I had been living in an orphanage for about 15 years. My world was so small in reality, I knew a lot of things but they were only in teachings. I could point many countries in the world map( I and my friend like to compete, how many countries that we can remember.), but I had never been there. I thought all I learnt were easy to practice.
I started to drink alcohol and smoke ( tried, because smoking is consider as very bad in Cambodia) when I reached 23. What I learnt from the church, were great. I did wrong against the one who I respect the most.
Proverbs: 20:1 Wine is a mocker, Strong drink is a brawler, and whoever is led astray by it is not wise.
I still keep this verse of reminder in my mind. It tells me who I am. Will I choose to be a follower or a leader. When I was a teen, I was a tough teen with drinking, smoking, ... As you know, it is a natural of life. The lust is the biggest thing that I cannot taking control of. It is a big struggle for me. I saw many teen smoke, drink... when I was a teen, I didn't really want to try them. I went to a Karoke once with my friends, when I was in secondary school. When we were there, my friends chose their songs and do you know what? My turn, I chose some rap songs from my favorite Khmer rapper "Pou Kliang". It surprised them, because they couldn't rap, haha. It is guilty for me to jump over the school fence to an illegal place. We were about 15 to 18. One day I was in the capital, it was a festival in the kingdom, it was a cold night, I was late and didn't want to bother my brother then I decided to stay outside until the next day, I smoked. Me: can I have a cigarette? Seller: which brand? I chose a brand and I asked them light, they said to me, "You are a new smoker, boy". I wanted to try, because people say smoking can warm us when we are feeling cold. But guess what? I choke when I smoked. It was a quiet night, I walked around the France Embassy. It remind me of a song from a band called Green Day "Boulevard of Broken dreams" I sang that song along until the next day. I saw night lives in the capital, prostitution, drugs, adulteries ... I was young to know about them, I thought.
Being yourself is a perfect way, being helped by other when you are in need is a relaxing way. If you are pool like me and you couldn't afford to go overseas and someone come out and guarantees you, that would be a perfect way. God wants you to live your own way of freedoms. He put Adam and Eve the first human and He didn't tie them to a tree. But He said: Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth. He is a caring God, Father.
Life after I face with work temptations, when I buy somethings for my organization and ask seller to give me a receipt then they may ask me, "do you want me to put same price?". That means, if I say no then they will put a fake price on the receipt then I may get benefits from it. Can I do it? For tour guides in Siam Reap Angkor they gain so much from tourists, such as: commission from restaurants, shop.... is that wrong to get commissions?
1 Corinthians 9:9 For it is written in the law of Moses, “You shall not muzzle an ox while it treads out the grain.” Is it oxen God is concerned about?
Why it is a problem to get commissions? Once I brought a team to Cheng Ek genocide museum then it was late, we needed to pay money to guards, so they let us it, after I tour them around and they called me, handed me some money and I passed it to my boss. She admired my honesty, my word is like this, I may use that little money to buy trust from people, can I be rich with that amount of money? But maybe I loss my job because of this little 15 USD. According to the verse from the Bible above, I can take that money, if I didn't take the money from the guards, it already given to them. What I got benefit from is trust from my work, but what I lost was my face, the guards may say this person also get this money or if they knew I am a Christian and they may say, oh this Christian guy also corrupted. So in the next commission I rejected not to get and waiting for the work to ask it from me then I may explain them. I don't want the trust from the work anymore, my face and my God is greater than that. I really don't like to bring team to Siam Reap Angkor, because I always see cheating from tour guides, they always put half price to everything the team need. It makes me feel sick, I hate corruption, when I was in high school, I used to collect money from students for teachers or for school, my friends said, they are poor, I didn't dare to get the money from them, But I had to face with the teachers. I needed to tell them, charity or individual benefits. I told them, they will face with God if they steal the money from charity. Charity is from what you happy to offer.
I have faced many temptations, I failed and rose again. You need to be strong, you need to keep yourself up with encouragement words from what you believe can make you stronger. I am blessed to have God who always speak to me. Good words from good heart, make you good works. God bless you people.
