Слово 17. О зависти

Nothing usually divides and separates us from each other more than envy and ill will - this cruel illness, devoid of any excuse, and much more serious than the very root of evil - love of money. In fact, the lover of money at least rejoices when he himself receives; the envious one then rejoices when the other does not receive, considering his own success to be the failure of others. What could be crazier than this? Neglecting his own misfortunes, he is tormented by the blessings of others, thereby making heaven inaccessible to himself, and before that heaven and real life, unbearable. Truly, a worm does not eat wood or a moth eat wool, as the fire of envy devours the very bones of envious people and harms the purity of the soul. The one who calls envious people the worst of beasts and demons will not sin. Animals attack us only when they either need food or have been irritated by us in advance, and these people, even being benefited, often treat their benefactors as if they were offended. In the same way, demons, although they harbor irreconcilable enmity towards them, do not do evil to those of the same nature as them, and these people are neither ashamed of the commonality of nature, nor do they spare their own salvation, but before those they envy, they themselves punish their souls, filling them without cause or reason with extreme confusion and despondency. Envy is such a vice that there is no other worse than it. An adulterer, for example, receives some pleasure and commits his sin in a short time; Meanwhile, the envious person subjects himself to punishment and torment before the one he envies, and never gives up on his sin, but constantly commits it. Just as a pig rejoices in dirt, and the demon of our destruction, so this one rejoices in the misfortunes of his neighbor; and if something unpleasant happens to the latter, then he calms down and sighs with relief, considering other people’s sorrows to be his joys, and other people’s blessings to be his own disasters. And just as some beetles feed on dung, so envious people feed on the misfortunes of others, being the common enemies and enemies of (human) nature. Other people and a dumb animal, when they kill it, feel sorry for it; and these, seeing a person receiving benefits, become furious, tremble and turn pale. And what could be worse than such madness? Why are you turning pale, trembling and standing in fear, tell me? What terrible thing happened? Is it that your brother is famous, enjoys fame and a good name? Therefore, you yourself should adorn yourself with a wreath, rejoice and glorify God that you see your member glorious and famous. Or do you mourn because God is being glorified? Look where the hostility extends. This, you say, is not what saddens me, but I would like God to be glorified through me. So rejoice when your brother enjoys good fame, and through you God will be glorified again. Even if he were your enemy and adversary, and God was glorified through him, then it would be necessary to make him a friend for this reason; and you make your friend your enemy because God is glorified through the good name he uses. How else can you show enmity against Christ? Therefore, even if someone performed signs, even if he showed the feat of virginity, or fasting, or lying on the bare ground, and with virtue of this kind he became equal to the Angels, but if he is subject to the passion of envy, he turns out to be the most vile of all. If love for those who love does not give us any advantage over the pagans, then where will be the one who is jealous of those who love? Envy is worse than enmity. The enemy, when the reason for which the quarrel occurred is forgotten, stops the enmity; an envious person will never become a friend. Moreover, the former fights openly, and the latter – secretly; the former can often point out a sufficient reason for enmity, while the latter can point to nothing other than his own madness and satanic disposition. And just as he who offends does not offend others, but himself, so he who plots intrigues against his neighbor destroys himself. And just as, by offending our neighbors, we offend ourselves, so, on the contrary, by doing good to them, we do good to ourselves. The one who hears bad, but false, speeches about himself, not only does not suffer offense from him, but also has the greatest reward. It is not the one who suffers, but the one who does evil, who is worthy of punishment, unless the former himself has given sufficient reasons for censure. And just as it is impossible for a virtuous person to hear good reviews about himself from everyone, it is also impossible to hear bad reviews from everyone, unless he himself provides numerous reasons for many circumstances. Reproaches that are made publicly often make people arrogant and shameless. Many sinners, as long as they see that they can hide themselves, easily decide to correct themselves; and when they lose a good opinion of themselves in society, they fall into despair and indulge in shamelessness. But were you offended by him? So why do you also offend yourself? He who takes revenge for an insult turns the knife against himself. If, therefore, you want to benefit yourself and take revenge on the one who offended you, then speak well of him; if you speak badly, they will not believe you, as a person suspected of enmity. After all, enmity, colliding with the thoughts of those listening, does not allow what is said to be imprinted in their ears. So, do not speak ill of others, so as not to dishonor yourself, do not weave mud with dirt and garbage, but weave wreaths of roses, violets and other flowers; do not carry dung out of your mouth like beetles, for such are those who speak ill of others. They themselves are the first to feel the effects of their stench. In fact, everyone shuns a slanderous person, as if he smells of rot, like some kind of reptile or beetle that feeds on dung - the misfortunes of others; on the contrary, everyone accepts a person who has a favorable mouth as their own member and as their own brother. What offense did Cain cause to Abel? Didn’t he lead him against his will only faster to the Kingdom of Heaven, and caused countless disasters to himself? What harm did Esau cause to Jacob? Didn’t the latter possess wealth and enjoy countless benefits, while he lost his father’s home and wandered after his evil intent in a foreign country? What harm did Joseph’s brothers do to Joseph, even though they drew blood? Were they not the ones who suffered famine and were exposed to extreme danger, while he became king of all Egypt? The more you envy, the greater benefits you deliver to the one you envy. God watches over everything; and when he sees that they are offending a person who himself does not offend anyone, he elevates him even more and makes him glorious, and thus punishes you. If He does not allow those who abuse their enemies to go unpunished, then much more so those who envy people who have not caused them any offense. If the one who loves someone who loves him has no advantage over tax collectors, then what kind of leniency does he deserve who hates someone who has not done him any harm? So, why do you grieve, man, for the blessings of your neighbor? If we need to grieve, then we should grieve for the disasters that we ourselves suffer, and not for the fact that we see others enjoying good fame. Or don't you know that this sin is without any excuse? And fair enough. Indeed, a fornicator can point to lust, a thief to poverty, a murderer to anger, everyone can present one or another pretext, albeit empty and unfounded; and you, tell me, what reason would you give? None, except perhaps excessive wickedness. If we are commanded to love our enemies, what punishment will we suffer when we also hate those who love them? If the one who loves those who love will find himself in a position no better than the pagans, then what forgiveness will he receive who causes offense to those who have not offended him at all? The demon is jealous, but of people, not of demons; you, being a human being, envy people. And what kind of forgiveness will you receive? A grave, grave evil is envy; it makes you neglect your own salvation. In this way Saul attracted an evil demon to his soul; and after he attracted him, he again felt jealous of his doctor. Such is envy: he knew that he was saved by David, and yet he would rather have his savior perish than to see him enjoying glory. And if you want, I will tell you what benefits David showed to Saul, and how he then repaid him. Once upon a time a very difficult war befell the Jews; and when they were hiding in fear and horror, and no one dared to come forward, when the whole city was in extreme danger, everyone saw death before their eyes, and everyone expected destruction every day, David came to the military camp from his sheep and took upon himself the battle that lay before everyone, not seeing any urgent need for himself, on the contrary, even meeting obstacles from many (so his brother reproached him, and the king, looking at his young age, withheld he ordered him to stay), and having flared up in his soul, he ran towards the foreigners, and at the same time showed such concern for the king that even before the battle and victory, encouraging him, lying prostrate, he said: “Let no one lose heart because of him; your servant will go and fight with this Philistine” (1 Samuel 17:32). Is it unimportant, tell me, that he, having no need for it, gives up his soul and rushes into the midst of enemies to help those from whom he has not yet received any benefit? Shouldn’t he have been called master after this and proclaimed the savior of the entire state, as a man who, with the help of God’s grace, saved the lives of everyone? What other benefit was greater than this? In fact, by this he showed him a benefit not in relation to property, not in relation to fame or power, but in relation to his life itself; he brought him out from the very gates of death; thanks to him, only the king remained alive and enjoyed power. How did he repay him after that? If anyone takes into account the greatness of his merits, then even if Saul had taken the crown from his head and placed it on David, he would not yet have given him the reward he deserved, but would still remain in great debt. In fact, this one gave him both life and a kingdom, while the other would have given him only one kingdom. Let's see, however, what his rewards are. After he had taken the head off the foreigner and was returning with his spoils, the virgins, it is said, came out dancing and singing, exclaiming: “Saul has conquered thousands, and David tens of thousands” (1 Sam. 18:7). And Saul was angry, and from that day on he began to look suspiciously at David. For what, tell me? After all, if we say something strange, then those who exclaimed this way were doing something pleasant rather to Saul than to David, and he should have been pleased that they still gave him thousands. Why is he indignant that the latter was given tens of thousands? If he had done anything for the battle, if he had contributed even a small share of his participation, then it could rightly be said that “Saul defeated thousands, and David tens of thousands”; if he himself sat in fear and trembling at home, expecting death every day, and David did everything, was it not foolish on the part of one who did nothing to avert danger to be angry because he did not receive greater praise? If David should have been indignant, then David should have been indignant at the fact that, having accomplished the entire feat himself, he shared the praise with another. But such is envy: it cannot indifferently see the success of others, but considers the well-being of its neighbor as its own misfortune and is tormented by the benefits of its neighbor. Something similar happened to the king of Gerar: seeing how Isaac’s wealth increased every day, he began to be afraid and forced the righteous man to move from there. We should, however, listen to the very words of Holy Scripture, so that we can see from them what kind of favor God shows to His servants. “And Isaac sowed in that land,” it says, “and in that year he received barley a hundredfold” (Gen. 26:12). Do you see the Lord’s bounty? Do you see the abundance of good deeds? But let’s also look at the king’s envy, which arose because of the wealth of the righteous man. “Get away,” he says, “from us, for you have become much stronger than us” (Gen. 26:16). And indeed, he was stronger than them, having help from above in everything and being protected by the right hand of God. So, where are you driving the righteous? Or do you not know that wherever he happens to go, he must be in what belongs to his Master? Even if you forced him to go even into the desert, he has such a powerful Lord that He is able to make him even more glorious there. It is through the opposite that he often creates the opposite. To Him belongs glory, power, honor and worship, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, forever and ever. Amen. Ἐκλογαί άπό διαφόρων λόγων . Under this name are known collections of conversations compiled by various persons after the death of Chrysostom on certain topics, from those related to the topics and especially liked by the compilers of the works of the saint. The passages are given partly in a literal presentation, partly in a free retelling and are borrowed both from the original works of Chrysostom, and from works only attributed to Chrysostom, which have not only survived to this day, but have also been lost. These Eclogues (selections) were widespread and were used by both private individuals and kings. Known, for example, is the luxurious collection of Eclogues, owned by the Byzantine emperor Nikephoros Botaniatus (1078–1081), registered among the codices of the Koalene Library under No. LXXIX. The paragraphs in the text were arranged by us. – Editorial staff of “ABC of Faith” You might be interested in: