Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
Beware of the weeds that the enemy sows. Identify the weeds and reject them. Do not allow the weeds to take root in you.
Lord Jesus is the healer of the passions. Lord Jesus is the physician of our soul.
Work on the cure of your passions. Work on the practice of virtue. These two constitute the work of a devout person.
God sends us suffering and temptations to teach us not to depend on our own power, but in the power of God.
You avoid delusion be practicing the following three: 1) Practice the middle way of virtue and avoid extremes. 2) Practice logic. 3) Always question the elders in Christ.
We must be like trees that bear good fruit. We are saved by grace (See Eph. 2:8), but we must bear the fruits of grace, that is, good works. (See Matt. 7:19).
If you love second what credit is that to you? If you greet second, give second, lend second, serve second, do good second, what credit is that to you? Greet first. Give first. Lend first. Serve first. Do good first. Take the initiative in all good. (See Luke 6:35).
The Lord wants us to have spiritual justice. The Lord wants us to practice good always: good for good, good for bad, good for neutrality.
Live the lawful life. Live the life of spiritual law. (See Matt. 19:17).
Beware of wrong thoughts. Beware of wrong desires. Beware of wrong anger.
Reject wrong thoughts. Reject wrong feelings. Reject wrong desires. Reject wrong anger. Abstain from wrong words. Abstain from wrong works.
Listen to spiritual news. Bypass worldly news that contains non-virtue. Pray for all in need, recalling that every person is unique and special.
Seek the grace of Lord Jesus. Seek the language of spiritual things. Observe the difference between natural language and spiritual language. Observe the difference between natural justice and spiritual justice.
Through Holy Baptism we are washed of original sin and personal sin. Through Holy Confession we receive our ongoing washing from personal sin. Without Baptism and Confession we cannot be washed of original or personal sin.
Seek to comfort and benefit your neighbor.
The comforting of the heart is easier. The comforting of the mind is harder. Grace comes to the heart easier than to the mind. Grace to the mind requires a still and silent mind.
Beware of tyranny and its effect on your psychology. Beware of the tyranny from parents, siblings, bosses, and social groups.
From faith and self-denial we receive grace. Grace then leads us to the state of deification. (See Matt. 16:24).
By faith, self-denial, and obedience, the Spirit of God leads us to salvation and deification. (See Rom. 8:14).
Have faith in the Lord, and He will lead you to salvation and deification.
Are you crucified to wealth, glory, and pleasure?
Are you rich in material wealth or spiritual wealth? Are you rich in material glory or spiritual glory? Are you rich in material comforts or spiritual comforts?
Towards the message of the gospel we have three categories: acceptors, rejectors, and neutrals. These three categories constitute the network of white nodes, black nodes, and grey nodes.
The white nodes are the sons and daughters of the kingdom. The black nodes and grey nodes are the sons and daughters of the cunning one. (See Matt. 13:38).
Do not think only of wealth, glory, and comforts on the earth. Think of wealth, glory, and comforts in heaven.
Wealth in heaven is achieved by giving of your wealth on earth to those in need. Glory in heaven is achieved by humility on earth, and by honoring others on earth. Comforts in heaven are achieved by ascetic practice on earth, and by comforting others on earth.
Humble yourself. Exalt your neighbor.
Accept only lawful thoughts. Reject every unlawful thought.
(Rom. 12:19): “Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath.”
If you comfort your neighbor you comfort the Lord. If you do injustice to your neighbor you do injustice to the Lord. (See Matt. 25:35).
If you do good to your neighbor you do good to the Lord. (See Matt. 25:35).
The self-denying nodes are the white nodes. The self-loving aggressive nodes are the black nodes. The self-loving non-aggressive nodes are the grey nodes.
Do good to all, friend, enemy, and neutral. (See Luke 6:35).
God allows the cross of illness for our salvation. Bear this cross with faith and patience.
(Gal. 6:10): “Let us do good to all.”
Seek to correct your faults. Seek to practice gospel virtue. Seek to resolve your physical and psychological problems.
Do good to friends. Do good to enemies. Do good to neutrals. (See Gal. 6:10).
Identify your faults and strive to correct them.
Never think negative thoughts. Only positive thoughts solve problems.
Do not be a wrong-thinker. Be a right-thinker.
Life is full of problems. An Orthodox Christian must strive to solve these problems.
In the face of every problem practice self-denial. Self-denial, good thought, patience, and humility, solve every problem.
Do not seek wealth, honor, or comforts. Rather endure non-wealth, non-honor, and non-comfort.
If you practice self-denial nothing can sway you. Neither poverty, nor dishonor, nor bodily suffering.
If it is possible, seek to enter a religious commune. A religious commune has a typikon aimed at increasing stillness of mind, stillness of tongue, and stillness of heart. A religious commune is heaven on earth.
The life of the passions is a subnatural state. The life of logic and virtue is the natural state. The life of theology and theological virtue is the supernatural state.
Observe the precepts that pious persons keep. Learn from them, and keep the same precepts according to your strength.
Be independent of other persons. Do not be swayed by the likes, dislikes, and neutralities of other persons. Do not be swayed by the wrong thoughts, wrong words, or wrong practices of other persons. Live in the world of right thoughts, right words, and right practices.
Use logic and anger to whip wrong thoughts.
Underhumility is pride. Overhumility is people-pleasing. Humility is the middle way.
If you choose the life of complete self-denial, namely the monastic life, you must be prepared to: eat a little, to sleep a little, to work hard, to pray continuously, to have no possessions, to have no glory, to have your opinion tested always by the elders, to endure bodily hardship, to keep silence unless you have need to speak, to be a stranger to unspiritual news, to study much, to attend long church services, to endure mocking and benoughting, to endure constant temptation.
We must abandon sin and not cling to it. We must say: “I’ve had enough.” We must turn to Lord Jesus, and embrace the life of the commandments. If we do not separate from sin in this life, we will be assigned to the eternal asylum prepared for those who cling to sin.
Towards the call to self-denial made by the gospel, (See Matt. 16:24), we have three responses. The self-deniers, the non-self-denier aggressives, and the non-self-denier non-aggressives. The self-deniers are further divided into the hundredites, the sixtyites, and the thirtyites.
Observe what you are reaping. Are you reaping good? You have sown good. Are you reaping wrong? You have sown wrong. Are you reaping neutrality? You have sown neutrality.
Never accept wrong thoughts or wrong feelings. Always have right thoughts and right feelings.
We must love all, both the good, the bad, and the neutral. The good are the wheat, the bad and the neutral are the weeds. (See Matt. 13:38).
An Orthodox Christian leader must seek to achieve right government, right business, right health of all citizens, right general and vocational and religious education of all citizens, and right research.
Always right-think, right-feel, right-speak, and right-practice.
The secular church values wealth, glory, and comforts. The Orthodox Christian Church values charity, humility, and continence. The secular church honors wealth, glory, and comforts. The Orthodox Christian Church honors virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts.
The message of the gospel is the message of repentance, forgiveness, self-denial, and the keeping of spiritual law.
Have a still and humble mind. Have a still and humble heart. These will bring the favor and grace of God.
The fallen nature of man is prone to love of wealth, love of glory, and love of pleasure. When fallen man encounters non-wealth, non-glory, and non-pleasure, he becomes wrathful, sorrowful, and vengeful. The resurrected man does not seek wealth, glory, and pleasure, but virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts. The resurrected man is crucified to wealth, glory, and pleasure. The resurrected man practices self-denial, and bears his cross. The resurrected man is detached from wealth, glory, and pleasure.
Wealth on earth, glory on earth, and comforts on earth, will end after seventy years. Wealth in heaven, glory in heaven, and comforts in heaven will last for all eternity.
Wealth, glory, and comforts last for seventy years. Virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts last for all eternity.
Seek refuge in Lord Jesus. Refer all your problems to Lord Jesus.
Beware of the extremes: underhumility or pride, overhumility or people-pleasing, undercharity or miserliness, overcharity or wastefulness, undercontinence or incontinence, overcontinence or severity.
In the order of society we encounter judges who resolve disputes. We have family judges, school judges, workplace judges, criminal judges, civil judges. Family and school judges are the primary regulators of society. When family judges allow human rights abuses we encounter psycho-social problems. School judges who allow human rights abuse also create psycho-social problems.
All disputes in families and societies must be resolved fairly. Pride, lust, greed, and gluttony, are the primary causes of disputes in families and societies.
Family psychology is the most basic psychology. An Orthodox Christian family psychology is necessary. A just family government ensures a happy, logical, and blessed family.
Repent of your wrong choices. Never cease to mourn for your wrong choices. Never cease to mourn for your wrong thoughts, wrong feelings, wrong words, and wrong practices.
The things of the world are not evil. All things are good. (See Gen. 1:31). What is evil is misuse of the things of the world. Misuse is wrong thoughts, wrong feelings, wrong words, and wrong practices.
Human persons are divided into three groups: those who accept the gospel, those who reject the gospel, and those who are neutral to the gospel. The acceptors are the wheat. The rejectors and the neutrals are the weeds. (See Matt. 13:38).
The demons teach wrong: wrong thoughts, wrong feelings, wrong words, wrong practices. We must completely separate from such wrong.
Lord Jesus delivers us from the power of wrong and leads us to the life of right: right thoughts, right feelings, right words, right practices.
We must offer sacrifice for our every wrong: wrong thought, wrong feeling, wrong word, wrong practice. The appointed sacrifice is the Cross of Lord Jesus. Through the sacraments of the Orthodox Christian Church our wrongs are forgiven and we are reconciled to God and our neighbor.
Do good to all: friend, enemy, and neutral. Love all: friend, enemy, and neutral.
Lord Jesus is God in the flesh. The Cross of Lord Jesus is the atoning sacrifice for all sin. Without Lord Jesus we will die in our sins. (See John 8:24).
Renounce overeating, overpossessing, vanity, and unchastity, and live a life of fasting, charity, humility, prayer, and chastity.
Study the eight thoughts: gluttony, love of possessions, vanity, pride, wrath, lust, sorrow, lethargy.
Recall the primary thoughts: gluttony, love of possessions, vanity, lust. Recall the secondary thoughts: pride, wrath, lust, sorrow, lethargy, envy, (despair and suicide). Recall the tertiary thoughts: blasphemy, heresy, magic, fear, judging, cunning, malice, reviling, lying.
The sons and daughters of the kingdom allow grace to deify them. The sons and daughters of the cunning one do not allow grace to deify them. (See Matt. 13:38).
(Zech. 8:17): “Let each person not meditate in his heart evil against his neighbor.”
Guard your mind. Guard your eyes. Guard your ears. Guard your tongue. Guard your heart.
Let your thought, feeling, speech, and practice, be an offering to God.
Offer your mind to the Lord. Offer your heart to the Lord. The Lord will sanctify your mind and heart. (See Lev. 20:8).
Lord Jesus makes us spiritual persons. Without Lord Jesus we remain carnal or psychical persons.
Sin is a spiritual crime of which we must repent. If we do not repent and cease from sin, we will be sentenced to the spiritual jail of eternal hell.
In the secular church there is conflict over food, possessions, glory, and romance. In the Orthodox Christian Church there is respect of another’s food, possessions, glory, and romance.
Every member of Lord Jesus receives rebirth in Holy Baptism. Rebirth occurs a second time through repentance and Holy Confession. Without rebirth we cannot be saved. (See John 3:3).
The place we are in does not bear the fruit of virtue. Self-denial, patience, and the keeping of gospel commandments bear the fruit of virtue.
Sir Moses taught natural law. Lord Jesus taught spiritual law.
Every young person must receive a complete education. Every young person must receive a good general education, a good religious education, and a good vocational education.
Every person has the right to accept, reject, or be neutral to the gospel. The acceptors of the gospel understand spiritual law and spiritual justice. The rejectors and neutrals do not understand spiritual law, but only natural law.
To every problem we must seek a natural solution or a spiritual solution. If a natural solution is not possible we must seek a supernatural or spiritual solution.
Love God. Love yourself. Love your neighbor. (See Matt. 22:37-40).
Do not wrong your neighbor in food, possessions, glory, or romance. (See Lev. 19:13).
Observe the difference between a secular person and an Orthodox Christian. Observe the difference in diet, the difference in sleep, the difference in Church service attendance, the difference in typikon. A secular person does not understand the life of an Orthodox Christian.
You must devote your life to the Lord by obeying your spiritual father.
A secular person eats, drinks, gathers possessions, seeks praise, and seeks romance. An Orthodox Christian fasts, gives charity, seeks humility, prays, and practices chastity.
The secular person only understands natural law. The Orthodox Christian understands both natural law and spiritual law.
