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Such are the souls of saints! They rejoice in God, who gave them, more than about gifts, because they love Him not for the sake of His gifts, but the gifts for His sake. Thus, it is common for grateful servants and grateful slaves to prefer their master to everything they own. We, I convince you, will adhere to the same thing: if we sin, we will begin to grieve not because we are being punished, but because we have angered the Lord; If we do a good deed, we will begin to rejoice not for the sake of the Kingdom of Heaven, but because we have pleased the King of Heaven. For anyone who has intelligence, angering God is more terrible than any Gehenna, just as pleasing God is more terrible than any Kingdom. And don’t be surprised that one should have such feelings towards God, when many act the same way towards people. This is what we often do with our children: if we unwittingly do them any harm, we torture ourselves and punish ourselves; the same goes for friends. If it is much more difficult for us to offend friends or children than to endure punishment, then all the more we need to have such feelings towards God, considering a deed displeasing to Him more terrible than any Gehenna. Such was the blessed Paul: he said: “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 8:38, 39). And we, when we please the holy martyrs, we please them first for their wounds, and then for their rewards, first for their suffering, and then for the crowns prepared for them, because rewards come from wounds, and not wounds from awards, receive their beginning and foundation. So blessed Paul first rejoiced not about the blessings prepared for (him), but about the sorrows that befell him for the sake of Christ, and exclaimed: “I rejoice in my sufferings for you” (Col. 1:24); and in another place: “not only this, but we glory in our sorrows” (Rom. 5:3); and again: “because it has been given to you for Christ’s sake not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for Him” (Phil. 1:29). And truly, to be worthy to endure anything for the sake of Christ is the greatest grace, a perfect crown and a reward no less than the future reward! Those who know how to sincerely and ardently love Christ know this (1). Just as the joy of children seems ridiculous to mature men, because they rejoice and admire worthless things, so the joy of sinners seems reprehensible to the righteous, because they rejoice in stolen and plundered wealth and other similar things, which cannot be rejoiced at when we must appear before the terrible Judge; on the contrary, we should rejoice when we are robbed and slandered, because with such joy we can appear before the face of God, as the words of the Lord testify to this: “Blessed are you when they revile you and persecute you and slander you in every way unrighteously for My sake. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven” (Matthew 5:11, 12). Know that the Lord is Our God, He created us, not we, but we are His people and the sheep of His pasture (Ps. 99:3) (3). Anyone who rejoices over his blessings and children, even if he later experiences sorrow, however, seeing a pleasant wife or beloved sons, then no longer considers disasters to be disasters. This also happens to those who rejoice in the Lord, especially when he probably knows that God is not angry with him; then he no longer grieves or grieves, just as the apostles always rejoiced in God and exhorted others to the same, saying: “Rejoice in the Lord always” (Phil. 4:4). This joy is everlasting and immortal. If someone rejoices over blessings, then his joy is temporary: when his wealth is exhausted, then his joy will disappear along with it. Just as fresh spring flowers are pleasing to the eye, but faded ones are unpleasant, in the same way wealth takes joy away from the mind and, perhaps, the first thing itself will depart from us, or we from it. Someone else, perhaps, will rejoice because of a beautiful wife, but she too is a fragile possession, temporary joy, transitory joy, combined with many sorrows and suspicions: that is why this joy is temporary. But if you love the Lord, His mercy will be eternal; love is constantly renewed, desire is kindled, it never becomes decrepit or grows old. The one you love is always new, desirable and worthy of love. If you say that you do not see Him, then look at the heavens: how beautiful they are, how majestic! How pleasant the sky is, pleasing to the eye and beneficial to everything! And this heaven is the work of Him Whom you love, a subtle and tender work, His finger. From here you will understand the beauty of Himself, as far as possible. Can't you see Him? If you wish, then you will see Him - just cleanse your mind, cleanse your heart, because it is said: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Matthew 5:8) (4). The seeker of glory suddenly rises upward with joy, then easily sinks again, is always in anxiety and never at peace. Even before going to the spectacle and preparing to make a speech, he worries and trembles, and after the spectacle either dies of despondency, or again indulges in immeasurable joy - which is worse than sadness itself. And that joy is no less harmful than sadness is obvious from its effect on the soul. Joy makes the soul frivolous, arrogant and fickle. This can be seen in the example of ancient men. When, for example, was David kind: was it when he was happy or when he was in difficult circumstances? When were the Jewish people virtuous: was it when they groaned and called on God, or when they rejoiced in the desert and worshiped the calf? That is why Solomon, who knew better than anyone what joy is, says: “It is better to go to a house of mourning for someone who has died, than to go to a house of feasting” (Eccl. 7:2). That is why Christ pleases those who mourn, saying: “Blessed are those who mourn” (Matthew 5:4); and considers those who rejoice to be miserable: “Woe to you who laugh now! for you will mourn and lament” (Luke 6:25)! And quite fair. During fun, the soul becomes weaker and more tender, but during sorrow it strengthens, becomes chaste, frees itself from all passions, becomes more elevated and courageous (6). Let one of the nobles have great wealth, live in the capital, have no troubles, only have fun, spend time only in this and be at the highest level of wealth, honor and power. Let us contrast him with Peter in chains and, if you wish, among countless disasters: and then we will find that [Peter] has more joy - because if from the excess of joy he rejoices even in chains, then imagine how great the joy! Just as those invested with great power do not feel disasters, no matter how many of them happen, but continue to rejoice, so the apostles, because of the disasters themselves, rejoiced even more. It is impossible, truly impossible, to express in words the pleasure that happens to those who suffer for Christ. They rejoice more in the midst of adversity than in times of prosperity. If anyone has loved Christ, he understands what I say (10). You might be interested in: