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Let us not ignore even sins that are considered minor; but every day we will demand an account from ourselves both in words and in looks, and subject ourselves to punishment in order to be freed from punishment in the next century. That is why Paul says: “For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31) - so if here we judge ourselves in our daily sins, we will be delivered from the severity of the future Judgment. But if we are negligent, we are judged, says Paul, and we are punished by the Lord. So, let us judge ourselves in advance with complete sincerity, let us enter the judgment seat of conscience, where no one sees us; So let us begin to test our thoughts and pronounce the right judgment on ourselves, so that our mind, fearing the future Judgment, would refrain from hobbies, curb its impulses and, imagining that unsleeping Eye, block the entrance to the devil. That we suffer from our own negligence is clearly shown by experience. If we wanted to perk up a little, we would shake off all his [the Devil’s] machinations like dust; so, when we fall [into sin], we endure it not because of his [the Devil’s] violence, but because of our own carelessness. He overcomes us not by force and coercion, but only by seduction. And it is in our power not to get carried away by seduction if we only want to stay awake and sober a little, not, however, because we ourselves have such power, but because in this case we will also be rewarded with help from above. When we show diligence on our part, then everything will follow from the Lord. Let us, please, be sober, and, knowing the tricks of the evil one, let us constantly watch and pray to God to give us His help in the fight against the devil. Thus, we will become invincible, and we will avoid his tricks, and we will use God’s help, and we will achieve eternal blessings (1). Do you see the benefit of the trial? Darkness is removed, fear is driven away, passions are withdrawn. Just as the appearance of a judge puts thieves, corpse-robbers and robbers and all kinds of villains to flight, so when reason receives its power and sits on the throne of judgment, it removes everything harmful, and assimilates and makes pleasant everything useful. Have you not seen in the city with what fear they are seized when the judge sits in court, not only the guilty, but also the innocent? In the same way, when the mind is healthy, and like a judge sits on the throne of judgment, fear and trembling turn into flight what was previously done illegally: not only wrong thoughts are exposed, but also innocent movements of the mind are afraid and covered in fear. Likewise, when God judges, even the stars are not declared clean before Him, and Paul himself is not justified: “Although I know nothing about myself, I am not justified by this” (1 Cor. 4:4). Thus, when the mind pronounces judgment on itself and examines its flaws with appropriate reproofs, then nothing is suitable to justify it, according to what was said: “Who can say: “I have cleansed my heart, I am clean from my sin?” (Prov. 20:9). In addition, it is written: “There is not a righteous man on earth who does good and does not sin” (Eccl. 7:20); and also: what you speak about in your hearts, lament about it on your beds (Ps. 4:5); and Paul himself says: “Let a man examine himself” (1 Cor. 11:28), and again: “if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged” (1 Cor. 11:31) (4). If you judge others, wishing them good, then first wish it for yourself, who has sin both more obvious and more; If you are not caring about yourself, then it is clear that you are judging your brother not out of goodwill towards him, but out of hatred and the desire to disgrace him. If he should be judged, then let him be judged by someone who has not sinned in anything like this, and not by you (6). When we judge others, we analyze everything to the point; but when we pronounce judgment on ourselves, we are blinded. If they examined the case about themselves in the same way as about others, they would pronounce an impartial verdict. And we have sins that deserve not two or three, but a thousand deaths. And not to mention other sins, let us remember how many of us unworthily partake of the mysteries? And those who partake unworthily will be guilty of the Body and Blood of the Lord (1 Cor. 11:27). So, when you talk about a murderer, apply it to yourself. He killed a man, and you are guilty of killing the Lord. He committed murder without partaking of the secrets, and we became murderers by eating from the sacred meal. What can we say about those who bite, devour, and poison many brothers? And what can we say about the one who takes a piece from the poor? If the one who does not give alms is already the one who takes away, then even more so the one who steals someone else’s property. How many robbers are worse than the greedy? How many murderers, how many tomb robbers are worse than covetous people? How many are there who, having robbed, thirst for more blood? No, God forbid! you say. Now you say no! Say this when you have an enemy: then remember these words, then show all the correctness of life, so that we do not suffer the fate of the Sodomites, and we do not suffer the execution of the Gomorrians, and we do not suffer the evils that befell the Tyrians and Sidonians, and most of all, so as not to offend Christ, which is the most difficult and terrible thing. Although Gehenna seems terrible to many, I will never stop crying out that to offend Christ is more painful and terrible than Gehenna itself, and I advise you to come to the same feeling (6). No one has made you a judge of other people's misdeeds or an investigator of other people's sins. You must judge yourself, and not others: “If we,” says the apostle, “had judged ourselves, we would not have been judged. But being judged, we are punished by the Lord” (1 Cor. 11:31, 32). And you perverted this order. You do not demand any account from yourself for either great or small sins, but in others you carefully notice every sin. So, let us no longer do this, but, leaving such a disorder, we will set up a judgment seat within ourselves to judge our sins, we ourselves will be accusers, and judges, and punishers of our misdeeds. If you want to test the deeds of others, then consider their good deeds, and not their sins, so that, prompted by the memory of our sins, and jealousy for the exploits of others, and the presentation of impartial judgment, we are daily punished by conscience as a kind of scourge and, thus, succeeding in humility and zeal, achieve future blessings (7). Listen to the Lord who calls: “Make peace with your adversary quickly, while you are still on the way with him” (Matthew 5:25). This applies to everyone, and especially to those who like to interfere in other people's affairs; for them this is a direct lesson so that they do not give themselves up to litigation with such persistence. In fact, even in litigation, it is better to prevent an unknown court decision with a peace agreement than to drag the parties into the abyss of uncertainty with the hope of victory. You are confident in your documents, you hope for a favorable outcome, the defender, holding out his hand for a bribe, promises victory in order to conclude a condition on payment for the service. Sometimes even a judge, already bribed, reveals the court's decision to you in advance. You rest on an uncertain hope, because if you, turning forward, bribed the judge, you opened the door for other bribes; think about it, your opponent is also concerned about the same thing; and often, when your court cases seem to be sailing in clear and calm weather, they quietly begin to persuade you to lower your sails. Have you never seen the sea be calm near the seashore and agitated in the depths? How many who set out in clear and calm weather, having sailed to the middle of the sea, suffered shipwreck due to unexpected storms and waves! This is what happens in court. Sometimes the beginning heralds hope, but the end leads to the opposite outcome. Therefore, it would be good, as I said, to prevent monetary litigation with a friendly agreement, in order, in addition to ending the litigation, to gain yourself a friend; It is not good not only to collect accusations, but also to start them; in this case, mercy is better than anger (9). All people, even if they had neither a [judicial] throne, nor executioners, nor a stick, nevertheless judge those who sin, doing this in conversations and general conversations, and also judge in the court of their conscience. Thus, no one would dare to say that an adulterer does not deserve punishment. But they condemn, says the Apostle [Paul], others, and not themselves. Therefore, he strongly rebels against such, saying: “Do you really think, O man, that you will escape the judgment of God by condemning those who do such things and (yourself) doing the same?” (Rom. 2:3). And you did not escape your judgment - will you really escape God’s Judgment? And who can say that? Of course you condemned yourself. But if the severity of this judgment is so great and you could not spare yourself, then how can God, sinless and infinitely righteous, especially not do this? Or have you condemned yourself, but God will approve and praise you? And what would be the meaning of this? Of course, you yourself deserve greater punishment than the one you condemned. It is not the same thing - to simply sin and, having punished another sinner, to fall into the same sin. Do you see how the apostle increased the guilt? If you, he says, punish a lesser sinner, while you yourself do not cease to defile yourself with sins, then how will God, who has never participated in sin, much more condemn and accuse you, already condemned by your own thoughts? And if you say that you yourself recognize yourself as worthy of punishment, but because of [God’s] long-suffering, you neglected correction and, since you were not punished for the crime, you even had hope for God’s mercy, then know that as a result of this you need to be most afraid and trembling. The Lord delays punishment not so as not to punish you at all, but so that if you remain incorrigible, He will punish you with greater severity, which may never happen to you. Let us not be strict judges of others, lest they demand a strict account from us: after all, we are burdened with sins that exceed any mercy. Let us have more pity for those who sin without deserving leniency, so that we ourselves can hope for such mercy for ourselves, although no matter how hard we try, we will never be able to show such philanthropy as we need from the philanthropic God. Hence, is it not reckless, when we ourselves are in such great need, to strictly examine the affairs of our fellow men and do everything against ourselves? Thus, it is not so much that you make him unworthy of your good deed, but rather that you make yourself unworthy of God’s love for mankind. Whoever disciplines his fellow man strictly, God will discipline him much more severely (11). You might be interested in: