Three Personal Experiences That Taught Me to Honor My Parents, Love My Neighbor, and Resist Greed
1. How the Holy Spirit Began to Transform My Life
After my encounter with God, my life began to change in ways I had never imagined.
As I described in my earlier testimony, My Life with the Holy Spirit, I came to believe that the Holy Spirit was guiding me not only in understanding Scripture but also in how I thought, felt, and treated others.
Most of us recognize our own weaknesses. We know when our habits or attitudes need to change, yet changing them is rarely easy. Our personalities and ways of thinking develop over many years, and even determined efforts do not always transform them.
In my case, however, something remarkable was happening.
I had once spent much of my time worrying about the future. Now, an unexpected sense of peace and quiet joy seemed to rise from within me. Even when difficulties appeared likely, I felt strangely free from anxiety about tomorrow.
My anger also began to fade more quickly. When someone upset me, I found it easier to understand that person’s circumstances and let go of resentment. I became less interested in gossip and increasingly uncomfortable with conversations that involved criticizing others.
My attitude toward money changed as well. When I gave my tithe at church, I sometimes felt that offering only one-tenth was a small expression of gratitude for everything I believed God had given me.
I also became more sensitive to the suffering of those who were poor, ill, or struggling. Their needs often came to mind before my own.
What made these changes especially meaningful was that many began before I had studied the relevant passages of Scripture.
Only later did I recognize how closely they resembled what the Apostle Paul described as the fruit of the Spirit.
In Galatians 5:22–23, Paul speaks of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
I believed these qualities were gradually awakening within me through the guidance of the Holy Spirit, rather than through willpower alone.
Yet my spiritual journey involved more than inward transformation. Certain encounters in everyday life also helped me understand biblical teachings in unexpected ways.
Three experiences remain especially vivid in my memory.
2. An Elderly Gentleman and the Meaning of Honoring My Father
“Honour thy father and thy mother.” — Exodus 20:12 (KJV)
At the time, I was working as a newspaper journalist covering international affairs. Because much of my work was based in the newsroom, I often had a lunch break lasting nearly two hours.
I sometimes spent that time reading my Bible on a bench atop a small hill near the newspaper office.
One afternoon, an elderly gentleman approached me.
He was neatly dressed in a suit and tie, with polished shoes and a gentle, pleasant expression.
“You’re reading a good book,” he remarked.
Then he asked, “May I sit beside you?”
“Of course,” I replied.
He introduced himself as a church elder who had retired from a university professorship. He now spent his Sundays teaching mathematics to students at his church.
After a brief conversation, he began speaking about his past.
I will not repeat the personal details, but he expressed deep regret over having failed to care for his parents as he should have when he was younger.
Then he asked:
“Are your parents still living?”
“My mother passed away many years ago,” I answered. “But my father is still alive.”
He took my hand and spoke earnestly.
“Please take good care of your father. Honor him while you still can.”
His words struck a nerve.
The truth was that I rarely visited my father and seldom even called him. I could have blamed my busy schedule, but deep down I knew I had not given him enough attention.
This gentleman knew nothing about my family. Yet his words seemed to address something I had neglected for years.
That evening, after returning home, I opened my Bible. To my surprise, the passage I came across concerned the commandment to honor one’s parents.
I sat quietly, remembering the elderly gentleman’s face and voice.
Was it merely a coincidence? Or had God allowed me to meet this man to remind me of a responsibility I had overlooked?
I wondered whether he might have been a messenger sent by God.
I cannot know why our paths crossed that afternoon. What I do know is that the encounter made me examine my relationship with my father.
The commandment to honor one’s parents was no longer simply a verse in Scripture. It had become a personal responsibility I needed to take seriously.
3. A Stranger on the Subway and the Meaning of Loving My Neighbor
“Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” — Matthew 22:39 (KJV)
About a year after I began experiencing what I understood to be the guidance of the Holy Spirit, I was taking the subway to meet a car dealer.
During the journey, I noticed a man asking passengers for money.
He was blind and had serious difficulty walking. Most passengers paid little attention to him, as people asking for money were not uncommon on the subway.
But something about him deeply moved me.
I opened my wallet and found a single crisp, high-denomination banknote. I had set it aside for the church offering the following Sunday.
For a moment, I hesitated.
Then I silently asked God:
“Lord, I prepared this money as an offering for church. Would it be all right if I gave it to this poor man instead?”
When he reached me, I placed the banknote in his hand.
He felt its raised markings with his fingers, apparently recognizing its value. Then he bowed gratefully and brought his hands together as though praying.
Watching him, I closed my eyes and prayed as well.
“Lord, please open this man’s eyes and allow him to stand and walk on his own two feet. Yet not according to my will, but according to Yours.”
When I opened my eyes, he was still in the same prayerful position.
Then something happened that I have never been able to fully explain.
For a brief moment, his figure seemed to overlap with the image of the Virgin Mary in prayer.
At the same time, I felt an intense warmth rising within my chest.
Startled and confused, I briefly turned my attention elsewhere. When I looked around again, the man was gone.
The experience left a lasting impression on me.
About two days later, while looking through an earlier newspaper, I noticed an advertisement announcing lottery results.
A few days before, I had bought a lottery ticket almost as a joke while walking with a younger colleague.
The published numbers looked familiar. I found my ticket and checked.
To my astonishment, I had won.
The prize was a car called the Cielo, a Spanish word meaning “sky” or “heaven.”
Then I noticed the date of the drawing.
It was the very day I had encountered the man on the subway.
I was struck by the coincidence.
Could he have been an angel sent by God?
I had no way of knowing, nor could I establish any connection between the lottery drawing and our encounter. Nevertheless, the circumstances left a powerful impression on me.
Whenever I had time afterward, I returned to the same subway route, hoping to meet him again.
But I never did.
As I reflected on the experience, a passage from Hebrews took on particular significance:
“Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.” — Hebrews 13:2 (KJV)
Until then, I had imagined angels as beautiful, radiant beings, much like those portrayed in religious paintings.
But why should a messenger of God necessarily appear that way?
Could someone who appeared poor, helpless, or unremarkable also be a messenger sent by God?
From then on, I became more conscious of how easily we judge people by outward appearances.
I began to wonder whether some of those who approached us seeking help might be messengers sent by God.
Of course, I could never know whether the man I encountered was an angel. But I realized that a person’s need for compassion does not depend on whether that person is an angel or an ordinary human being.
That experience deepened my understanding of Jesus’ commandment to love one’s neighbor.
Compassion was not merely feeling sympathy. It meant recognizing another person’s suffering and responding, whenever possible, with genuine kindness.
Whatever the explanation for that day, the lesson has remained with me.
4. A Lesson in Resisting Greed
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house.” — Exodus 20:17 (KJV)
The third experience involved my family and a decision about property.
At the time, my financial situation was modest. I was not wealthy, but I did not feel particularly deprived.
One day, my father-in-law unexpectedly offered to buy a house for our family.
He worried about his two grandchildren having to move frequently. As the owner of a large company, he was financially well established and wanted to provide a more stable home for us.
He proposed purchasing the house and registering it in my name.
I appreciated his generosity but politely declined.
“I think it would be more appropriate to put the house in my wife’s name,” I told him.
The money belonged to my father-in-law, and I did not feel comfortable treating what he had worked to acquire as something I was personally entitled to.
We eventually lived in the house, but I never regarded it as property that rightfully belonged to me.
About seven or eight years later, our circumstances changed dramatically.
My father-in-law’s business encountered serious financial difficulties and eventually collapsed. Much of his wealth disappeared, leaving him and my mother-in-law in a difficult position.
My wife decided to sell the house, which was registered in her name, to provide financial support to her parents.
At almost the same time, I had lost the money I had invested elsewhere and was struggling financially myself.
During that difficult period, I remembered the decision I had made years earlier.
What if I had accepted my father-in-law’s offer out of a desire to make the property my own?
Given my financial circumstances, I might have used the house to settle my debts.
Had that happened, my wife would not have been able to help her parents when they needed her most.
As I considered this possibility, a biblical commandment came to mind:
“Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour’s house.”
I began to understand those words in a more personal way.
To me, the commandment was not merely a prohibition against taking another person’s possessions. It was also a warning against allowing the desire for wealth to cloud our judgment or diminish our responsibility toward others.
When I originally declined to have the house registered in my name, I had not been thinking about what might happen years later. It simply seemed like the right thing to do.
Only after our family’s circumstances changed did I fully appreciate that decision.
Property and wealth can provide security and comfort. Yet our attitude toward them can also determine whether they become a means of helping others or a source of conflict.
Through that experience, I learned that resisting greed is not merely a moral principle. Sometimes, choosing not to claim something for ourselves can preserve an opportunity to care for someone else.
5. Living Out the Teachings of Scripture
Looking back, these three experiences took place in entirely different circumstances.
An elderly stranger reminded me to honor my father. A man on the subway taught me to put compassion into action. And a decision about a family home revealed the importance of resisting greed.
What made these experiences meaningful was not simply that some seemed unusual or difficult to explain.
It was that they changed how I thought and behaved.
I do not believe the Holy Spirit guides people only through extraordinary visions or dramatic events.
Sometimes an unexpected meeting, a quiet realization, or an ordinary decision can become the occasion for a profound spiritual lesson.
The Apostle James expressed a principle that I came to understand through these experiences:
“Even so faith, if it hath not works, is dead, being alone.” — James 2:17 (KJV)
I believe those words remind us that faith cannot remain confined to our thoughts or religious beliefs. It must find expression in how we live.
That is why I have chosen to share these personal experiences.
My intention is not to claim special spiritual insight or suggest that every coincidence must have a supernatural explanation.
Rather, I want to describe how events in my life helped me understand Scripture in a deeply personal way.
Honoring our parents, caring for those in need, and refusing to let greed govern our decisions are principles that many people can appreciate, whether or not they share the same religious beliefs.
Understanding these principles is one thing. Living by them is another.
I do not claim to have become perfect after encountering God. I still have weaknesses, make mistakes, and need to examine my own behavior.
But I recognize a profound difference between the person I was before that encounter and the person I gradually became.
Where I had once focused primarily on my own concerns, I became more attentive to the needs and circumstances of others.
I consider that change one of the greatest gifts I received through what I believe was the guidance of the Holy Spirit.
Faith, I have come to understand, is not complete simply because we read Scripture or understand its words. Its meaning becomes visible in how we treat our parents, respond to those in need, and conduct ourselves when money and personal interests are involved.
For me, this is what it means to live out the Word of God through the guidance of the Holy Spirit.