Богатый

What is the use of becoming rich in perishable matter, but being poor in soul? A poor man is a rich man who grows rich in perishable silver and gold, but becomes poor in virtue. What is the use of living in a rich and beautiful house, but outside the house of God, the Holy Church, being like a monster? But don’t look at those who only know that they collect riches and fulfill their whims in increasing wealth, and in seeking honor and glory, and in expanding and decorating houses, and in preparing horses and carriages, and in inventing new clothes, and in presenting various meals, serving carnal knowledge, and in other such things, they show their whims. They are so far from Christ and have retreated from the word of His saint. And it is clear that they, like animals, only desire and seek what they see, and what they do not see, they do not seek. On their hearts lies a veil like darkness, with which eternal life is hidden from them. That's why they chase the shadow instead of the truth. You build rich houses, pleasure ponds, gardens, galleries and other amusements, you prepare a rich dowry for your daughter or a rich inheritance for your son, but for the sake of the name of Christ you clothe the naked, or build a hut for someone who has no place to lay his head, or free someone sitting in prison for a debt, or ransom a captive, or feed someone who cannot feed himself, or do not want to free someone who is stuck in debt - know that you want to free your own flesh and blood and the blood of the world. You only love vanity, but you have no love for Christ. And when you strip people of your wealth, which you use for such obscene fun, then you not only do not love Christ, but you also shamelessly persecute Him with the evil world. You see that a weak stomach takes in food, but does not digest it as it should, and therefore does not distribute nutritious juice to the other members of the body, and as a result, the whole body and itself become more powerless, while a healthy stomach digests food well and imparts nutritious juice to the other members, and thereby makes both the whole body and itself stronger. This is what happens to a rich man when he either hides the wealth that he receives from God, or spends it on indecent expenses, and does no good to anyone or himself, but rather creates destruction for himself, not giving to his neighbors what he should give, according to the command of God: give to him who asks you (Matthew 5:42). Thus, by depriving one’s neighbor of bodily good, one deprives oneself of spiritual fruit, does not fulfill God’s commandments, suffers from self-love and unmercifulness, and thus, by not showing mercy to one’s neighbor, closes the doors of God’s mercy to oneself. On the contrary, a generous rich man, like a strong stomach, is content with wealth for the glory of God, thanking God, and is content with others for the glory of the same God, and thus brings spiritual benefit to himself while bringing physical benefit to others. Do you want to be rich? Don't look for wealth. For he is not rich who has a lot, but he who is content with what he has and desires no more. As we call well-fed not the one who eats and drinks a lot, but the one who does not want to eat. There are few, very few rich people who are true Christians. It is not wealth that is to blame for this, but the evil heart of man, which either gathers wealth by untruth, or unjustly squanders what it has collected through truth, or keeps it as a guard. Moreover, there is hardly a rich man who would not be proud and exalted in his wealth, although it is not his, but God’s. For whatever we have is God’s, except sins. It is not true, luxury, stinginess and pride introduce a lot of lawlessness and deprive a Christian of true Christianity. True Christianity cannot exist without Christian living, which must come from within. And so wealth, God's goodness, is to the insane rich man like a sword with which he stabs himself and destroys himself, which is what he should understand about every gift of God. Every gift, when a person uses it not for good, but for evil, turns into evil and destruction for him, for example, teaching, reason, eloquence, art, knowledge of languages ​​and the gift of miracles, and so on (see 1 Cor. 13: 1-3; Matt. 7: 22-23). A person can also abuse God’s gifts. This then happens when a person, through gifts, does not seek the glory of God and the benefit of his neighbor, for which they are given, but seeks his own glory and praise. So the rich man, when he does not seek the glory of God and the benefit of his neighbor through wealth, but either keeps it as a watchman, or like a dog does the hay on which he lies and does not eat and does not give to livestock, or squanders it on indecent expenses in order to either please his flesh, or gain glory and praise for himself from people, and so on, he uses God’s gifts for evil, and so the gift of God that is used for evil turns to evil for him. And when there is no Christian spending in the rich, then there is no true Christianity in him. There are very few rich people who spend their wealth in a Christian manner, as can be seen from their deeds; Consequently, few true Christians can be found among the rich. For the most part, true Christians live in poverty and squalor. The reason for this is this: since true Christians care more about spiritual and eternal wealth than physical and temporary wealth; or are they deprived of the good that is sent to them by the evil rich, according to Scripture: Do not the rich oppress you, and do they not drag you into court? Are they not the demons who glorify the good name by which you are called (James 2:6-7)? Or they themselves squander their wealth, as it is written: squandered, gave to the poor (Ps. 111:9) - there are other reasons, known to God alone. Wealth is rarely collected through truth, but even what is righteously acquired spoils and destroys many, for the rich almost always have either stinginess, or luxury, or worldly pride. Hence it is said from the Savior: it is difficult for a rich man to enter the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 19:23)... The safest path is the path of the poor and simple. It is better to be poor in the world and become rich in God, it is better to be humble and to be a Christian, it is better to be despised by the world and receive glory in heaven. This path is low, but it leads to the high fatherland - heaven. Are you rich? How and on what do you waste your wealth? Do you remember that it is God’s goodness, given to you not for your whims and luxury, but for the needs of you and your neighbor? Do you remember that you are a manager and manager, and not a master (Luke 16:1)? For everything is God’s: the earth is the Lord’s and what fills it (Ps. 23:1). How do you spend God's goodness? Do you provide for God's poor and needy people? Do you remember what answer you should give about the wealth given to you? Do you remember that wealth, squandered on luxury and whims, perishes, but what is given to the poor and poor is preserved and returned to the giver with great gain in eternal life (see Luke 14:13-14; Ps. 40:2-4; Mark 9:41)?