18th Sunday after Pentecost, after the Exaltation - St. Theophan the Recluse, Bishop of Vyshensky, about how it happens that when we destroy ourselves, we do not destroy, but savetranslated

Our Lord Jesus Christ said: “Whoever... wants to save his soul will destroy it; and whoever loses his life for the sake of Me and the Gospel, he will save it” (Mark 8:35). These words need to be deeply imprinted in their hearts by those who, having prayed, repented and received the Holy Mysteries, have now entered into a struggle with themselves, with their passions, with the sin living in them.