asked for, I wouldn’t have had this amazing job I do now.

In Luke 16, Jesus taught us about a shrew manager of how people of this world will know this world and play the game much better than us. To put it in today terms, they are at the PhD level of manipulation, lying, cheating, deception, lust, dishonesty, gossiping, back stabbing, and hence money making, whereas we as disciples of Christ are at the kindergarten level of all of the above. But what good is it to lose the soul and gain a bunch of zeros in the bank account or paper with dollar sign on it? There’s nothing wrong with money, but it’s wrong to put money above God; it’s wrong to play the game by the rule of this world; it’s wrong to climb the corporate ladder with a heartless mindset; it’s wrong to live our lives by the standard of man instead of the standard of God; it’s wrong to treat people by the selfishness and greed of the heart rather than the love of God. Money is fine, but the love of money is not. It’s the root of all evils.

“But if you harbor bitter envy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast about it or deny the truth. Such “wisdom” does not come down from heaven but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where you have envy and selfish ambition, there you find disorder and every evil practice. But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruit, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness” (James 3: 14-18). The wisdom of this world is the status quo expected in corporate world. That’s the same wisdom the shrew manager used in Luke 16 to earn his profit gain. The wisdom of God is the opposite. It’s by His standard, not man’s standard. It’s by his level of faith, not man’s corporate ladder. It’s based on love, not selfishness and greed. If I run a business school, everybody, regardless of their major, must learn the story in Luke 16 first before we can talk about other things in business. Without a solid foundation, all of the business achievements become meaningless and even harmful. That foundation is built upon Jesus Christ, the rightesous man of God, the Son of God, and God Himself in the flesh. Though none walk with me, still I will follow. If I’m the only one playing by His rule, I keep playing and staying in the game living by His standard. If I’m the only one carrying the cross, then ok that’ll make my shoulders stronger I suppose. No matter the cost, I just want to be with Him. If losing the world means gaining Him, I get a really good deal out of this then.