Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
We must go to the high priest Lord Jesus in order for Him to slay our passions.
Consider your mental prompts. You must test your mental prompts (See 1 Thess. 5:21), and then may you speak of them or practice them.
You must be reborn from a life of unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience, to a life of chastity, charity, and obedience. (See John 3:3).
Be a New Testament Person, born of the Spirit, and living a life of chastity, charity, and obedience.
The light of chastity, charity, and obedience has come into the world, but men and women have loved the darkness of unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience. (See John 3:19).
Let your daily spiritual practice contain chastity, charity, and obedience. If you practice these three death will find you prepared.
True gain does not come from unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience. True gain comes from chastity, charity, and obedience.
Seek to practice and the Lord will co-practice with you.
If you have an analytical mind you must practice guarding of the mind to a higher degree. The economy of your thoughts is greater than simple-minded people, and you require greater guarding of the mind.
Let us mourn for all those persons who have died unbaptized and unconfessed. (See John 3:5 and Luke 13:3).
He who is born of water and the Spirit (See John 3:5), must practice henceforth 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.
Unbelief leads to pride, pride leads to lawlessness, and lawlessness leads to despair. This is the sequence of perdition.
Let your discussions be confidential. Do not reveal your acts of charity, your private conversations, your personal goals, your purchases, or your visits. In all these confidentiality is needed.
Legal systems must be based on the Ten Commandments. Economic systems must be based on justice and philanthropy.
Living in community allows us to practice gospel virtue more easily. Living as a solitary is for the mystic, and has the danger of delusion as a constant threat.
In the Old Testament you could hate your enemies. In the New Testament you must love your enemies, bless your enemies, do good to your enemies, and pray for your enemies. (See Matt. 5:44).
Do you practice spiritual law? Are you a spiritual law seeker? Does spiritual law characterize your life? Practice therefore and teach spiritual law for your salvation.
Prepare for death by practicing chastity, charity, and obedience.
In the Old Testament you could hate your enemies, curse your enemies, do bad to your enemies, and pray for the destruction of your enemies. In the New Testament all these are forbidden.
Do not seek first-place. Seek last-place. When you seek last-place you will avoid disputes and will have peace and joy.
We have no right to judge, slander, or benought our neighbor. We should rather help our neighbor, speak of his virtue, and humble ourselves before him.
Be confidential with the things you discuss privately with others. Never reveal the secrets of others.
Seek last-place, both on earth and in heaven.
Social security and social protection are essential functions of government.
Recall the four basic addictions: Food addiction, Possessions (including Knowledge) addiction, Glory addiction, and Romance addiction. When considering the psychology of a person enquire and identify the basic addiction of the person. Food addicts are usually overweight. Possessions addicts are usually wrathful, greedy, and anxious. Glory addicts are usually sorrowful and fearful. Romance addicts have guilt and obsession.
The weeds are characterized by unbelief, pride, lawlessness, and despair. The wheat are characterized by faith, humility, lawfulness, and hope. (See Matt. 13:30).
Personality theory in psychiatry and psychology must be viewed from the theological point of view. A personality with theological well-being is a personality which has faith, humility, lawfulness, and hope in the Lord. A dysfunctional personality has unbelief, pride, lawlessness, and despair. A theological practitioner seeks to build faith, humility, lawfulness, and hope in the Lord in troubled persons.
Beware of the warfare of greed, vanity, and pleasure. The enemy wages war with these three.
A person with good Orthodox Christian psychology is he who practices chastity, charity, and obedience. Dysfunctional psychology occurs from unchastity, non-charity, and disobedience.
Each person is unique and therefore has their own views of life, religion, thoughts, and psychology. This relativity of psychology must be respected by therapists, and a patient must be helped to return to logic, chastity, charity, and obedience.
Remember the four stages of perdition: Unbelief first, Pride second, Lawlessness third, and Despair fourth. Remember the four stages of salvation: Faith first, Humility second, Lawfulness third, and Hope in Lord Jesus fourth.
The enemy pushes the psychology of a person up or down according to their state. The happy he pushes up to pride, vanity, and self-praise. The unhappy he pushes down to sorrow, lethargy, hopelessness, despair, unbelief, and suicide. A therapist must identify the weeds of the enemy and advise patients accordingly.
Respect the opinion and will of all persons. Never impose your opinion and will on the unwilling. Individualism and democracy mean that all persons have the right to freedom of opinion and freedom of will.
Be just in food, possessions, and glory. Never deprive others of their rights in food, possessions, and glory.
Eternal life is about going from separation from Lord Jesus, to engagement to Lord Jesus, to marriage to Lord Jesus. (See Rev. 19:7).
Against the three vices of greed, vanity, and pleasure, we must place charity, humility, and continence. The Orthodox Christian life is practiced by opposing first, pleasure by continence, second, greed by charity, and third, vanity by humility.
The foundation of all legal systems is the Ten Commandments. The foundation of all economic systems is justice and philanthropy.
We should seek change from unbelief, greed, vanity, and pleasure. Those who turn to the Lord change to a life of faith, charity, humility, and continence.
Avoid every vulgar thing. A vulgar word, a vulgar sight, a vulgar hearing, a vulgar practice.
An Orthodox Christian must keep spiritual law, loving friends, enemies, and neutrals, keeping the sacraments, and being guided in the spiritual life by his spiritual father.
Natural evil comes upon the just and the unjust. Moral evil is something that torments the unjust, for they practice mortal sins. The just are free of mortal sin but not of venial sin, for all are sinners.
We have no right to judge our neighbor. We only have the right to rebuke our neighbor. (See Lev. 19:17).
The Lord sends us the cross of tyranny, poverty, physical illness, and psychological illness, to crucify our inner passions of unbelief, greed, vanity, and pleasure. We should thank the Lord for the cross we have, knowing that it is given for our salvation.
Always beware of these four: Unbelief, greed, vanity, and pleasure. Always keep the four opposite to these four: Faith, charity, humility, and continence.
Guard your mind and bear your cross of physical illness or psychological illness.
Let your whole day be filled with your rule. Take pauses when you require, and prepare for death by practicing your rule diligently.
Allow the flow of ideas, virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts by your faith, obedience, humility, and devotion.
Perfect spiritual love is to love all equally, friends, enemies, or neutrals.
Only seek what you need. Reject excess. Keep your needs continent. Avoid all incontinence and all vulgarity.
The humility of a person appears when they are tempted. If they seek last-place, justify their tempter, have gratitude, reject rancor, and reproach themselves, they indicate that they seek humility.
Be alien to unbelief, greed, vanity, and pleasure. Be kin to faith, charity, humility, and continence.
We cannot relate to those who have not committed to Lord Jesus. We must have relations with our brethren in Lord Jesus, those who have committed to a life of faith, charity, humility, and continence.
In the study and practical treatment of psychological illnesses, a therapist must use both the scientific method and the religious method. Psychological illnesses require both methods for their cure.
You can think of and plan for the future, and you can recall the past, but you can only live in the now, in the present day. Only today is alive. Yesterday is gone. Tomorrow hasn’t yet come.
Renounce pride and live a life of faith, charity, humility, and continence.
Will you commit to Lord Jesus?
Be aware of the cross of suffering. This cross can be tyranny, poverty, physical illness, or psychological illness. Bear this cross with faith, self-responsibility, patience, gratitude, and understanding of cause and effect, knowing that it is required for your salvation.
Will you commit to Lord Jesus, and live a life of faith, charity, humility, and continence?
Think of death and forgive your debtors, and repent, confess, and correct your own debts.
Secular culture is the culture of love of wealth, love of glory, and love of pleasure. Orthodox Christian culture is the renunciant culture of charity, humility, obedience, and continence.
Secular culture is principally self-obedience. Orthodox Christian culture is principally obedience to Lord Jesus.
Give love and you will receive love. The more love you give the more love you will receive.
Perfection in virtue and talent does not come from being idle and just wishing. Perfection requires continuous and systematic practice. Perfection requires determination and diligent labor. Perfection requires a strong will.
Observe the evolution of secular culture. Observe the evolution of the arts, the trades, and the sciences. Observe how vulgarity has evolved in these disciplines. Observe also the evolution of Orthodox Christian culture. Observe the evolution of Orthodox Christian ethics, dogma, and traditions. Observe the reinstallation of Patrological culture.
Secular culture is to increase in wealth, glory, and comforts. Orthodox Christian culture is to increase in virtue, wisdom, and spiritual gifts.
Do not spread lawlessness by talking about the faults of others. Rather speak about spiritual law, virtue, and talents. You must keep away from alien things, that is, vices.
We have need of wealth and a good name but we should not make these our treasure. We should seek first of all the Lord and His kingdom. (See Matt. 6:33).
Virtue is to follow the middle way. Virtue is to be obedient to Lord Jesus. Virtue is to be guided by your spiritual father.
Economic pursuits distract us from remembrance of death and remembrance of eternal life.
Do nothing for personal glory. Do everything that needs to be done without any personal glory, but seeking only to glorify the Lord. (See 1 Cor. 10:31).
Beware of the flow of your thoughts. Reject all thoughts of unbelief, greed, vanity, and pleasure. Think only of faith, charity, humility, and continence.
The only way to erase our transgressions is to repent of them, confess them, do penance, and henceforth practice their opposite. The guilt of transgression cannot be erased any other way.
Spiritual physicians receive reviling from patients just like body physicians. In both cases after the cure the patient is grateful.
In the Orthodox Christian life practice requires logic, zeal, obedience, and labors. Contemplation requires faith, prayer, guidance by a spiritual mentor, and guarding of the mind. In both practice and contemplation we must implement the appropriate methods.
We should face our problems with logic and faith in the Lord. To solve our problems we require both the scientific method and the religious method.
Prepare for your marriage to Lord Jesus. Have this marriage as the goal of your life. Do not be deceived by wealth, glory, or comforts. Have marriage to the Lord always in mind.
A teacher of salvation seeks neither wealth, nor glory, nor comforts. A teacher of salvation seeks only to call to salvation, and to deliver from perdition.
The life of virtue requires a mentor. The life of wealth, glory, and comforts only requires advisors. The mentor is essential in the life of virtue. Without a mentor you cannot succeed in the life of virtue.
Orthodox Christians can perform all miracles. (See John 14:12). The greatest miracle though is to change from a life of lawlessness to a life of spiritual law. This conversion is the greatest miracle.
Study and practice the science of mind, the philosophy of mind, and the theology of mind.
Consider the economy of your thoughts and ideas. You must test these thoughts and ideas, consult your spiritual mentor, and guard your mind from wrong thoughts and wrong ideas. Our whole life depends on the economy of our thoughts and ideas.
The evolution of technology is a secondary evolution. The primary evolution is the evolution of virtue. When a society progresses in virtue every other progress will also be granted to it.
Never practice non-charity, disrespect, or incontinence. Always practice charity, respect, and continence.
Why so many disputes? Why can’t we practice charity, respect, and continence?
The sign of the true Orthodox Christian is charity, respect, and continence.
True repentance from non-charity, disrespect, and incontinence, is to henceforth practice the opposite: charity, respect, and continence.
All that matters in this life is repentance and doing penance. Without repentance and penance we cannot enter eternal life.
We must practice both corporate prayer and private prayer. Both types of prayer are in the rule of the Orthodox Christian life.
We must diagnose our vices and seek to practice their opposite. By practicing the opposite we will, with time, adopt the opposite to our vices.
Associate with penitents and confessants. The life of penance requires you to avoid the impenitent and to seek friendship with the penitents and the renunciants, that is, the monastics.
Always abide in chastity, charity, and obedience. These three are the three vows of the penitent.
Diagnose your addiction and then seek its therapy. Is your addiction food addiction, possessions (including knowledge) addiction, glory addiction, or romance addiction? You must practice the therapy of these four addictions. The therapy is: for food addiction fasting, for possessions (including knowledge) addiction charity, for glory addiction humility, for romance addiction continence.
Are you guilty of overeating, overpossessing, vanity, disobedience, lying, or unchastity? You must repent, confess, and correct yourself by practicing fasting, charity, humility, obedience, truth-speaking, and chastity.
Live a moral life. A moral life makes us happy and free.
The moral life has two modes of psychology: solitary psychology and social psychology. We must diagnose the illnesses of solitary psychology and the illnesses of social psychology. Guarding of the mind is required in both solitary psychology and social psychology.
Get to work! Practice the precepts with zeal! Concentrate on the virtues and on positive psychology, and you will weaken the vices and negative psychology.
If your conscience is clear every transgression of gospel law will bring you guilt. Do not let hardness of heart and habitual transgression make you neglect your guilt. Repent and confess whenever you feel guilt.
Activate the Shekinah, the Holy Spirit, by your faith and practice.
Our work is to build up the Orthodox Christian Church. Our work is to strengthen the faith of the brethren.
Seek the last-place on earth and in heaven, and you will be a true son or daughter of humility.
