ДОБРОДЕЛАНИЕ. ДОБРОДЕТЕЛИ ХРИСТИАНСКИЕ

1. The commandments are the norm; practice – presenting cases The commandments are the norm; practice - presenting cases: it is better not to invent cases, but to do what presents itself. It seems like you can do one thing and not do another. Both rarely do without a struggle with what rebels inside and what is encountered outside. It is a big mistake to consider obstacles or resistance to doing as an impossibility. I cannot and must not come from the mouth of a zealot. Doing business is a great wisdom gift from God. We need to pray about this (1, p. 206). 2. Without humility and love there is no spiritual life. Humility is acquired by deeds of humility, love by deeds of love. “There is no humility and love.” Until they are there, there will be nothing spiritual. The spiritual is born and grows along with their birth and growth. They are the same for the soul as oppression of the flesh is for the body... Humility is acquired by deeds of humility, love by deeds of love. Please do so (2, p. 183). Love for all laws and virtues, not only the Gospel, but also human and civil, is the basis; therefore, every action that is in accordance with the law is also in accordance with love, and every assessment of an action that is in accordance with the law or justice is in accordance with love. But love is higher and broader than the law. There are acts of love that are not determined by positive law, and they are not at all illegal; but actions determined by law and not performed by a person under the law are lawless and contrary to love, even if they tend to benefit someone. This is especially important in a legal sense. If a judge acquits a guilty person against the law or rewards someone unworthy of a reward, then, although good, apparently, he will do good to the guilty and unworthy, but will do more evil than good, violating the love of the common good, power and rules. Praise, you say, mercy in court... So, I will act laudably if I am able to show mercy without violating the truth of the court; otherwise my honor should be beaten with batogs. Mercy must be combined with truth. The word, the basis, the motivation, and the goal of justice must be love. Isn't the Cross of Christ the best solution to this controversial issue? What infinitely great love there is, and together - what infinitely great justice (2, pp. 197–198; 5, pp. 230–231)! 4. General moral lessons Learn to walk in the presence of God, i.e. to constantly remember God, the Omnipresent and All-Seeing, and to behave in thoughts, feelings and deeds as it should be in the eyes of God. And keep this one occupation until your consciousness merges with the thought of God. If you succeed in this, then you will not need any outside instructions. The fear of God will come and everything will begin to be arranged (3, p. 8). 5. Reasoning must come before feelings and desires. In the book “Invisible Warfare” there is a special chapter about the fact that it is not good to let feeling and desire go ahead... but it is necessary for reasoning to go ahead (3, p. 232). Any cases that are out of the ordinary greatly irritate the feelings and raise a storm of thoughts; This includes the news... After all, it’s invisible?! So, as soon as you notice, push away or move from your heart everything that troubles you and then, by reasoning, determine whether and to what extent it is worth talking about it, and then do this without indulging the linguistic problem. Sometimes vanity forces us to talk about this - to express our wise judgment about the case. Here it’s better not to talk at all (3, p. 232). 6. Every business must be dedicated to God from the very beginning. God gave you a willing heart, which happens and you have a source of active life according to the commandments regarding your neighbors. Please, by law, dedicate every work to God in its very embryo, turn it to God during its production, and ask God for strength to complete it; then, having finished, give thanks to Him for ... repenting, if anything has come through that has crooked the matter or represents it in the eyes of God as insufficient in some way. By acting in this way, you will finally, through this laborious process, achieve what the hermits who renounce everything achieve. And if you don’t, then you will remain on the same level with the Jews, not the modern ones, but the ancient ones, who lived according to the norm prescribed to them (4, p. 4). 7. The price before God of good deeds depends on internal changes They tell you that you must serve your neighbor for the rest of your life. Against this, you say in your own defense: I served, that’s enough for me, let someone else serve in my place. Do you really want to stop yourself from doing good?! But without it, how can one be saved?! I didn’t understand everything and now I don’t understand how and what you are running from when you follow the path of salvation?! Being in such a position, you must only conduct your affairs in such a way that they are free from everything that takes away their value before God. And you can do this without moving, because it consists of internal changes (4, p. 14). 8. Good deeds warm and kindle the spirit of life Say: “There is no time to read in order to warm the spirit...” If you get used to doing your things as they should, then the very doing of them will warm and kindle the spirit. You don’t need to read a lot to warm your spirit. You just need to bring what you read to your senses. As soon as you achieve this, the soaring of the spirit will immediately begin. Even this is what you can do: when you wake up, mentally go through all the sacraments of our faith from the creation of the world to the final Judgment and the eternal fate of all, according to the Creed with attention; from any Sacrament a spark will always fall in the heart. Stop there... And warm yourself up with this all day... Especially during prayer, take care to fan this spark (4, p. 17). 9. How love covers sins Love covers a multitude of sins (1 Pet. 4:8). These words stand with the apostle as an incentive to love; therefore, the covering of sins must be understood not of the one who is loved, but of the one who loves. For love for others, God forgives the sins of the lover. Equal to Jacob. 5, 20: he who converts a sinner... will save the soul... and cover a multitude of sins... - these benefits relate to the converter, and not to the convert (6, p. 29). 10. How to recognize and do the will of God How to find out the will of God? Much in life is determined by direct commandments. In this case, there is nothing to think about, but just do it directly. When it happens that although God’s commandment is clear, its application is not clear, then the question cannot be avoided: what to do? Sometimes this is decided by one’s own past experiences, sometimes by the experiences of others, sometimes by asking those who live good, sometimes by guidance and conclusions from what is known from the word of God, sometimes by prayer, according to the action of which God decides on the heart what to do. The latter would be the most reliable. But our inner being is not always such that the inspiration of God is clearly heard in our hearts. The fathers have a rule: pray up to three times - and wherever your heart inclines, do so. Having learned the will of God, one must pray for help in carrying it out (6, pp. 59–60). Watch your heart. The Lord is jealous and, more than any groom, does not tolerate the soul, which gave Him the word to belong to Him, to cleave to anything. A pure heart is required, free from everything that binds it in ordinary life. The heart and thoughts will follow pure ones or will stand completely motionless on the one Lord. And then all intentions and undertakings will be pure... And there will be a heart of heaven. For only pure hearts will enter heaven (6, p. 73). Love for God is akin to our nature. I believe that it does not completely fade away even in sinners, but acts in them, calling them to repentance until they become hardened and despair. But love itself begins from the moment when, as a result of repentance, the determination to work for the Lord without sparing one’s life is born. The works of pleasing God that begin thereafter develop it stronger and stronger, until it turns into flame and embraces his entire nature. There are so many shades of these degrees of love that it is impossible to list them. Another loves God because he has received much good from Him; another loves God because he expects some good from Him; another loves God because he expects all good from Him; another loves God because He is God. Love is revealed by action in such a way that another makes only a part for God, leaving a part for himself; another does everything for God; and another sacrifices himself and everything he has to God unconditionally. Loving God as God with complete self-sacrifice, without any appearances, is pure love. Climacus says about himself that even if God sent him to hell, he will also invariably love Him there with all his soul. It is obvious that pure love is the crown of perfection in pleasing God and is valid only at the end of the labors along this path. At the beginning, at the first manifestations of the Kingdom of God in us, it cannot be demanded: it may be in purpose, but not in reality; it reigns when God already absorbs everything we have (10, pp. 45–47). 12. Success in business comes from the everlasting memory of God The Lord is everywhere and sees everything, what anyone actually does for Him. He is always ready and with help to anyone who runs to Him for it. Thus, if you always decide in your heart to listen to the Lord who is inherent in you and in you, and to direct everything to please Him alone, and then with all bewilderment, with all spiritual need, turn to Him with faith and complete devotion to Him, then be sure: all your affairs, both internal and external, will go in the most successful way. It is a great thing to realize that without Him we can do nothing; and even greater is to only resort to Him with faith, expecting undoubtedly help (8, p. 3). You might be interested in: