Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
Consider the economy of your thoughts, ideas, sights, and hearings. You must guard your mind, your eyes, and your ears, from wrong thoughts and ideas, wrong sights, and wrong hearings.
All virtues are fruits of the Spirit. What gives place to these fruits is faith, humility, and labors. These three give rise to every virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gift.
By the grace of the Lord we are saved. (See Eph. 2:8). The grace of the Lord is given only to the humble. (See 1 Peter 5:5). We can therefore say, only the humble are saved.
Lord Jesus calls us to renounce unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience, and to become members of His Orthodox Christian Church, practicing chastity, charity, and obedience.
Study and practice physical science, social science, philosophical science, and theological science.
There are factions in every discipline. World War III will be the great war between the two factions of the godly and the ungodly.
Censor your mind, censor your eyes, censor your ears.
Guard your mind, guard your eyes, guard your ears, and trust in the economy of the Lord. The Lord wishes you to reject wrong thoughts, reject wrong sights, and reject wrong hearings. The Lord will send you everything you need if you ask, seek, and knock. Only guard your mind, heart, and senses from wrong, and practice chastity, charity, and obedience.
A householder needs to have economic pursuits for the sake of his household. A renunciant though, does not have economic pursuits. His pursuits are guarding of the mind, guarding of the senses, uprooting passions and wrong ideas, and practicing frugality. Economic pursuits are necessary for a householder. Also necessary for a householder is guarding of the mind, guarding of the senses, and uprooting passions. The householder has a two-fold struggle: economics and spirituality. A renunciant has a single struggle: spirituality and spiritual warfare. Both life modes are difficult. Which mode you must follow is up to you.
Each virtue has a faction of practitioners, and a faction of opposers who practice the vice opposite to that virtue. Every virtue has this factional conflict. Can the chaste unite with the unchaste? Can the merciful unite with unmerciful? Can the humble unite with the proud? Clearly the opposition of factions cannot be resolved.
Reject false thoughts of blasphemy, shamefulness, and cunning. Accept true thoughts of thanksgiving, purity, and honesty.
Reject the falsehood of greed, vanity, and pleasure. Accept the truth of charity, humility, and continence.
Every idea creates three factions: acceptors, rejecters, neutrals. We will always have factions which oppose us in every idea and practice. Accept this fact and move forward to perfection of ideas and perfection of practice.
Do no injustice to the Lord, to your neighbor, or to yourself. Practice humility and love towards the Lord, and towards your neighbor. Towards yourself practice frugality, neutrality, and continence.
View the needs of others as your own needs. Greet, give, serve, and love others as yourself.
Practice charity, humility, and continence. Practice these three in secret, revealing to no one the measure of these that you practice. Always practice charity, humility, and continence in secret. Do not talk to anyone of your charity, humility, or continence. These three virtues are the way of salvation.
Material loss, dishonor, and bodily discomforts, are antidotes to greed, vanity, and pleasure.
Reject harsh words, harsh countenance, and harsh behavior. Practice soft words, soft countenance, and soft behavior. Be gracious to all, with gracious words, gracious countenance, and gracious behavior.
Harsh words, harsh countenance, and harsh behavior are illegal in the Lord. In the City of the Lord, such things are for arrest and reprimand.
When a dispute arises practice honesty and humility, and explain yourself. Resolve the dispute as soon as possible, using honesty to resolve the misunderstanding, and humility and apology if you are in the wrong.
Place yourself in the position of others, and always greet, give, serve, and love. This is to love your neighbor as yourself.
For simplicity we view all individuals as economic units with material needs and spiritual needs. Material needs can be met by individuals working and giving charity to meet the material needs of all. Spiritual needs require faith, repentance, prayer, charity, obedience, sacraments, and participation in spiritual life. When the economic units are supplied their needs we will have peace and joy.
Honesty and humility are the foundations of Orthodox Christian life. These two resolve all problems, all disputes, and all needs.
Faith in Lord Jesus gives the power to practice gospel commandments. Without faith in Lord Jesus we cannot keep gospel commandments, or be saved.
Faith, humility, and obedience generate every virtue, all wisdom, and every spiritual gift. Blessed and holy faith! Blessed and holy humility! Blessed and holy obedience!
Orthodox Christians are pilgrims on the earth. They should not be attached to wealth, glory, or comforts.
The Orthodox Christian Faith is holy and unblemished.
Beware of unbelief, sorrow, lethargy, agitation, and despair. All these must be rejected. Practice instead faith, joy, diligence, calm, and hope in Lord Jesus.
Do not have any idle moments in your daily spiritual practice. Be always working, keeping the Lord in mind, and also keeping your conscience clear. Remember that you must give an account to the Lord of your work.
Temptations are of two types: willful and unwillful. The willful temptations seek to effect greed, vanity, and pleasure. The unwillful effect material loss, dishonor, and bodily pain. We must resist the willful with charity, humility, and continence, and the unwillful with patience, Godly courage, forgiveness, and thanksgiving.
To solve problems we must use both the scientific method and the theological method. Both methods are necessary for solving problems. Both methods are needed by the problem-solver.
Beware of the weeds of the enemy: blasphemous thoughts, shameful thoughts, cunning thoughts. Use the scientific method and the theological method to resist and correct these thoughts.
You must always practice the Law of the Lord, rejecting the seeds of greed, vanity, pleasure, and enduring the problems of material loss, dishonor, and bodily pain.
To die to the world is to die to greed, vanity, and pleasure. To live to the Lord is to live to charity, humility, and continence.
When facing problems always think and speak of solutions. Do not be discouraged, but think and speak of the positive. Do not advertise your problems to others, because you only harm them. Always think and speak of the good. (See Phil. 4:8).
Remember the willful temptations: greed, vanity, pleasure. Remember the unwillful temptations: material loss, dishonor, bodily pain.
We must keep the Law of the Lord. Keeping this law makes us holy and unblemished. If we transgress the Law of the Lord we must repent, confess, return, and do penance.
Reject greed. Reject vanity. Reject pleasure. Be positive about material loss. Give thanks for dishonor. Be patient in bodily pain.
The just are unblemished because they keep the Law of the Lord. O, if all kept the Law of the Lord! What great joy there would be on the earth!
Keep the spiritual typikon you are given by your spiritual father. Practice this law with enthusiasm and joy and positivity. Let law be a key part of your daily practice. Keep law and you will have joy and a clear conscience.
Study, practice, and teach, the Law of the Lord. If you want to enter into life, keep the Law of the Lord. (See Matt. 19:17).
Only speak of lawful things. Do not discuss the unlawfulness of others, nor judge them. Always speak of the good and lawful.
Brethren, keep the Law of Moses. Brethren, keep the Law of Lord Jesus. Keeping these two laws is life and holiness.
Force yourself to keep the Law of the Lord. Force is necessary to break the power of unlawful habits. (See Matt. 11:12).
A gospel teacher sows the teaching of gospel law. Gospel law is either accepted, rejected, or treated with neutrality. What could be the proportion for these three categories? Are the acceptors of gospel law less than 10 percent?
Practice all spiritual practices for your salvation. Advertise none of your spiritual practices. Let your fasting, charity, prayer, humility, obedience, and chastity be done in secret. Never advertise your spiritual practice, but have salvation as your goal, and secrecy to protect you from vanity and pride.
Remember that food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance are not evil. Evil is the misuse of these: Overeating, greed, vanity, and unchastity.
Some people hate the Lord because of the willful temptations of greed, vanity, and pleasure. Some people hate their neighbor because of the unwillful temptations of material loss, dishonor, and bodily pain.
Have the light of Lord Jesus. Always greet, give, serve, and love, and you will be the light of the world, full of grace, truth, and justice. (See Matt. 5:14).
Orthodox Christianity repairs relationships through humility, forgiveness, and correction. The Orthodox Christian uses the Orthodox Christian method to reconcile to the Lord and to his brethren.
You as a simple person care for all beings and all things. How much more does the Lord care for all beings and all things, being their Creator and Sustainer and Economist? If you cannot bear to see suffering, how much pain does the Lord have when He sees suffering?
Lawlessness is darkness. Lawfulness is light. Pride and malice is darkness. Humility and goodness is light.
Observe how secular culture evolves. Observe how the design of buildings, household items, clothing, and technology, evolve. Observe how religious culture has a different evolution. Dogma, ethics, and tradition evolve in their way.
In the unseen warfare of wrong thoughts you must practice guarding of the mind, rebuttal, prayer, good thought, and humility. The unseen warfare of wrong thoughts requires hope in the Lord, faith, and courage. Reject the wrong thoughts of blasphemy, shamefulness, and cunning.
Reject the anxiety of wealth. Reject the vanity of glory. Reject the guilt and corruption of pleasure. Free of wealth, glory, and pleasure, walk the path of salvation.
Reject the delinquent life of greed, vanity, and pleasure.
The justice of the world is symmetry: good for good, wrong for wrong, neutrality for neutrality. The justice of the Orthodox Christian is mercy: good for good, good and forgiveness for wrong, good for neutrality.
Every person needs a guide and mentor in their life. No one should be unguided or unmentored. The cunning of our spiritual enemies is great. Every person who seeks the good life of chastity, charity, and obedience, must be helped and protected.
The aim of our life is to attain eternal salvation. We must go from separation from Lord Jesus, to engagement to Lord Jesus, to marriage to Lord Jesus. Only Lord Jesus can save us, and we must go to Him in faith, repentance, and obedience.
Suffering is caused by the following: Tyranny, dishonor, injustice, poverty, physical pain, physical illness, and psychological illness. All these make our life on earth a partial martyrdom.
Inner suffering is chiefly greed, vanity, and pleasure. Outer suffering is chiefly tyranny, poverty, and disease.
Greet, give, serve, and love, with discernment. Discernment will set the order and measure of these.
Practice charity, humility, and continence, and you will counter the inner suffering of greed, vanity, and pleasure. Practice obedience, courage, and patience and you will counter the outer suffering of tyranny, poverty, and disease.
The secret to good relationships is to always take the initiative. Be first to greet, first to give, first to serve, first to love. The relationship will then ignite.
Our efforts and the grace of the Lord will help us correct our faults. Remember our three main inner faults are greed, vanity, and pleasure.
Do not use the powers of your soul and body only to increase in wealth, glory, and comforts. Rather use the powers of your soul and body to increase in virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts.
Every religious psychiatrist and religious psychologist must first diagnose the wrong thought, wrong feeling, or wrong practice of a patient, and then help them think the opposite, feel the opposite, or practice the opposite, with the help of the Lord.
Forgiveness of sins requires awareness, repentance, Holy Baptism, Holy Confession, and firm resolution to practice the opposite. These elements are necessary for true forgiveness of sins.
Because of the uniqueness of the individual we must always consider individuals as independent and self-responsible. (See Ezek. 18:20).
If we are not willing to practice the opposite virtue to our vices we will never change. Hell is full of those who were not willing to change and practice the opposite. Now, the three inner vices are: greed, vanity, and pleasure. The three inner virtues opposite to these inner vices are: charity, humility, and continence.
You must practice the opposite: Faith instead of unbelief, fasting instead of overeating, charity instead of greed, humility instead of vanity, truth-speaking instead of lying, obedience instead of disobedience, chastity instead of unchastity.
Get to work! Practice the opposite to your vices! As the ancients taught: “All things are obtained by labors.” Labor to obtain!
Saint Barsanouphios: “Do not think that you can be saved without labors.”
Do your spiritual work unceasingly. Think of your salvation and practice gospel virtue unceasingly.
Every single person is unique and special. Every single creation is unique and special and holy.
The first warfare is unbelief. The second warfare is pleasure. The third warfare is greed. The fourth warfare is vanity.
Never accept the idea that your virtue is yours. Never accept the idea that your knowledge is yours. Never accept the idea that your spiritual gifts are yours. All these belong to the Lord. You are just an economist of the gifts of the Lord. (See Gal. 6:3).
The Pentecost of the mind and the Pentecost of the heart occurs when we are free of greed, vanity, and pleasure, and seek charity, humility, and continence. The opposite to what the passions seek is what brings the Pentecost of the mind and the Pentecost of the heart.
If you only love yourself you will be useless to God and neighbor. You must deny yourself and seek to help your neighbor in need. You will then be useful to God and neighbor.
To love others is to serve their needs with honesty, patience, justice, and humility.
Remember a householder needs wealth and a good name. A renunciant does not need wealth or a good name. Householders are justified in seeking wealth and a good name. Renunciants are not justified in seeking wealth and a good name.
Do not become angry over food, possessions, glory, or romance. If you practice continence, any dispute over food, possessions, glory, or romance, will be quickly resolved.
The path of salvation is unique for each individual. The gifts, talents, and skills of each person are unique to them. We must respect the uniqueness of the individual person and pray and hope for them to have faith, zeal, and spiritual progress.
A regular Christian has wealth, a good name, and comforts. A monastic has no wealth, no good name, and no comforts.
The chief requirements of union and marriage to Lord Jesus are faith and obedience. These two make the marriage to Lord Jesus possible.
When someone comes to you with an ethical problem, tell them that with the help of the Lord they must work at practicing the opposite. Faith instead of unbelief, fasting instead of overeating, charity instead of greed, prayer instead of non-prayer, humility instead of vanity, obedience instead of disobedience, truth-speaking instead of lying, chastity instead of unchastity, love instead of enmity, joy instead of sorrow, work instead of idleness.
Worldly people fight for food, possessions, and glory. Spiritual people fight for virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts.
Be neutral to yourself and you will overcome over-self-love. Always seek to be last, and in humility rank yourself lowest. All persons will then become dear to you, and you will want to help and love all.
Force yourself to practice the opposite: Fasting instead of overeating, charity instead of greed, humility instead of vanity, continence instead of incontinence.
The enemy wants to keep us in unbelief, overeating, greed, vanity, and incontinence. We must use force, and with the help of the Lord we will break free from these. With determined practice and the help of the Lord our practice of virtue becomes habitual.
The enemy seeks to make us think that our good thoughts, good ideas, good words, and good practices, are ours and not the Lord’s. The enemy hopes to make us accept pride and vanity, and to ascribe these to ourselves. We must remember that we are only stewards of the Lord’s ideas, and should ascribe nothing to ourselves. (See Gal. 6:3).
Consider the economy of your good thoughts and the economy of your wrong thoughts. Your good thoughts come from the Lord. Your wrong thoughts come from the enemy and from your memory of wrong. Always test your good thoughts by your discernment and by your advisors. Reject wrong thoughts, and confess and do penance if you accept them.
It is justified for a worldly Christian to have wealth, a good name, and comforts. For a monastic though, it is not justified to have wealth, a good name, and comforts. A monastic must have poverty, obscurity, and hardship.
Whether a person is a saint or a sinner it is our work to love and help them. Nobility brethren! Embrace all with spiritual nobility!
Obedience to Lord Jesus is how we progress in love, humility, and every virtue. Keeping precepts is obedience. Love of God and neighbor is obedience. Mysticism is obedience. Wisdom is obedience. Spiritual gifts come from obedience.
Force yourself to practice the positive: Greeting, giving, serving, loving.
Recall the three degrees of knowledge: scientific knowledge, philosophical knowledge, and theological knowledge.
All our works should be offerings to the Lord. At first they are offerings of atonement. Later they are offerings of thanksgiving.
Let the Law of the Lord be your constant study. Let the Law of the Lord be always before you.
Conform your life to the Law of the Lord, and you will always have a clear conscience.
