Living as a Christian is harder than it looks. temple and life

Every work that a person does is a real beauty. When a person works, one, second, hundredth person is beauty, what the Lord created him for. Man participates in God's creation. He was created for work, and not for laziness, he must develop the material world, spiritualize it.

Rest is part of the spiritual rhythm. After the work, the Lord rested on the seventh day. What is rest for a person? – Restoration of strength in God, in prayer, in joy. How does a Christian rest? – In prayer, in gratitude to God, in charitable thoughts. If you honor Sunday in prayer, prayer continues on the rest of the day. If you have spent the seventh day with the Lord, you are in a real spiritual rhythm, and when you do the work of six days, you also do it in prayer, spiritually. How difficult it is to work when you are despondent and melancholy, and how pleasant it is when there is joy and unity with God!

Thus, laziness is darkness, and activity is light. Laziness is even total darkness. Why? – Because in laziness the ruler is the devil. A lazy person revealed himself to the devil, opened his ten, so that the devil would hit it with his arrows. Everything that comes to mind - everything works, everything is believed, the devil will convince us of everything. When a person works, the devil also shoots at him, but cannot hit him, hit him. The devil is watching us and will not miss the sacrifice. What is evil? If it does not seduce a person to evil, it will not rest. He works on every mind, on every heart. How? – Immediately draws our attention to the neighbor.

If only we could expose the devil working in our heart! And how to do it if laziness embraces? If we have some shortcoming, won't the devil take advantage of it? He only waits for this, and works on your weakness so that you never really struggle with it. Soothes, dulls your attention.

For a person who successfully works and turns to God, it is very difficult to understand what the problem is until he sees an example of spiritual life. The example of spiritual life is the first work of our life. Until he sees this example, he believes that everything is normal in his life, everything is in balance, he does not fall into big sins and stays afloat. But he cannot orient himself towards a purely spiritual life, a higher one, because of the darkness that sits deep in a person's heart and prevents him from seeing the light of Christ. He, of course, knows that there is a God, there is life in Him, somehow he accomplishes this, but until he sees the brightness of this light, he continues to remain in twilight. In this twilight, most people are.

This is especially true in our world today. A person works, does not fall into big sins, overdoes something, once a year on Easter he comes to Church, sometimes he will come in to light a candle. Most of them are. Darkness, which is not expelled from the heart, helps a person to see only a balance, like a Pharisee, between his life and conscience. His life and conscience are more or less aligned. But this coordination is so weak and fragile that this person has to surrender more and more to this world. Conscience says: you can’t say this, you can’t do this, but this crafty world says: but what about? How difficult it is to live without adjusting to this crafty world.

A person, living in this world, nevertheless sacrifices his conscience. Otherwise, he believes, it is impossible to survive. But for a Christian this is not possible. Most believers are increasingly retreating before this world. The problem is not that there is sin, but whether we fight with it, how we relate to it. For example, if we tell a lie, it means that we serve the father of lies. If we retreat before the secular world, it enters us. If we tell a lie and make it a common occurrence, the devil takes over in our soul, presses on other levers - passions, self-gratification, and there are many of them!

When we renounce some evil, through this evil the devil acts on our other feelings, desires, seeks out how to slip something sweet on us. One for one, another for another. A person who works, but put spirituality in the background, is not very concerned about spiritual growth, and is sure to plunge more and more into a life moving away from God. If a person accepts lies as a norm, it is very difficult for him to cope with other passions. And the devil quickly presses on these levers, and a person already wants everything, desires grow - gluttony, love of money, adultery, pride, vanity ...

A person who has left the spiritual rhythm or has not entered it falls under a very difficult life in darkness and practically more and more slides into passions and sins, which he did not allow before. The devil will not calmly watch how he works, enters the church, and then begins, say, forced to lie, or something else. A person who does not have a spiritual rhythm is very weak.

Why is our society becoming more and more corrupt? – Because a person outside the Christian tradition does not have the strength to resist his desires, which increase. When a person lived in the Christian tradition, it was clear: this is possible, this is impossible. For example, fornication. In a Christian society, such a person cannot take root, he goes against the tradition that society lives by, makes a challenge to him. Now there is no tradition, "freedom", or rather the possibility of spiritual and even external arbitrariness, although the state has not yet sanctioned cohabitation as a normal form of life.

We must remember that in any case, if a person is far from spirituality, he will not, whether he wants it or not, be dissonant with this society, he will not be able to resist. For example, the sin of fornication. To tell a secular person that extramarital relations are prohibited will be the first question: how to get married without seeing, without trying? Everything is turned upside down: for a Christian this is impossible, but for the secular world it is the only correct one: you must know who you are marrying! If a person does not live a spiritual life, he cannot live another life in a society that does not live according to the Gospel, he will live by the same standards that society lives by.

Therefore, society, moving away from the Gospel, will become anti-Christian. Fornication corrodes believers, believers fall into it, young people are tempted. We can no longer live in modern society don't defend against it.

Another example: in the secular world, lying is normal. And we do the same in our environment, because secular society shapes consciousness. We must be stronger than society. If we remain at the level of accepting society as a norm, it will destroy us. If we move to a different position, say that we are a church, we have opposite rules, we will save ourselves. But while a clear distinction between the life of the Church and society does not exist in the life of the majority modern people, that is, secular.

That's how important this question is. Even in relation to fornication. This is so topical, so urgent, that, indeed, the guard must be shouted. Because society teaches believers that this is the norm. Young people live in a society that breathes this, has it in its depths, and cannot save itself from the corrupting influence of this society. The upbringing of youth should be in the church, in a spiritual environment.

We cannot identify ourselves with this society, in any way. Because otherwise the believer will accept lies as the norm, fornication as the norm, all sins as the norm. Materialism, love of money, gluttony... Not to mention love of glory, love of power, sophisticated pride and so on. Sins are multiplying.

Christian identity must always be at the center of our attention. If we live in a society that does not follow the gospel, we must, while maintaining our Christian identity, be different. We are not different externally, outwardly we do not differ, because appearance does not play any role. Of course, if society comes to some kind of external perversion, we will not participate in this. As long as there is some balance in this society. The apostles were no different from the pagans in their clothing. They even gave Christian symbols to pagan clothes; it became immortalized in Christianity. But the heart must be different. The heart of a Christian in this world must be different.

A Christian in any world and in any circumstances is a Christian. Love, patience, humility, compassion are the meaning of his life. And vice versa, a person of this world is not interested in the Christian world, because one cannot satisfy oneself in sins, one cannot show one's pride and arrogance. You can’t even wish for something, everything is closed! What a life? At least die! Why? - Because hell is in the soul, selfishness. Wants as he wants, and does not want as he should. What is a Christian? - He does everything right. The egoist does not even suspect that his interest is so low and unnatural that in this silence of life in obedience to God there is a positive intensity much greater than his intensity of sin. In the egoistic world there is a negative intensity, but in God's world it is positive, and much greater, incomparable to anything, inexpressible.

The devil in hell cannot understand that he lives a negative life. He has a purpose and lives by it. The devil and the dark spirits, having established themselves in a negative direction, have as their goal to oppose God, the positive life, and cannot essentially accept another. But a man, thank God, is not like that, even the most terrible, as long as he lives, he can repent.

The very life of an egoist and loving person are opposite to each other. The egoist has a negative being, and this being is the goal of life. He cannot help but succumb to this being and acts as this being leads and pushes him. Why is it very difficult for an egoist in a righteous life? Because his being is set to act negatively, and a person who lives by egoism does not suspect that it is possible to love and thus saturate his souls. He saturates his soul with the interest of sin. It seems to him that if there is no interest in sin, then life becomes aimless, inactive, frozen. This is the devil telling him. The devil is confirmed in this, and tells the egoist: you live as long as you deceive, as long as you want what you want. The egoist thinks: I have a passion, but if I give it up, there will be emptiness. The devil prompts: there will be no this passion, there will be no meaning of life.

It is difficult for an egoist to agree that without sin he will have the meaning of life. But while a person is alive, he can repent and overcome selfishness in himself. How? – Only seeing another example of life.

For example, an egoist sees that there is a Christian nearby who lives a completely different life. And what turns out? It turns out that this egoist is looking closely at the Christian, whether he is like himself, an egoist. And if he finds something in a believer the same as his, he calms down: everything is a lie! Therefore, the believer must be a real light against this background of darkness of the egoist. He must show the egoist that there is another life, that the sin that the senselessness of the spiritual life tells him is a lie. A believing person living in an egoistic world understands that the egoistic world knows nothing but the darkness of sin.

A believer should strive to live and shine the light of Christ in a selfish society, following the gospel with his heart. He must carry the gospel in his heart. This means that he must see and understand how the world lives, how it tempts him, and overcome this temptation in himself. This will be the light of Christ. When we try to match the gospel in our lives, it becomes truly ethereal. But following the gospel must be in the depths of our hearts, sincere and direct. We really need to be open with our love for our neighbor and never shut ourselves up.

You do not think that if we start doing something artificially, we will succeed. We will destroy everything, p.ch. this artificiality will be seen by the egoist. Only the gospel can strike him. Just a person who turns the other cheek. Nothing else will tell him anything, because he is in darkness, nothing else is visible, because it is not light. The light is the Gospel, its direct fulfillment: it is said do not judge - that means everything. It is said to love enemies - no matter what the enemy does to me, we must love him. It is said to be poor in spirit, it is said to seek the Kingdom of Heaven and its righteousness first of all, and the rest will follow - to do so. It is said blessed are weeping - have a question? It is said blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, it is said blessed are mercy, it is said blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called the sons of God?

The most important thing for a witness is your virtuous life, if you do not get angry, you will endure everything. Our goal is love, we will not get away from it, we must go to it, acquire it, assert ourselves in it. The goodness of our heart is a bright light. We are moving towards this. It's not even interesting to live if we don't shine on the egoist who cries out: what kind of life is this? We have nowhere to go, we must shine, but not with the darkness of our passions, but with the effort to overcome ourselves.

How to become loving in the eyes of an egoist? Very simple. Twenty-four hours a day, make an effort to fight your selfishness. This, first of all, the Lord sees, and the egoist sees. And the believer remembers what awaits him. Today we talked and read about the Last Judgment. Who is a Christian? All his life he stands on the Last Judgment. I serve my neighbor. Everything else is provided by the Holy Spirit. Joy, the purpose of life, satisfaction with life. When we make an effort, the Holy Spirit works. And if we do not apply, there is no one to apply them. Lazy mother. Laziness is rotting, a decaying body. The end, nobody needs you. And we should be fragrant with virtues, love, zeal. Let's try to get closer to this ideal.

What is spiritual rhythm? – Love is at the center of the spiritual rhythm. When we mentally stand on the Last Judgment - try, become lazy! We immediately enter into repentance, tears, prayer, and we will not rest until we get rid of sin, until we satisfy our conscience and God's will.

Our diligence in the spiritual life is the most effective way to fight sin. If we are not diligent, sin reigns. And if we are diligent, make efforts, try, sin takes less and less possession of our heart. We must preserve the spiritual rhythm of our life. Our life must be arranged spiritually in all respects. We don't have to fit in this world. Otherwise, we will lose our Christian identity. A Christian cannot adapt where sin is openly becoming the norm. How can we have a truce with the enemy? And we, as it were, sit down with him at the negotiating table and sign a cooperation agreement. We are no longer the salt of the earth, but seized salt, which no one needs and which is thrown away. To negotiate with sin - to lose salt, not to be light. Darken the light, see nothing. Just like the glass of the headlights is splashed with dirt - nothing is visible: it shines there, or it does not shine.

This is an image of our agreement with the sinful world. If we conform to this world, we are no longer Christians. Christians are not of this world. A Christian settling down on this earth is absurd. He must arrange the Kingdom of Heaven on this earth, but he himself arranges himself, and wants to arrange his children in this sinful world, and receives a spiritual blow from them, because children brought up in a worldly way then themselves begin to “arrange” their parents. The Christian must live evangelically in this selfish world, and not settle down in it. If you want to arrange for your children in darkness, they will be in darkness. And if you want to make them bright, angelic, they will shine.

"From morning to evening. How to live like a Christian” is a spiritual clue for those who care about their own souls. The book talks about how to pray at home and in the temple, how to behave in difficult circumstances and in successful periods of life; how to treat parents and properly raise children, how to remember and love those who are no longer with us. The book provides the foundations for a conscious attitude to worship and the Sacraments of the Church, as well as the rules of external behavior in the temple, in dealing with the clergy and parishioners, and much more. The recommendations contained in the book are supported by quotations from the Holy Scriptures, the instructions of the holy fathers and teachers of the Church.

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The following excerpt from the book From morning to evening. How to live like a Christian (M. A. Dubrovina, 2017) provided by our book partner - the company LitRes.

Things to keep in mind throughout the day

« H Necessary of all feats is prayer. Prayer is a means to attract and a hand to receive all the graces that are so abundantly poured out on us from an inexhaustible source - the boundless love and goodness of God for us, ”instructs St. Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer.

That is why we need to try to develop the habit of prayer not only in the morning, but throughout the day, especially before difficult and responsible tasks. It is very important to pray to the Lord before starting any difficult business, before a serious conversation, before using transport, etc.

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights(James 1:17). Therefore, to receive God's blessing, like any gift of God, is possible only through prayer. Archimandrite John (Krestyankin; †2006) admonishes: “Teach yourself to begin and end every work with prayer. And then life will go outwardly the same course, but its content will be different. She will be sanctified by God's blessing."

If the practice of prayer takes root in our lives, then we will understand how beneficial it is to live in an atmosphere of prayer.

worldly care

A person in earthly life needs shelter, clothing, food and other things, so you need to get them and think about it. Saint Theophan the Recluse (†1894) instructs:

“There is nothing sinful in worldly care. This is how God deigned to arrange our lives. But to this sinless enemy, sneaking up, instills sinfulness - this is an unceasing concern that weighs both the head and the heart. All the instructions of the Savior about neglect are directed against this disease: Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will take care of its own: enough for each day of its own care(Matthew 6:34). This does not mean that you should do nothing, but that, while doing everything, you should not be tormented by excessive care...

Multi-concern is sinful in that it wants to arrange everything itself and get it without God; by the fact that after that it teaches you to rely on hope on what you have gained and on your other ways exclusively without God's Providence, and through both it sets up the blessings of life to consider the present life as the main goal and the present life - finite, without extending thoughts about the future life. See what a God-fighting spirit moves in this solicitude!”

We should try to do all our worldly affairs as if for the Lord Himself, that is, from the heart, in good conscience, with pleasure, not allowing any slowness and negligence in them. Holy Scripture teaches: Cursed is he who does the work of the Lord negligently(Jer. 48:10).

In the Testament of the Father, the self-taught writer, wise peasant Ivan Tikhonovich Pososhkov († 1726) writes: argue, and if they offend you with something, be patient. Scripture says: He who endures to the end will be saved(Matt. 10, 22) ... Without the will of God, no one will harm you, only you yourself be a man of God, live in everything according to God, do not grumble against anyone, even your enemy, and remember that poverty and wealth are all from Gentlemen… God save you to do and say as unscrupulous people do and say: “If only you could get away with it,” but try to do everything according to your conscience, as before God… And if your master sometimes offends you with something, do not be angry and not only to people, but also to God, do not complain about him ... Say to yourself: "For my sins, God sent me such a master or comrades, I must endure." For such your patience, for your kindness and meekness, God will not leave you and will lead you out of your need - not by your thinking, but by His Divine Providence, and will not only endow you with this earthly wealth, but will not deprive you of the future Kingdom of Heaven.

The Lord told His disciples: You can't do anything without me(John 15, 5), therefore, if our affairs are going well, we should not be proud of this and attribute success to our own strengths and skills.

If the work we have to do is difficult and requires special patience, then, in the words of Metropolitan Grigory (Postnikov), “do not be cowardly, do not be lazy, do not be annoyed, do not indulge in anger, impatience, grumbling, etc., help yourself some kind of edifying singing, secret prayer, elevation of the heart to the Lord God in any brief prayerful sighs to Him ... Such exercises help keep the soul in union with God, drive away all evil from it, strengthen it in goodness and support bodily forces.

St. Theophan the Recluse teaches: “Choose a few short prayers or directly take the twenty-four prayers of Chrysostom and often repeat them with appropriate thoughts and feelings. As you get used to it, your head will be enlightened by the memory of God and your heart will be warmed.”

Of the short prayers, the holy fathers recommend the following: the publican’s prayer “God, be merciful to me a sinner” (see: Luke 18:13) or “God, cleanse me a sinner,” as well as “Lord, have mercy.” Saint Ignatius (Bryanchaninov) considers the Jesus Prayer to be the most excellent of all short prayers: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me a sinner.”

The Monk Aristokliy († 1918), Elder Athos and Moscow Wonderworker (his relics rest in the Moscow Church of the Great Martyr Nikita on Shviva Gorka beyond the Yauza, in the Athos Compound), instructs to incessantly prayerfully call Holy Mother of God: “Whether you are going to work or what you are doing, say: “I put all my hope in You, Mother of God, keep me under Your shelter.” And so always call on the Mother of God, and also: “O Theotokos, do not despise me, demanding Your help and Your intercession” - or otherwise, as you can, just call.

Yaroslavl icon Mother of God

The well-known elder Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) says: “In order for our deeds to be successful, we must always ask God's blessing and not start any business without prayer; in case of failures, let us not indulge in cowardice and despondency, but with patience we will begin to trust in the mercy of God, continuing our labors and studies. And the Lord, looking at our obedience to His will, will crown our efforts with the desired success. Receiving contentment from the Lord in bodily blessings, let us not become attached to them, but, on the contrary, let us always remember the commandment of God: Seek first the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all this will be added to you.(Matthew 6:33), and you will be sons of the Kingdom.”

Christian doing, or the path to virtue

Going about your usual business, getting into the vanity of the world, you should not forget about your Christian duties, since they are entrusted to us by the Lord.

First of all, we must love the Lord. And to love God means to try to recognize His will, to move away from everything that is contrary to the Lord, and with joy, diligently do what is pleasing to Him.

The apostle Luke says how we should love the Lord: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself(Luke 10:27).

Righteous John Kronstadtsky interprets these gospel words in the following way: “To love God with all your heart means not to be addicted to anything and to give your whole heart to the Lord God, doing His will in everything, and not your own; with all my soul, that is, with all my mind always in God, with all my heart to establish in Him and to surrender all my will to His will in all circumstances of life, joyful and sad; with all strength, that is, to love so that no opposing force could tear us away from the love of God, no circumstances of life: neither sorrow, nor narrowness, nor persecution, nor height and depth, nor a sword (see: Rom. 8, 35, 39); with all thought, that is, always, think about God, about His goodness, long-suffering, holiness, wisdom, omnipotence, about His deeds and in every possible way avoid vain thoughts and evil memories.

In St. Basil the Great we read: “What are the signs of love for God? The Lord Himself taught us this when He said: If you love me, keep my commandments(John 14:15). The Lord says: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another; as I have loved you, so you also love one another(John 13:34). And the Lord Himself determined the measure of this love: So, in everything you want people to do to you, do to them the same way.(Matthew 7:12).

According to the words of Blessed Theophylact of Bulgaria (XII century), the Savior Himself "shows us the shortest path to virtue: since we, as people, know from ourselves what we should do to others."

So, if we want well-being for ourselves, then we will wish the same for our neighbor.

If, however, we become angry at the rough treatment of our neighbor, we will not say anything until the anger has passed.

We are pleased when they help; Let us try to help our neighbors in everything, especially in spiritual need.

It is unpleasant for us when they speak badly of us, disclose our shortcomings and vices, treat us rudely and insult us - and we ourselves will not do this.

Let's not judge. Among believers, the sin of judging others is very common, and it must be added that we discuss and condemn people with pleasure. And sometimes condemnation even turns into entertainment, especially when we gather with our friends and acquaintances to “scratch our tongues”. Such a pastime is an almost mundane and ubiquitous affair, and no one remembers that it is sinful and destructive for the soul. When we condemn someone, we forget the commandment of the Lord: Judge not lest ye be judged(Matthew 7:1). The holy fathers said about the sin of condemnation that when we look at the sins of others, we stop noticing our own.

Let us not slander and listen to condemnation and gossip from others. Slander is the work of the devil. From the lives of St. Gregory of Acragastius (7th century), St. Stephen the Confessor (9th century), from the Memorable Tales of the Hermit Abba Nikon, and others, we know that slanderers can be punished with possession.

In the biography of St. Gregory of Neocaesarea (III century) we read. In his youth, studying at the Alexandria School, he was distinguished by extraordinary modesty and virginal purity. He was loved and respected by both his comrades and mentors. But his good behavior was not to the liking of libertines and envious people. They decided to disgrace him and bribed the fallen woman to slander the innocent. In front of many, she approached St. Gregory and demanded payment for the sin that he allegedly committed with her. From shame, he lowered his eyes and only blushed. The harlot continued to scream, demanding money. And then Saint Gregory asked his friends to pay her. They gave money. As soon as the slanderer took them, the demon immediately attacked her. She fell to the ground, screaming terribly, gnashing her teeth, emitting foam, so that everyone was horrified. The demon tormented her until Saint Gregory prayed for her. Only then did she receive healing.

Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk († 1783) compares a slanderer with a person infected with a terrible deadly disease. “The infected with a pestilence injures the one who communicates with him; the slanderer hurts the one who listens to his slander. From an infected person, the ulcer passes to another, from another to a third, from a third to a fourth, and so on to all people, if they are not careful; so it is from a slanderer - one hears slander and tells another, another - to a third, a third - to a fourth, and so everyone hears and is damaged by slander ... - says St. Tikhon. The slanderer also harms the one whom he slanders: for with his tongue he pierces him as with a sword. He also harms himself: for he sins grievously. He also harms those who listen to his slander: for he gives them a reason for slander and condemnation, and thus leads them to the same lawless deed in which he himself is ... Christian! Beware of the slanderer, as you beware of the pestilence of an infected person, otherwise you yourself will become infected from him and die. Beware of experiencing people's sins yourself, so that you will not judge and slander your neighbor. Experience and know your sins and cleanse them by true repentance and faith. This is a Christian work, to which you are called from Christ.

Here is the situation from modern life: we are having a dirty conversation about a good person, and we understand that this is slander, but at the same time we either silently listen or agree, thus participating in terrible sin. If we are unable to resist slander, then we must ask the Lord about it: “ Deliver me from human slander(Ps. 118, 134) - not only so that people do not slander me, but so that I do not slander others!

Archimandrite Kirill (Pavlov) says about how we need to behave towards each other and preserve a good feeling for others: “Forgive insults to your neighbor, refrain from causing offense, from irritation, from anger, etc. the devil, who teaches us to keep in our souls evil against our neighbor, but let us in simplicity of heart forgive our neighbor the insults inflicted on them also at the instigation of the devil. Let no one think evil against each other, let no one be carried away by evil suspicion of his brother, for this is the delusion of the enemy of our salvation, who is in every possible way intensifying to destroy the union of love and brotherhood in us and plant demonic enmity and hostility.

How not to sin in various life circumstances

“People, during their earthly life, are given different positions,” says St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov). – All these provisions are not accidental; they, as tasks to be solved, as lessons for work, are distributed by the Providence of God, so that each person in the position in which he is placed, fulfilling the will of God, works out his salvation.

The life circumstances in which we live, the position in the society that we occupy, is different for everyone. But all this is not without the will of God or God's allowance, therefore, always, in any situation, we will try to act righteously and piously. The simple and very comforting spiritual recommendations of Metropolitan Gregory (Postnikov) will help us with this:

“When you are happy, everything in life goes according to your desire; then with all your heart give thanks to the Lord God for everything, and be extremely careful not to remain ungrateful to Him. Taking advantage of earthly prosperity, do not be attached to it with your heart: your heart should be attached only to the Lord God. Never forget His words: Give me, son, your heart(Prov. 23, 26)…

If some misfortune befalls you, never indulge in immoderate grief, fear, grumbling or despair: the All-Wise and All-Good Lord sends us every earthly disaster for our benefit. If you feel guilty of something, then imagine the Lord Jesus Christ on the Cross, suffering for you incomparably more than you can suffer - suffering completely innocently, without the slightest grumbling and displeasure, and make sure that you deserve a much greater misfortune. If, in the event of a misfortune that has befallen you, you feel innocent, then thank God with all your heart that He wants to save you from something disastrous for the salvation of your soul through this misfortune. For constant joy makes the soul frivolous, haughty, and fickle; with eternal happiness, we all very easily indulge in vanity, pride, voluptuousness ... Say: “You, Lord, know what is useful for me, do with me according to Your will.”

If you are rich, then never think that you owe your wealth to yourself, your smartness and activity. Firmly remember the words of the Spirit of God, that only The Lord makes poor and enriches, humiliates and exalts(1 Sam. 2, 7), and therefore do not be proud of your wealth, but be humble, consider it a gift from God and earnestly thank the Lord God for it, but do not cling to wealth with your heart, so that you do not become a slave to your wealth. Keep your heart in relation to him so that you can easily do without him, as soon as it pleases the Lord God to take him away from you ...

If you are poor, then endure your poverty complacently. Graciously bear this burden until the Lord God pleases to take it off you - carry it, if He pleases, until death. Be always cheerful, do not grieve, do not grumble, especially do not lose heart and do not use any wrong means, contrary to the will of God, to rid yourself of poverty. Always remember... whatever the Lord does with us, He does it to facilitate our salvation. Remember that the Lord God will never put more weight on you than you can bear. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond your strength, but when tempted will give you relief, so that you can endure(1 Cor. 10:13). Remember also that He is always with you to give His help. Behold, I am with you all the days to the end of the age(Matthew 28:20)…

If, in your poverty, some other burdens overwhelm you, then do not lose heart even here, but console yourself with holy thoughts. For example, do they hate you, despise you? Think: “What a trouble! My Lord and Savior was God, but they also hated Him and despised Him.” Are you oppressed, offended? Think: “What a trouble! Who was most oppressed and offended, if not the Lord Himself!” Think again: “If someone is not despised and humiliated, how will he train in humility? If someone is not offended, how will he learn humility? If someone is not offended, how will he learn patience, meekness, and other similar Christian virtues?”

When you are praised, be extremely careful, because then you are in a dangerous position: you can fall into pride, vanity, carelessness, or other pernicious seduction. To prevent this from happening to you, try to look at the praise made to you with distrust, and if they praise you in the eyes, it is best to interrupt the conversation in a decent way and turn your speech to another subject. Remember firmly that what is praiseworthy in you is not yours, but God’s, and God gave you the disposition, ability, strength, desire and opportunity to acquire something worthy of praise and, therefore, the glory for it does not belong to you, but to God.

When you see in yourself something worthy of praise and you feel in yourself a desire to tell others about it, try to destroy this desire in yourself with the idea that because of human praise you will make yourself unworthy of praise from God, because you receive a reward from people. Remember the very important words of the Lord: Woe to you when all people speak well of you!(Luke 6:26).

When you see that many eagerly seek their happiness in sensual goods and pleasures, in bliss, in luxury and pass it off as wisdom; when you see that many for their earthly happiness use every lie and every deceit, defend hatred, revenge and other passions, and consider refusal to satisfy sensual pleasures as stupidity, then we must firmly remember in our hearts and say, as the apostles taught: “ We are Christians, we must live according to the law of Christ.” Carry each other's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ(Gal. 6:2), while the law of Christ requires us to crucify our flesh with its passions and lusts (see: Gal. 5:24), rejecting lies, saying truth each to his neighbor(Eph. 4:25), but all vengeance was left to the Lord God, who said: Vengeance is mine, I will repay(Rom. 12:19)."

Once again, we will not fail to turn to the advice of the peasant Ivan Pososhkov: “If you impoverish, my son, and you are not able to feed yourself, then do not lose heart, do not despair and do not touch any unrighteous deed, do not make acquaintances with worthless people, but put your hope in God."

This is how we should try to act if we want to live like a Christian and achieve salvation.

The word of the holy John Privalov on the Week of the Cross
Holy Presentation Church in the village of Zaostrovye Dear brothers and sisters!

Today is the third week of Great Lent, which is called the Adoration of the Cross. On this day we hear the Gospel of Mark (8:34-9:1), where Christ addresses every Christian: "Whoever wants to follow Me, deny yourself, and take up your cross, and follow Me."

We have heard these words before. Maybe , once they were for us stabbing, injuring, disturbing , but then, as often happens, we were able to protect them in our memory and in our consciousness in such a way that they stopped tingling, hurting and disturbing us. These words are, of course, "explosive". And what Christ says, He does not say in order to make a scandal among the listeners. It is absolutely impossible to reproach Him for this, although this does not mean that there were no scandals around Him.

The Lord says of Himself that He is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Interestingly, the word "Way" is in the first place here. What does Christ offer us? He offers Himself as the way, He offers Himself as the way out, He offers Himself as the way of our life. But we live in a world that has fallen away from God, which is why it's so hard to be centered on Christ. What does the world that has fallen away from God mean? It is a world that has chosen itself as the source and goal of life. In this sense, overcoming the fall is expressed in shifting one's attention to God, to the Creator of life, to the Source of life. It's natural, it's understandable, but it's also difficult., because that all of us born into this world are infected with egocentrism. We often say: this person is an egoist, and this person is an altruist, he does not spare himself for the sake of other people. Brothers and sisters, we are not all egoists, but we are all egocentrists, and there cannot be such a cure on earth to get rid of egocentrism. Egocentrism is overcome in only one way - by love. If a person loves and if this love is genuine, real, then the person outgrows himself and the interest in another in him exceeds the interest in himself. The Lord understood this when He said: AT love your neighbor as yourself." And this was also new. Loving another as yourself is already something. It has always been understood that self-love is quite natural, and people do not need to be taught this. It's natural, and that's how everyone loves themselves. But to love another as yourself - it already meant something. Christ took it to the limit. He says, "Love your enemies, bless those who curse you!" To treat the enemy with reverence, with love - this, of course, cannot be done by an earthly person, this can only be done by one who is in communion with Christ. It is only by the power of the Lord's love that one can look at the enemy like that and smile at him. Look at him and bless him, look at and take him into the depth and fullness of personal communication.

I said today - to be in fellowship with Christ is the hardest thing. Following Christ is the hardest thing. And it turns out that all the forces of this world, infected with egocentrism, rise both within us and around us, and it is extremely difficult to keep our attention on Christ. Sometimes it's almost impossible. You can gather your strength to the limit and give yourself the following order: “I will be in fellowship with Christ, no matter what!” This is important, it is necessary, but it is not enough, because we are saved by God's power and God's love. And our focus on Christ, coming from us, must end up infusing us with the power of Divine love, the power of grace, which we also hear about today. Christ, looking at his disciples, says that among them there are some who, before their earthly death, will feel, see the Kingdom of God come in power.

Last Sunday we remembered St. Gregory Palamas and they said that just this is one of those saints who saw the goal Christian life in the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God, in the acquisition of the grace of the Holy Spirit.

But when we are focused on Christ, when we do not defend ourselves in front of Him, when we pray to Him that He will support us in following Him, because everything in this world is opposed to following Christ, we find help and support. The lifeline to pull us out of the hole we are in is with Christ. And this is the power that He gives us free of charge and free of charge, is called the grace of God, the grace of the Holy Spirit. And when the grace of the Holy Spirit comes, we all understand very well that it comes not for something, but just like that. Otherwise, it is also called unexpected joy, causeless joy, when, despite all the circumstances of life, a source of such amazing, delightful joy suddenly opens in a person that he does not know, the reason for which it is pointless to look for an answer. And a person thinks: “Where do I get such joy now, where does such a play of life come from in me now? Why did the whole world seem to me at that moment so wonderful, so joyful, so good, although at all other moments of my life I am convinced of something opposite? Where?" The answer is simple: the Lord has visited, the Lord has entered your heart, because you are drawn to meet Him.

God grant, dear brothers and sisters, that these words about the coming of the Kingdom of Heaven in power would be accepted by each of us, that each of us would experience this grace of God, saving us, illuminating, healing and reviving.

Amen.

Is it possible to live like a Christian today?

Our life takes place in the time that the Lord assigned to it. This time is God's gift, and we have no power to change it for another. In it we must go our way of salvation. How, with a purpose life of the next century can and should we use the time of the present age? Today we are talking about this with the abbot of the Danilov Stauropegial Monastery in Moscow, Archimandrite Alexy (Polikarpov)

CHRISTIAN LIVING

The Christian life is an indivisible whole: either we are with God, or we are against Him: “ Who is not with me is against me"(Luke 11.23).

Christ is the Bridegroom of the Church, and the soul of a Christian, like a bride, can be either faithful or unfaithful to her Bridegroom.

If the soul has loved Christ much, much is forgiven her, and if she has not loved, then a thousand good deeds will not save, for, as the apostle said, “ if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, but I do not have love, it does not profit me."(1 Cor 13.3).

« Sin is lawlessness" (one John 3.4), and it consists precisely in the violation of the law of spiritual growth. Even a stop in the movement towards God, according to the holy fathers, is tantamount to a retreat.

And a small betrayal is already a real betrayal.

Sin is everything that breaks communion with God, our divine-human life.

There is nothing worse than fear. To a fanatic, the devil always seems terrible and strong, he believes in him more than in God. However, the Monk Silouan of Athos said: "The devil only frightens, but has no power."

Most of all, a person needs a spiritual cure for fear.

A person who stands before God will never become a fanatic. He becomes a fanatic only when he puts himself before people. The fanatic seeks power, not Truth. Truth is not given ready-made and is not perceived passively by a person, it is an endless task. Truth does not fall from above on a person, like some thing. Truth is a way out of yourself. A fanatic cannot get out of himself. He loses his temper only in anger against others, but this is not an exit to others and to another. This is a distortion of Christianity.

The Christian life is not the fulfillment of the greatest number of rules of good behavior or the accumulation of good deeds; it is the complete rebirth of man.

It does not resemble not only the life of a sinner, but also the life of a non-Christian righteous man.

This Life is supernatural, divine-human. A Christian does not live alone, but with God, and not according to his own, but according to His will.

It is not new rules, not even a new moral teaching that Christ gave and is giving us, but Himself, but in Himself this new Life, filled not with human, but with Divine love.

It is moved by the Holy Spirit, which is, as it were, the highest inspiration of man, the inspiration of a holy life.

The true Christian fulfills the will of God not as a slave who fulfills someone else's command, but as a son of God by adoption, and clearly realizes that the will of God is, in essence, his own, innermost desire. And, indeed, doing the will of God, he only gains freedom and becomes himself.

But this is possible only through close union with Jesus Christ, since only in Him is human nature indivisibly and inseparably united with Divine nature.

Union with Christ is acquired by the power of the Holy Spirit, the acquisition of which, according to the words of St. Seraphim of Sarov, and is the goal of the Christian life.

The Holy Spirit, the Spirit of love and unity, descended on the Holy Church, on this most perfect union of love on earth, called to unity, like the highest unity Holy Trinity. Therefore, a person can acquire the Holy Spirit only in the Church.

The fullness of communion with God or grace is holiness.

Few reach it and can say with the apostle Paul: I no longer live, but Christ lives in me” (Gal 2.20).

But even on the way to it, Christians are not deprived of communion with God, that is, the beginning of a grace-filled life. It is only important that its seeds, sown through the word of God and the Holy Mysteries, sprout and grow. This growth is everything.

If life, driven by passions and lusts, dies, and the effort to live according to the will of God and the ability to communicate with God grow, then we live.