Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
Keep your mind pure. Keep your heart pure. Keep your tongue pure. Keep your eyes pure. Keep your ears pure. Keep your hands pure. Keep your body pure.
Keep your mind simple. Keep your heart simple. Keep your tongue simple. Keep your eyes simple. Keep your ears simple. Keep your hands simple. Keep your dress simple. Keep your body simple.
Be holy in mind. Be holy in heart. Be holy in tongue. Be holy in eyes. Be holy in ears. Be holy in hands. Be holy in body.
Be pure, simple, humble, obedient, and holy.
Do no injustice to your soul. Do no injustice to your body.
Have you given food to the hungry? Have you given drink to the thirsty? Have you clothed the naked? Have you received strangers? Have you visited the sick? Have you visited those in prison?
Always give food to the hungry. Always give drink to the thirsty. Always clothe the naked. Always receive strangers. Always visit the sick. Always visit those in prison.
Are you kin to Lord Jesus? Only the kin of Lord Jesus can abide in His house.
Be neutral to your body and you will be free and happy. Be neutral to your soul and you will love God and your brethren.
If you run your spiritual business well you can then teach and help others to run theirs well.
We must stop the unethical life: overeating, stealing and overpossessing, lying, vanity, disobedience, and unchastity. We must embrace the ethical life: fasting and canonical eating, charity and canonical possessing, truth speaking, humility, obedience, and chastity.
Are your elders tyrants? Are your elders harsh in giving orders and rebukes? This state is the reason that disciples rebel. If you are an elder always give orders and rebukes with humility, meekness, mercy, and love.
The ethical life must be practiced without show, without glory from men, without honor from men, without praise from men, without self-praise and boasting. The ethical life must be practiced for our salvation and not for glory, honor, or praise.
Let us have perfect faith in Lord Jesus and let us live the life of gospel ethics.
Faith in Lord Jesus will give us the power and grace to live the ethical life. The ethical life is true life, the unethical life is false life.
Beware of unethical thoughts. Beware of unethical feelings. Beware of unethical words. Beware of unethical sights. Beware of unethical hearings. Beware of unethical practices.
Beware of negative, discouraging comments. Such comments when believed hinder our progress and salvation. Youth in particular should never accept such discouraging, negative comments. Comments though which induce humility should be accepted. These comments do not discourage us nor shake our hope in salvation and progress. Negative, discouraging comments lead to despair and suicide, so young people beware!
Orthodox Christians are the kin of Lord Jesus. Orthodox Christians are the sons and daughters of Lord Jesus, living a life of grace, gospel virtue, and gospel wisdom.
Good elders give orders and rebukes with humility, meekness, mercy, and love. Bad elders give orders and rebukes with pride, wrath, non-mercy, envy and hatred.
The Shekinah, the Holy Spirit, has come, but only to the kin of Lord Jesus. The world cannot see or know the Shekinah, only Orthodox Christians see and know Him. (See John 14:17).
The aim of our life is to live a true life, a life of virtue and spiritual knowledge, in preparation for eternal life.
The suffering we encounter in this life is sent to us by our good, just, and loving Creator, for our salvation. In all suffering give thanks to your Creator. (See 1 Thess. 5:18).
The true life is humility, meekness, mercy, and love. The false life is pride, wrath, non-mercy, envy, and hatred.
Avoid disputes over food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. Practice humility and all your disputes will be resolved.
Once you break the four addictions: food addiction, possessions (including knowledge) addiction, glory addiction, and romance addiction, you can then live the life of grace, virtue, and spiritual wisdom.
Are you heeding God’s lessons? Are you learning from poverty, disease, and oppression?
Test your thoughts. Test your ideas. (See 1 Thess. 5:21).
What is your main addiction? Food addiction? Possessions (including knowledge) addiction? Glory addiction? Romance addiction? Identify your main addiction and seek to be delivered from it.
Say: “Lord Jesus, deliver me from this passion”. “Lord Jesus, deliver me from this addiction”. “Lord Jesus, deliver me from this demon”.
Humility is the greatest of the virtues. Humility is the mother of meekness. Humility is the mother of mercy. Humility is the mother of discernment. Humility is the mother of love.
Wherever you are, in humility have no opinion and no will and you will be content.
Humility is not of this world, for the humble do not care for wealth, glory, or pleasure.
Faith gives the grace and power to practice gospel ethics. Faith and humility give birth to a life of gospel ethics.
Be careful of overeating, stealing and overpossessing, vanity, lying, disobedience, and unchastity. The secular church suffers from all these. Practice instead fasting and canonical eating, charity and canonical possessing, humility, truth speaking, obedience, and chastity and canonical sexual relations.
Asceticism is abstinence from sexual relations, abstinence from meat, abstinence from wine, abstinence from sleep, abstinence from speech, abstinence from possessions, abstinence from worldly festivals, abstinence from costly dress, abstinence from bodily comforts. Furthermore, asceticism is to: not shave the beard, to wash infrequently and only when essential, to wear a single and simple garment, to eat only once daily, to sleep on a hard bed, to use perfume infrequently, to abstain from sweets, to walk to your destinations, to behave in a simple and unvain manner, to answer only when asked, to speak of spiritual wisdom only when questioned, to prefer the scorn of men rather than their praise, to have a humble and simple glance, to abstain from hearing unspiritual things and unspiritual songs, to view the spiritual aspect of all that one encounters, to live in a world far from unholy and unedifying things, to judge no person but to pray for them and admonish them with humility, meekness, mercy, and love, to be unknown and unregarded, and to abstain from wealth, glory, and pleasure. Last of all asceticism is to remain in the place you are called, and to have no opinion and no will of your own, but to profess the opinion of your elders in Christ and to do the will of your spiritual father.
Spiritual persons speak spiritual language. Carnal persons speak carnal language. Psychical persons speak psychical language. Natural persons speak natural language. From the language a person speaks do you know what person they are.
Keep away from cunning things: cunning words, cunning assumptions, cunning behaviors. Always seek the good, the holy, the pure.
Progress is born from obedience to your elders in Christ. The obedient increase in humility, meekness, mercy, and love. The obedient increase in gospel wisdom. The obedient increase in spiritual gifts. The obedient increase in holiness. The obedient increase in joy. The obedient increase in blessedness.
The secular church has competition over food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. This competition gives rise to pride, wrath, sorrow, lethargy, envy, (despair and suicide). It seems that nothing can stop this competition. The only remedy to this competition and its results is humility. Humility is the mystery that abolishes the competition of the secular church and the vices it generates.
Let everything you experience remind you of the words of scripture and the words of the holy fathers.
The passions of the body and the passions of the soul can be cured only by Lord Jesus. Therefore we must seek Lord Jesus, the physician of the body and the physician of the soul.
Reject the leaven of malice and cunning. Accept the leaven of sincerity, simplicity, and truth. (See 1 Cor. 5:7-8).
Knowledge isn’t ours. Virtue isn’t ours. Spiritual gifts are not ours. Knowledge, virtue, and spiritual gifts are all gifts of God.
Practice virtue. Keep virtue in your mind. Keep virtue in your heart. Keep virtue in your tongue. Always practice virtue.
Are you voluntarily seeking God? Are you voluntarily seeking deliverance from the passions? Are you voluntarily seeking the life of virtue?
According to the passions or virtues that a person has, so he sees the world. His passions and virtues determine his attitude, opinion, and views.
Be perfectly free of self. Have perfect faith in Lord Jesus. Have perfect love of Lord Jesus.
Soon we will depart from this life. Therefore, do not be attached to food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, or romance. Keep the Law of Moses and the Law of Lord Jesus. Remember eternal life and abstain from every type of sin.
What we sow we reap: love for love, hatred for hatred, neutrality for neutrality. (See Gal. 6:7).
Do not sow overeating, stealing and overpossessing, vanity, lying, disobedience, and unchastity. Sow instead fasting, charity, humility, truth speaking, obedience, prayer, and chastity.
Guard your mind from cunning thoughts. Guard your heart from cunning feelings. Guard your tongue from cunning words. Guard your eyes from cunning sights. Guard your ears from cunning words and songs. Guard your hands from cunning deeds. Guard your body from cunning practices.
Choose the ethical life. Choose the just life. Choose the blessed life. Choose the holy life. (See Deut. 30:19).
Cunning is overeating, stealing and overpossessing, vanity, lying, suspicion, blasphemy, disobedience, and unchastity. Justice is fasting, charity, humility, truth speaking, honesty, doxology, obedience, prayer, love, and chastity.
To partake of Holy Communion you must first repent of your cunning and go to Holy Confession. Once you repent of your cunning and are forgiven through Holy Confession, then you may partake of Holy Communion. Never take Holy Communion without repenting of your cunning.
Give place to the Shekinah! Give place to the reign of the Shekinah! Give place to the reign of the Holy Spirit! Be always humble so that the Shekinah may lead you to salvation! Glory to the Shekinah, that is, Glory to the Holy Spirit!
Do you know the mystery of the Shekinah, that is, the mystery of the Holy Spirit? The Shekinah is given to every Orthodox Christian at Holy Baptism. It is given again through repentance and the mystery of Holy Confession.
Live in the world of good and holy thoughts. Never accept cunning thoughts about yourself or others. Be honest and good, abstaining from cunning and malice.
Reject the poison of cunning thoughts. Reject the poison of cunning feelings. Reject the poison of cunning words. Reject the poison of cunning sights. Reject the poison of cunning words and songs. Reject the poison of cunning practices.
Test your thoughts. Reject the poison of cunning thoughts. Confess the cunning thoughts that have passed through your defence. Confess the cunning thoughts that torment you.
Reject cunning thoughts about your body. Reject cunning thoughts about your soul. Reject the poison of cunning thoughts about your body or soul.
A young person must be given choices in their life. To oppress young people does not develop their prudence in choosing good over evil. Good choosing must be developed in young people. Teaching good choosing is the aim of the relation between elders and young people. Guarding from cunning is the lesson elders must teach young people.
We reap what we sow. (See Gal. 6:7). If we do good and love, we reap good and love. If we do cunning and hate, we reap cunning and hate. If we practice neutrality and indifference, we reap neutrality and indifference.
We must repent of all our sins, confess them, vow non-repeat, mourn for them, and practice henceforth the Law of Moses and the Law of Lord Jesus.
If a person does not choose to practice Orthodox Christianity they cannot be compelled. The practice of Orthodox Christianity is voluntarily. The practice of the Law of Lord Jesus is voluntary. Each person is free to choose to practice or free to choose to not practice.
The Orthodox Christian Church is the kingdom of Lord Jesus. Each practicing Orthodox Christian is a member of the kingdom of Lord Jesus.
Always practice humility: ranking yourself below all other persons, ascribing your knowledge to God, ascribing your virtue and achievements to God.
(1 Cor. 14:20): “Brethren, do not become children in mind, but towards malice be infants, in mind become perfect”.
Heed the calling of Lord Jesus. Heed the call to repent and become a member of the kingdom of Lord Jesus. Heed the message of freedom from sin and slavery. Heed the message of deliverance from sin and death.
Beware of the practical vices: overeating, stealing and overpossessing, vanity, speaking against, lying, reviling, blasphemy, disobedience, magic, murder, unchastity.
Be loosed from sin. Repent of your sin. Live the life of sinlessness. Live the life of light, joy, and blessing. Cease from sin.
Help others not only in words but also in works. Love others not only in words but also in works. Practice helping and loving always.
Correct your faults and a part of the world is corrected. Change your thinking and you will live in a new world.
God will give you knowledge. God will give you virtue. God will give you success and victory. God will give you everything you need. Have faith in God, humility, and obedience to your elder in Christ. Faith, humility, and obedience, generate every virtue and blessing.
When you always think good your life is a continuous festival.
Practice and teach gospel ethics. Practice and teach gospel wisdom. Practice and teach gospel mysteries. Practice and teach the gospel life.
You shall practice Old Testament ethics all the days of your life. You shall practice Gospel ethics all the days of your life.
Guard your mind. Guard your heart. Guard your tongue. Guard your eyes. Guard your ears. Guard your hands. Guard your body. Guard your soul.
In every event of your life recall what is said in scripture and what the fathers and mothers have spoken. Then act accordingly.
There are three stages in the life of every true Orthodox Christian. First is the pre-engagement stage when they live a life divorced from the Holy Spirit. The second stage is to repent and receive the engagement of the Holy Spirit. (See 2 Cor. 5:5). The third stage is to receive the marriage of the Holy Spirit in the future life. The aim of our life is to go from divorce to engagement to marriage. Through faith, repentance and obedience, we go from divorce to engagement to marriage. This is the sequence for every true Orthodox Christian.
Always speak constructive words which encourage faith, hope, and effort. Never speak corruptive words which discourage, and lead to unbelief, hopelessness, despair, and negligence.
Reject temptations which sow in you cunning thoughts about your body or soul. Always think good about your body and soul.
Do not linger on the poison of cunning thoughts.
Be an Orthodox Christian in thought, feeling, word, sight, hearing, and bodily practice.
Be an Orthodox Christian in works. Be an Orthodox Christian in practice.
Be neutral to food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. You will then be free, happy, and devoted to the spiritual life.
The unjust will not inherit the kingdom of heaven. (See 1 Cor. 6:9). Therefore never be unjust, and if you are, repent, confess, and restitute your injustice.
Become divorced from the world, engaged to Lord Jesus, and await your marriage to Lord Jesus.
The world is divorced from God, engaged to Gehenna, and destined to be married to Gehenna. A true Orthodox Christian is divorced from the world, engaged to Lord Jesus, and destined to be married to Lord Jesus.
We are just a vessel of God’s knowledge, virtue, and spiritual gifts. If we are humble we retain these things. If we exalt and become proud we lose these things. Therefore always be humble in order to increase and retain the treasure of grace, knowledge, virtue, and spiritual gifts.
Be always humble and God will give you grace, knowledge, virtue, spiritual gifts, and salvation.
Observe how the world suffers from overeating, stealing and overpossessing, vanity, lying, reviling, disobedience, phobias, suspicion, and unchastity. All these temptations afflict the world. The world languishes in these passions.
Do not imitate the cunning in the words, facial expressions, and bodily behavior of other persons. Guard yourself from cunning.
Do things which have eternal value: fasting, charity, abstinence, vigil, prayer, guarding of the mind and heart, obedience, humility, truth speaking, frugality, forgiveness, chastity.
The true Messiah is he who brings the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit. Lord Jesus has shown that He is the true Messiah, since He has brought the Shekinah to all who truly believe in Him.
Do not seek things that pass: worldly glory, wealth, bodily beauty, pleasure, worldly praise. Seek rather things that remain: virtue, spiritual knowledge, spiritual gifts, humility, good works.
When you live an ethical life you are always joyful, and life is a continuous festival.
When you live an ethical life you are blessed by God, and you succeed in every domain.
When you live an ethical life you are free and content.
When you live an ethical life you are a true son or daughter of God.
When you live an ethical life you have attained meaning in your life and are destined for salvation.
