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Tell me, really, what benefit can there be from people's praise? When evening comes, all this noise and applause immediately stops; when the holiday passes, they are left without any pleasure; having fun as if in a dream, and not finding, despite their searches, the joy that a wreath, or shiny clothes, or any other luxurious thing gave them: all this ran past them faster than the wind. But heavenly life is not like that at all: without requiring costs, it brings us great and sure benefit. The leader of such a life is constantly applauded - not by drunk people, but by a host of Angels. What do I say: a host of Angels? The Lord of Angels himself will praise and glorify him. And whoever God praises, not for one, not two, or three days, but eternally triumphs with a crown on his head, and you will never see his head deprived of this glory. The time of this celebration is not limited to certain days, but will continue into the infinity of the next century. In order for this service to be accomplished, poverty can never be an obstacle; on the contrary, even the poor can do it, it is even more convenient for the poor, as free from all worldly splendor, because what is needed here is not money spending or wealth, but a pure soul and intelligent thought; with it the clothes necessary for such a life are made for the soul, and a crown is woven, so that if it is not adorned with virtues, then a lot of gold will not bring it any benefit, just as poverty will not harm it at all if it has inner wealth. Let this service be performed not only by male children, but also by daughters. It is not only men who are called to him, as is the case in worldly affairs; Wives, old men, young men, slaves and freemen are taken to this spectacle (1). Let us not be arrogant, let us call ourselves indecent in order to be useful. If you yourself call yourself worthy of praise, then you are indecent, even if you really were worthy of praise; on the contrary, if you yourself call yourself indecent, you will become useful, even if you were unworthy of praise. That is why one should forget about one’s good deeds. But you say: how can you not know what we know completely? What are you saying? Do you constantly insult the Lord, live in bliss and joy and do not know that you have sinned, consigning everything to oblivion, but cannot forget about your good deeds? Although fear is much stronger, the opposite happens to us: insulting God every day, we do not pay attention to it, and if we give even a small coin to the poor, we constantly rush about it. This is extreme madness and the greatest harm to the one who collects. Forgetting your good deeds is their safest repository. And just as clothing and gold, if we lay them out at the market, attract many criminals, and if we clean and hide them at home, they are kept in complete safety, so if we constantly keep our good deeds in memory, then we irritate the Lord, arm the enemy and incite him to steal, and if no one knows them except Him Who should know, then they will remain safe. So, do not constantly boast about your good deeds, lest someone deprive you of them, lest the same thing happen to you as happened to the Pharisee, who carried them on his tongue, from where the devil stole them. Although he remembered them with thanksgiving and raised everything to God, this did not save him, because it is not proper for one who thanks God to revile others, to show his superiority over the majority and to be proud of himself before sinners (6). Why is it reasonable that while Christ endured so much for you, you often cannot even bear words! He is spat upon, and you are adorned with expensive clothes and rings, and if you do not hear praise from everyone, then you consider life to be worthless. He endures reproach, endures ridicule and shameful blows to the cheeks, but you want everyone to honor you, and cannot bear the reproach of Christ (9). The verdict and judgment of the people are wrong, and they will soon disappear. For an hour they are surprised, and how soon the time has passed, they forgot about everything; They stole the crown given to you by God, but they failed to save theirs for you. Even if the human crown remained with you, it would be a great pity to exchange it for the crown of God; and when that too is gone, what excuse will we have for giving away the imperishable for the transitory and losing such great blessings for the praise of a few? And even though many have praised you, they are all worthy of regret, and the more, the greater the number of people who do this. If you are surprised by what was said, listen to how Christ Himself confirms this: “Woe to you,” he says, “when all people speak well of you!” (Luke 6:26). And quite rightly so. If in any art artists should be chosen as judges, then how can you entrust the assessment of virtue to the crowd, and not to the one who is most knowledgeable in this, who can both approve and crown? So, let us write the word of Christ on the walls, on the doors and in our hearts, and we will constantly say to ourselves: woe to us when all people speak well of us, because the very ones who speak well of you subsequently condemn you, calling you vain, ambitious, partial to human praise. But that's not how God works. When He sees that you love His glory, then He will especially praise you, be surprised and tell you about you. But a person is not so, but, considering you not free, but a slave and often pleasing you with false praise consisting of empty words, usually steals your true reward and subjugates you more than a bought slave. After all, masters have slaves so that they obey them in what is ordered, and you serve without orders. You don’t even expect to hear anything from them, but as soon as you find out how you can please them, you do everything, even if they don’t order. What kind of hell will we be worthy of, who please bad people and serve them before they are ordered, and do not listen to God at all, despite the fact that He commands and exhorts us daily? If you love fame and praise, then avoid human praise and then you will gain glory; Avoid human approval and then you will receive many praises from both God and people. After all, we usually glorify the one who despises glory most of all, we usually praise and marvel at the one who places praise and surprise at nothing; if we do this, then much more the God of all. And when God praises and glorifies you, who could be happier than you? Indeed, just as there is a difference between glory and dishonor, so is the difference between heavenly and human glory, or rather, much more, ad infinitum. If human glory is incomparable, shameful and ugly, then judge what its vileness will be when we compare it with heavenly glory (11). Praise from people is unreliable and often does not stem from a good intention, but praise from God remains forever and shines brightly, because when the leader of everything before fulfillment and not involved in any passion gives praise, then virtue is revealed with certainty (12). We have no need for outside praise. To not be content with His attention, but to turn to slaves like us for praise, means to insult Him. Just as fighters acting in a small spectacle seek more, considering the former insufficient for their distinction, so those who strive in the eyes of God, and then seek glory from people, leaving more, seek less and thereby incur great punishment. That is why everything was perverted, that is why there was confusion throughout the entire universe, because we do everything by looking at people; in good deeds we consider God’s favor for nothing, but we seek approval from slaves like us, and in evil deeds we also do not look to Him, but are afraid of people. Meanwhile, people will appear with us in court and will not help us at all; and God, to whom we now pay no attention, will pronounce His judgment on us. We know this and, however, we do not stop seeking people’s attention: this is our main sin! In the eyes of men, no one will dare to commit adultery, but, no matter how much lust inflames, the power of passion is overcome by human shame; and in the eyes of God they not only commit fornication and adultery, but they have dared and dared to commit other sins, even more serious. Isn’t this alone capable of bringing down heavenly thunder on us? But what am I saying about fornication and adultery? We are ashamed to commit much easier sins before people, but not before God. That is why all the evil happened, because in evil deeds we fear not God, but people; That is why we avoid good deeds, which do not seem so to people, because we look not at the essence of things, but at the opinions of others (12). You might be interested in: