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(1 Cor. 10, 28–11, 7; Matt. 16, 24–28) The Lord requires decisive self-sacrifice from those who want to follow Him: “deny yourself” (Matthew 16:24). It can be expressed this way: give up your interests and pursue only the interests of the Lord. You will accomplish this when you always do what pleases Him. How to do this? Look carefully at what is inside you and what is around you on the outside, and, having strictly determined how the Lord pleases you to act in such and such a case, external or internal, do so, without sparing yourself and without interfering with your calculations, with complete selflessness. You will say: it is difficult to determine this. No, no wonder. We have commandments that are clear and definite; they express everything that the Lord wants from us. All that remains is to apply them to this case, and this does not present any great difficulties. It is enough to have common sense. If you don’t guess, ask your spiritual father or someone else whose word you respect, and follow the instructions. But it is better in every possible way to refine your reasoning by reading the word of God and the writings of the Fathers, in order to always have a decider with you. You might be interested in: