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Pride leads to other sins
so i have noticed that pride leads a person into other sins.. for example, if you stopped committing a certain sin, and u feel like "wow I got this under control.. it's not hard..." then u find yourself in a deeper hole than u were in before, and you have returned to that sin. the biggest problem here is that after your pride has caused you to sin again, you don't regret the sin!
any advice on how to avoid this situation, and how to be humble. because I think if a person is truly humble they will never dare to sin in the sight of God.
please pray for me and my weakness
any advice on how to avoid this situation, and how to be humble. because I think if a person is truly humble they will never dare to sin in the sight of God.
please pray for me and my weakness
Comments
Here are some quotes from the Fathers on humility:
What is humility? Humility is to look on oneself as dust and ashes. The humble says, "Who am I? And who considers me to be anything? Who am I to deal with people for I am powerless?" He does not say, "What" or "What is this?" but walks submissively in his ways, never deeming himself equal to others. And if he is despised and rejected he does not get angry.
Humility is to hold oneself as guilty and to find that one has done nothing good before God. It is to maintain silence, looking on oneself as nothing. It is to reject one's inclinations, to look down to the ground, bearing death before his eyes., safeguarding himself from lying. It consists in not speaking, falsehood or arguing with someone who is older than you are, enduring insults joyfully, detesting comfort and training oneself in hardship, never distressing anyone.
~ St. Abba Isaiah
What is perfection? -it is the depth of humility. And what is humility? It is abandonning one's likings and acquiring tranquility.
~ Saint Isaac
I saw the snares that the enemy spreads out over the world and i said groaning, "What can get through such snares?" Then I heard a voice saying to me, "Humiity."
~Saint Anthony the Great.
Without humility some angels became devils, and with humility some devilish people became angels.
~ Saint John el-Daragi
Humility is the home of divinity; God will abide in it wherever it is!
~Mar Yacoub el-Serougi
pray for me
joe
What kind of exercises can be done to get rid of pride? One must empty the cup out before trying to fill it up again (with humility!)..
please keep me in your prayers
-sister in Christ
Here's Chapter 8 from H.H. Pope Shenouda III's book called "Ten Concepts" (you can find it here: http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Tenconcp/index.html). It is entitled "The Concept of Meekness":
CHAPTER EIGHT
THE CONCEPT OF MEEKNESS
The importance of meekness:
The most beautiful verses on the importance of
gentleness or meekness are :
The words of the Lord Christ - glory be to him, "Learn
from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will
find rest for your souls" (Matt. 11:29). All perfection
existed in the Lord Christ, yet He concentrated on
gentleness in the first place and revealed that it is a cause
of rest for the soul.
St. Paul the Apostle introduced gentleness as a fruit of
the Spirit (Gal. 5:23).
St. James the Apostle said, "Who is wise and
understanding among you? Let him show by good
conduct that his works are done in the meekness of
wisdom" (James 3:13).
In the Beatitudes, the Lord mentioned it at the beginning,
"Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth"
(Matt. 5:5).
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In the Psalms meekness is beatified in many places among
which is: "But the meek shall inherit the earth, And shall
delight themselves in the abundance of peace" (Ps.
37:11).
St. Peter the Apostle, speaking about the adornment of
women, said, "the incorruptible ornament of a gentle
and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of
God" (1 Pet. 3:4).
Since gentleness or meekness is of such importance let us
inquire:
What is meekness and what are the attributes of the
meek?
What is gentleness?
A meek or gentle person is calm, good-natured,
lenient, and cheerful. He is calm, does not get angry,
agitated, or furious, but their voice is gentle and pleasant.
He does not get nervous for he is composed.
The Lord Christ in His meekness was described as, "He
will not quarrel nor cry out, nor will anyone hear His
voice in the streets. A bruised reed He will not break,
and smoking flax He will not quench" (Matt. 12:19,20),
(Is. 42:2,3).
A meek person is calm internally and externally. Peace
dominates his heart, so he does not feel anxious or
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disturbed. He is on peaceful terms with all, he attacks no
one, hurts no one, is not harsh, and is not revengeful,
even when attacked.
The meek person never interferes in the affairs of others,
nor sets himself a guard over their works. Thus he
condemns no one, and even if he interferes in correcting
someone, he does it calmly as the Apostle said,
"Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who
are spiritual restore such one in a spirit of gentleness,
considering yourself lest you also be tempted."
(Gal. 6:1). He restores such a brother by calm persuasion,
in humbleness fearing lest he himself be tempted.
A meek person bears others with long-suffering. He is
tolerant; he puts before him the words of the Scriptures,
"A soft answer turns away wrath" (Prov. 15:1).
He looks towards God's example in forbearance and
long-sufferance towards sinners.
He never grumbles either in his relation with God or with
people, but on the contrary, he is always cheerful and
smiling.
The meek person is often shy. He is known for his
bashfulness and even as one of the fathers said, 'He does
not look fully at anyone's face'. He does not examine
one's features nor go deep within them to know their
hearts.
107
He does not analyze people and their feelings for his
looks are simple. He is shy and always bashful.
The meek are easy to deal with. He is simple; he has
no cunning, craftiness or malice. He is plain; does not
conceal things and show others, nor complicate matters.
He is clear in his dealings; does not beat around the bush
nor makes plans. Dealing with him gives comfort
because he is simple, clear and pleasant.
He is gentle, sweet and good-natured. He is loved by
all because he is good. Even if he is oppressed by some,
many will defend him and rebuke the person who
oppressed him, saying, 'Have you found no one but this
good person to treat unjustly?' Moreover, the person
who treated him unjustly would come eventually and
apologize to the person he accused and also those who
defended the accused, because he did no harm but
showed love and gentleness to all people. Suffice that the
Lord says, "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit
the earth" (Matt.5:5). He will inherit the earth and
heaven as well, besides having God's grace with him
always.
A meek person is obliging. He is inclined to comfort
people and not resist them. He does not go on arguing,
discussing, persisting and inquiring but does what is good
and quietly, immediately without delay and without
discussion. He does not hold to his views in every thing
as some may do, but lets it pass as long as the matter is
108
not against the commandment. Therefore he is not
biased, for he loves all people.
Losing meekness:
A meek person maintains his meekness.
He does not lose his meekness when he holds a high
position or enjoys some authority. He maintains his
meekness whatever high position he attains. His heart is
not elevated by the power of authority.
The meek does not lose his meekness while correcting
others. If he is in a position that gives him an authority to
correct others, he does it without being harsh or severe
and without coarse behaviour or voice.
He does not lose his meekness if he defends what is right.
He defends quietly without hurting the feeling of anyone.
Even when he speaks frankly, his frankness is not hurting;
for he expresses what he wants to say in a gentle way.
At this point we remember the way the Lord Christ
talked to the Samaritan woman. He revealed to her
everything gently without hurting her feelings (John 4).
A truly meek person never loses his meekness under the
pretext of being firm or bold or by misusing power and
dignity.
A person cannot say that he lost his meekness because he
was born with a fiery temper. Moses the Black was of
109
this kind, but he acquired meekness through the life of
repentance. He began his life with harshness, but he
trained himself until he became a very kind hearted
person.
Meekness and courage:
Some people misunderstand meekness, imagining
that the meek is a sluggish person with no influence
or effectiveness and that meekness is mere slackening!
Those people may ridicule the meek and treat them with
disdain. They may mock him because of his tolerance
and patience. They think that because the meek do not
condemn people, he would do nothing if he saw evil
prevailing over good! No. This is not true meekness.
The right concept of meekness recognizes being
connected with manliness, self-respect, courage and
gallantry.
We usually remember that the meek person is actually a
good, lenient and indulgent person and ignore that he has
also courage, self respect and gallantry!
The profound words said in the Book of Ecclesiastes,
apply to the conduct of the meek in various situations :
"To everything there is a season, a time for every
purpose under heaven... a time to keep silence, and a
time to speak" (Eccl.3:1,7).
110
Goodness is the general nature of the meek. However,
there is time in his life for courage and time for gallantry,
but without violence in any case.
Examples:
The Lord Christ in His meekness and firmness:
The Lord Christ, the great example of whom it was
said, "He will not quarrel or cry out, nor will anyone
hear His voice in the streets," we see Him firm and
strong in cleansing the Temple and driving out those who
bought and sold there, saying to them, "It is written 'My
house shall be called a house of prayer, but you have
made it a den of thieves'" (Matt. 21:12,13).
He was also strong and firm in reprimanding the scribes
and Pharisees (Matt. 23).
He was firm in explaining the Law of the Sabbath and
doing good on that day, though He found resistance.
Moses the prophet:
He was known for his amazing gentleness and
humbleness: "Now the man Moses was very humble,
more than all men who were on the face of the earth"
(Num. 12:3).
When Moses came down from the mountain with the two
tablets of the Testimony in his hand and saw the people
111
singing and dancing in worship of a golden calf, he was
not passive under pretext of humbleness and gentleness
but became hot with anger, cast the tablets out of his
hands and broke them. Then he took the calf which they
made, burnt it in the fire and ground it to powder and
scattered it on the water (Ex. 32:19,20). He reprimanded
Aaron the high priest who shook before him.
David the Prophet:
Was bold and brave when he saw Goliath defying the
armies of the living God, whereas all the army stood in
fear in front of that valiant.
The gentle David was the only one who could say, "who
is this uncircumcised Philistine that he should defy the
armies of the living God?" (1 Sam. 17:26).
He inquired from the people about him and was not
affected when his elder brother scorned him. Then he
said to King Saul, "Let no man's heart fail because of
him... " (1 Sam. 17:32), and drew near and fought the
Philistine without fear and said to him, "You come to me
with a sword, with a spear, and with a javelin. But I
come to you in the name of the Lord of hosts... This day
the Lord will deliver you into my hand".
(1 Sam.17:45,46).
This is David, the gentle youth, with the flute and lyre
and at the same time the zealous warrior and valiant.
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St. Paul the Apostle:
A good natured calm person who when rebuking the
Corinthians said to them, "Now I, Paul, myself am
pleading with you by the meekness and gentleness of
Christ, who in presence am lowly among you, but being
absent am bold toward you" (2 Cor. 10:1).
And to the Ephesians he said, "remember that for three
years I did not cease to warn everyone night and day
with tears" (Acts 20:31).
In spite of this meekness and gentleness, St. Paul was like
a lion in preaching and evangelizing. When he was
speaking about righteousness, self-control and the
judgment to come, Felix the Governor was afraid and
answered him, "Go away for now; when I have a
convenient time I will call for you" (Acts 24:25).
And when he stood before King Agrippa, the King said to
him, "You almost persuade me to become a Christian"
(Acts 26:28).
In spite of his meekness, St. Paul also did not refrain from
rebuking St. Peter the Apostle, and said, "But when I saw
that they were not straight forward about the truth of the
gospel, I said to Peter before them all, 'If you, being a
Jew, live in the manner of Gentiles and not as the Jews,
why do you compel Gentiles to live as Jews?"
(Gal. 2:14).
113
Elihu, the son of Barachel :
The fourth friend of Job. Because of his meekness he
kept silent while Job's three other friends were talking
(their speeches taking 28 Chapters of the Book of Job).
Elihu did not open his mouth due to his exceeding
meekness, seeing that the other three were older than
him.
However, he could not keep silent more than this when
he found that all the others spoke wrongly. The
Scripture says, "Then the wrath of Elihu, the son of
Barachel the Buzite, of the family of Ram, was aroused
against Job ... his wrath was aroused because he
justified himself rather than God. Also against his three
friends his wrath was aroused because they had found no
answer, and yet had condemned Job ... and said, 'I am
young in years, and your are very old; therefore I was
afraid, and dared not declare my opinion to you ..."
(Job 32:2-7). Then he proceeded to rebuke them.
Indeed, there is a time for every purpose under heaven.
There is time for the silence of the meek and a time for
talk, a time for his gentleness and a time for his firmness.
Remarks:
1.
If one of your relatives is about to marry a
particular person without receiving permission or the
blessing from the church would you keep silent under the
pretext of meekness and gentleness, or would you warn
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your relative concerning the probability of a harmful
marriage?
If you keep silent, then this is not meekness, for you
ought to warn your relative against this wrong situation
and explain to him calmly the reasons why. This is not
against meekness as long as you explain the matter
without being insulting or hurting. Just say the words of
St. John the Baptist, "It is not lawful for you to have her"
(Mark 6:18).
2.
Or if you see one of your acquaintances about to
end a marriage, would you keep silent for the sake of
meekness? No. You should say to him this is wrong and
God will not bless such a marriage if you end it.
This does not contradict with meekness. You are not
asked to become enraged and to shout, but simply just to
warn calmly.
3.
God loves Truth, and loves to see us defending it
in the right way. He says in the Book of Jeremiah, "Run
to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem; see now and
know and seek in her open places if you can find a man,
if there is anyone who executes judgment, who seeks the
truth, and I will pardon her" (Jer. 5:1).
Defending truth is a virtue which God requires. If you
walk in it you will walk in righteousness, and this is not
against meekness as long as you follow the right way.
115
On a slightly different yet related note, "Calmness" by H.H. Pope Shenouda III (found here: http://tasbeha.org/content/hh_books/Calmness/index.html) contains Chapter 4, which contains a short passage on Humility and Gentleness:
8. Humility and Gentleness
Calmness is one of the natural characteristics of the gentle
person, The gentle person is calm, because "A bruised reed He
will not break, And smoking flax He will not quench," (Matt.
12:20). He does not get angry or annoyed or raise his voice
because he is calm.
The gentle person has a kind heart, he does not fight or argue,
he is not "self-seeking" (1 Cor. 13:5), he does not resist evil
(Matt. 5:39) and even in his discussions he is calm, not
interrupting when someone else is talking, not getting annoyed
or upset.
The gentle person is pleasant natured, and not harsh or rude in
any way. He does not put pressure on other people, or insist,
he makes things easy, not seeking his own comfort but rather
that of others, which is why he is calm.
The gentle person is tolerant, for example, he does not answer
back or hurt another or insult him, he does not talk down to
him, but talks calmly with him. He does not rebuke or condemn
anyone, but expresses his opinion with strength of conviction,
not with pride or irritability.
For all these reasons, the characteristics of the gentle person are
completely in accord with those of the calm person. If you
acquire gentleness you will automatically have the
characteristics of calmness. So try to acquire the quality of
gentleness and its traits, and train yourself to be gentle. If you
do, you will certainly arrive at calmness.
96
Calmness is also one of the features of the humble person. The
humble person does not make anyone angry or allow himself to
be angered by anyone, and so deals peacefully with people.
Since he is characterised by a humility of spirit, this humility
cannot have the feature of sharpness or anger because they
would conflict with it. Rather, you find that the humble person
is gentle in his behaviour, calm when he talks and not disruptive
at all.
The humble person always finds himself at fault and blames
himself for everything. By not blaming anyone else, instead of
making an issue of a possible offence from others, he reduces it
by letting it pass by, out of the contriteness of his heart. Instead
of fighting or entering into conflict he remains calm.
The humble person asks for blessing for everyone, thus he lives
in love with all, dealing with them gently and peacefully. He
also bears everything, without making a fuss on account of
defending himself. Whatever harm befalls him he says, "this is
because of my sins", and then he is silent and does not rebel
against it. He therefore lives in peace with people.
The basic reason for loss of calmness is being self centred, too
much concentration on the self. Humility is being selfless, being
remote from oneself. In humility there is self-denial, and any
concern over one's 'honour' and 'rights' (which are the causes of
a person losing his tranquillity if he is not humble) is kept at a
distance. As long as the humble person is unconcerned about
matters which relate to his personal honour,
97
he does not lose his calmness because of these things, they
simply pass by.
Also, the humble person does not surround himself with the
noise and fuss that those who are eager for praise are so keen
on. Read about the reasons for loss of calmness and compare
them with humility and its characteristics. You will then see
how humility contributes to calmness, and you will also see that
whoever loses his humility loses him calmness.
9.
Humility among the Virtues
by H.H. Pope Shenouda III
What is humility and what is its signification? What did the Bible say? What is the position of humility among virtues? What is its relation to grace and trials? How can a human being be humble? This series of articles will address these points, so that you conceive what is this great virtue and the numerous virtues which it includes.
I wish to begin with you today a chain about an important subject, which is humility and meekness.
What is the Place of Humility among the Virtues
Humility is the foundation upon which all virtues are built up. Humility is the rampart that guards all virtues and all gifts.
Hence we can consider it as the first virtue in the spiritual life with regard to the order of the spiritual building, on whose top sits charity towards God and people.
It is the beginning then. The Lord of glory in His sermon upon the mountain, he has begun the blessings by saying: "Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matt. 5:3); then He blessed the meek (Matt. 5:5).
Any virtue which is void of humility, is exposed to be stolen by the devil of vainglory, and to be dispersed by vanity, glory, and self-admiration.
That is why, if God has given you to behave well in one of the virtues, ask the Lord to give you humility, in order to forget that you are behaving in a virtue, or even in order to understand that it is nothing when it is compared with the virtues of the saints. Likewise if God has given you one of the superior gifts, pray to Him either to give you the humility of heart with it, or to take it from you, lest you fall into pride, and perish because of it.
God acts well in giving gifts to humble people because He knows that it will not do harm to them. For the divine Incarnation, He has chosen a humble girl who crushes herself in front of that magnificent glory... "for He has regarded the lowly state of His maidservant" (Luke 1:48); that one who remains in her humility though all the generations call her blessed (Luke 1:48). The Bible says that God unveils His mysteries to the humble, and that He gives grace to the humble, "the lowly" (James 4:6), (1 Peter 5:5), (Prov. 3:34). The more He adds glory to these, the more they increase their humility and crush their souls the more in front of Him.
Humility is not only a virtue in itself, but it is intermingled with the rest of the virtues.
Humility is like the thread which enters into all the grains of the rosary, so that no grain can remain if the thread does not enter in it... Any virtue which does not embody humility, is not considered a virtue, and God does not accept it. That is why we said that humility is the foundation of all the virtues. We said also that it is a rampart for the virtues which protects them from the vainglory.
The Benediction of Humility
When our Lord Jesus Christ, in whom all the virtues are perfect, wished to lead His saint apostles into imitating Him, He said to them:
"...and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart" (Matt. 11:29).
He said this, in spite of the fact that we can learn every virtue from Him. It was possible that He would have said: learn from me wisdom, charity, compassion, quietness, service, instruction, strength of personalitiy... why then has He concentrated upon meekness and humility? Is it not because of the extreme importance of these two virtues?
Likewise, we see humility occupying a prominent place in the sayings and in the lives of the Fathers.
Saint Isaac said: "I want to speak about humility, but I am afraid, as one who wants to speak about God...this is because humility is the garment that divinity wore when He appeared among us...for this reason, when the devils see a humble person, they are afraid, because they see in him the image of their Creator who has subdued them."
How truly wonderful are these words about humility!
Humility can subjugate devils:
That is very clear in the story of saint Abba Macarius the Great, to whom Satan appeared and said to him:
"Woe to me from you, Macarius. What thing do you do, which we do not do?! You fast, we do not eat. You keep awake, we do not sleep. You reside in deserts and lonely places, we do the same. But with one thing you defeat us." The saint questioned him about that thing. He replied: "You defeat us with your humility."
That is obvious, because the devil cannot be humble. He is always proud and stubborn. That is the reason why the humble defeat him, because they possess humility that the devil could not possess.
The value of humility appears in the life of Saint Anthony:
This great saint saw the nets of the devil which were spread all over the world. So he fell down before God saying: "O Lord, who can escape from them?" A voice from heaven came to him saying: "The humble escape from them". Someone would ask why especially the humble can escape from the nets of the devils?" We reply:
"The humble, feeling that they are weak, lean on the power of God"; and so, the power of God supports them and protects them from the nets of the devils.
That is the opposite of the "wise" who lean on their wisdom, and the "strong" who lean on their strength, amd the "just" who are confident in their own justice.
As for the humble man, who is completely convinced and who confesses that he has no strength, no wisdom, and no justice, God supports his weakness, and fights for him. And that is what the devil fears the most.
That is why the exorcism of devils necessitates humility before anything. The Lord said: "However, this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" (Matt. 17:21), because it is in prayer and fasting that humility appears in all clarity. He who prays, confesses implicitly that he has no personal power. That is why he asks for strength from above through prayer. If the devil is cast out, he does not glorify himself for having cast him out, because this has not happened by his strength, but by the strength of God who has intervened through prayer. Likewise true fasting is that in which man crushes himself and mortifies himself before God through humility, and feels that he is weak.
Through humility, devils used to run away from St. Anthony. When the devils violently attacked St. Anthony, the father of all the monks, he answered them humbly, saying: "O you strong, what do you want from me, the weak one? I am unable to fight the smallest one of you." And he prayed to God and said: "Deliver me, o Lord, from those who think that I am anything, while I am dust and ashes." When the devils would hear this prayer full ol humility, they disappeared like smoke. Verily, the saints have become perfect in humility, with such marvelous image!
The saints have not only humbled themselves before God and before people, but also before the devils, and they have defeated the devils through their humilit as we have seen in the life of Saint Anthony, and the life of Saint Macarius, and as we shall see in the lives of the rest of the saints.
Probably the greatness of the virtue of humility will appear distinctly if we consider the horror of the vice that is opposite to it, and that is pride and greatness.
Pride has brought down from heaven a brilliant angel, and changed it into Satan.
Verily, the first sin which the world had known, was the pride with which Satan fell down. The prophet Isaiah has registered the story of the downfall of Satan, in the words of the divine intuition which were addressed to that fallen angel: "For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the star of God: I will also sit above the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north, I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High. Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit." (Is. 14: 13-14).
It is with the same downfall of pride, that Satan seduced our first parents.
Just as he said in his heart: "I will be like the most High", so he said to our first parents: "...and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil" (Gen. 3:5). Hence it seems that pride is absolutely never satisfied, but it wants to become continually higher, though its position is high; even if he is in the position of a cherubim, who is full of wisdom and perfectly beautiful (Ez. 28: 14,12), or is in the resemblance of the image of God, yet he wants to become high and elevated. But in this pride, he will be brought down to hell, as the Lord has said:
"For whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased; and he that humbleth himself shall be exalted" (Luke 14:11).
When the angel had wanted to exalt himself, he was brought down to hell, to the bottom of the pit, he lost his position as an angel, and became Satan.
When man, who is the image of God, had wanted to exalt himself, he lost his divine image, and was chased out of paradise, and suffered what he suffered. The most difficult thing to which the proud is exposed, is that God himself stands against him. Hence, how grave is the word of the Bible:
"God resists the proud" (James 4:6).
At the same time, when God pitied the sinners and the publicans, and led them to repentance, the apostle said that God resists the proud... And what will be the destiny of those whom God resists? Do you want to expose yourself to the resistance of God himself against you?! The second half of the verse consoles us, saying: "but gives grace to the humble".
May we become afraid of the words of the prophet Isaiah:
"For the day of the Lord of hosts shall come upon everything proud and lofty, upon everything lifted up---and is shall be brought low---upon all the cedars of Lebanon that are high and lifted up, and upon all the oaks of Bashan; upon all the high mountains, and upon all the hills that are lifted up; upon every high tower, and upon every fortified wall... The loftiness of man shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be brought low; the Lord alone will be exalted in that day" (Is. 2: 12:17).
Credits and Attribution
This article appeared in a series of articles on "The Life of Humility and Meekness" in Watany Magazine in 2000.
so i have noticed that pride leads a person into other sins.. for example, if you stopped committing a certain sin, and u feel like "wow I got this under control.. it's not hard..." then u find yourself in a deeper hole than u were in before, and you have returned to that sin. the biggest problem here is that after your pride has caused you to sin again, you don't regret the sin!
any advice on how to avoid this situation, and how to be humble. because I think if a person is truly humble they will never dare to sin in the sight of God.
please pray for me and my weakness
This is an excellent question, and it is one that the CoC answers most excellently also.
Look at your statement, and you'll see a very interesting thing: Now, let's compare that to what St. Peter said when Christ told him that he WILL deny Him 3 times: Now, both these verses have something in common:
They both depend on the pronoun "I" to execute the Will's desire, not that of God's Grace. For it is with God's Grace that we can overcome any tribulation, not merely by our own "good intentions". The minute that "I" comes before "God", it is already the hallmarks of a failure.
If "God" comes before "I", then this will result in a successful accomplishment. If St Peter said "God forbid, God help me, God give me the strength, and I will not deny you" then things would have worked out differently. But St. Peter depends on his own inherent goodness and good intentions.
Do you see why despite the fact I may suffer in the CoC, why I am still Orthodox??!!
Because it is only in the Orthodox Church that you will hear any of this: the Homilies of our Orthodox fathers, the writings of our saints, the Church teachings etc is FULL with such jewels to help us grow.
Likewise, if your friend said "It is thanks to God's Grace that I have abstained from this sin" - then he would not only have spoken the truth, but he'd have given God Glory, and finally, he would not be in contempt of any sin.
God punished Moses severely for NOT giving Him the Glory when the Israelites were thirsty and they drank water from the rock!!
So, it is through God's grace that we can overcome any obstacle; if it is by our own strength, or if we think it is by our own inherent goodness, we will fail. God wants us to depend on Him to even stop sinning. This is very important that we realise that.
I could go on, but this is a VITAL lesson, and frankly speaking, YOU WILL NOT HEAR THIS ANYWHERE OUTSIDE THE COC or GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCHES.
i rly appreciate it.. God bless
and please pray for me and my weakness
[quote author=egyboy link=topic=9068.msg112818#msg112818 date=1270448157]
so i have noticed that pride leads a person into other sins.. for example, if you stopped committing a certain sin, and u feel like "wow I got this under control.. it's not hard..." then u find yourself in a deeper hole than u were in before, and you have returned to that sin. the biggest problem here is that after your pride has caused you to sin again, you don't regret the sin!
any advice on how to avoid this situation, and how to be humble. because I think if a person is truly humble they will never dare to sin in the sight of God.
please pray for me and my weakness
This is an excellent question, and it is one that the CoC answers most excellently also.
Look at your statement, and you'll see a very interesting thing: Now, let's compare that to what St. Peter said when Christ told him that he WILL deny Him 3 times: Now, both these verses have something in common:
They both depend on the pronoun "I" to execute the Will's desire, not that of God's Grace. For it is with God's Grace that we can overcome any tribulation, not merely by our own "good intentions". The minute that "I" comes before "God", it is already the hallmarks of a failure.
If "God" comes before "I", then this will result in a successful accomplishment. If St Peter said "God forbid, God help me, God give me the strength, and I will not deny you" then things would have worked out differently. But St. Peter depends on his own inherent goodness and good intentions.
Do you see why despite the fact I may suffer in the CoC, why I am still Orthodox??!!
Because it is only in the Orthodox Church that you will hear any of this: the Homilies of our Orthodox fathers, the writings of our saints, the Church teachings etc is FULL with such jewels to help us grow.
Likewise, if your friend said "It is thanks to God's Grace that I have abstained from this sin" - then he would not only have spoken the truth, but he'd have given God Glory, and finally, he would not be in contempt of any sin.
God punished Moses severely for NOT giving Him the Glory when the Israelites were thirsty and they drank water from the rock!!
So, it is through God's grace that we can overcome any obstacle; if it is by our own strength, or if we think it is by our own inherent goodness, we will fail. God wants us to depend on Him to even stop sinning. This is very important that we realise that.
I could go on, but this is a VITAL lesson, and frankly speaking, YOU WILL NOT HEAR THIS ANYWHERE OUTSIDE THE COC or GREEK ORTHODOX CHURCHES.
this is more that awesome and ill try that way
pray for my weakness