Written by Greg Pantelidis BSc(Hons)
gregpantelidis@gmail.com
1. Put a question mark on your thoughts. Always view things with good thoughts and a broad spectrum.
2. Do you owe food, possessions, glory, or romance to someone? Then resolve your debt. Enmity and hatred will be eliminated if you restore the food, possessions, glory, or romance, you owe.
3. Enmity arises when someone wrongs another in opinion, will, food, possessions, glory, or romance.
4. Have you wronged someone in opinion, will, food, possessions, glory, or romance? Then repent and restore what you owe.
5. The suffering we endure has a reason. It is either the due of our debt or a test to increase our spiritual wealth.
6. The canonical teaching on sexual relations is the following: sexual relations are only permitted within marriage. All forms of sexual relation outside marriage are forbidden and constitute adultery and fornication.
7. Be just, and always say sorry and restore any injustice you practice.
8. Be just in opinion, will, food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance.
9. Do no injustice to the opinion, will, food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, or romance of your neighbor.
10. Do no injustice in thought, feeling, word, or work.
11. Reject unjust thoughts. Reject unjust feelings. Reject unjust words. Reject unjust works.
12. Remember natural justice: good for good, evil for evil, neutrality for neutrality. Remember spiritual justice: good for good, good for evil, good for neutrality.
13. Know the psychological forces of pride of opinion, pride of will, food addiction, possession (including knowledge) addiction, glory addiction, and romance addiction.
14. Seek only a little food, few possessions, non-glory, and canonical romance.
15. Consider the six conflicts: conflict of opinion, conflict of will, conflict over food, conflict over possessions, conflict over glory, conflict over romance.
16. Do not judge you neighbor. Instead help him as much as you can.
17. Can you stop the sun from shining? So also you cannot stop a Christian heart from loving.
18. Be a selfless person. Then both you and your neighbor will always be happy.
19. Be just and always think good. Never think evil. Evil thinking is an abomination to the Lord. ( Prov. 15:26).
20. Pray to Lord Jesus always. It is only by His grace that we can be freed from vice and practice every virtue. (See St Symeon the New Theologian, Discourse 18).
21. Let every person be dear to you. Love every person. Respect every person. Hope for the salvation of every person.
22. Be humble, simple, and obedient.
23. Do all things with humility, simplicity, and obedience.
24. Do not sadden your Creator. Do not sadden your father and mother. Do not sadden your brethren. Do not sadden your neighbor.
25. The Holy Spirit makes us holy, pure, and good.
26. The faults of our neighbor cause us suffering. If these faults are causing faults in us, we must distance ourselves from the influence of these persons.
27. Why do you seek to be pleasing to the world and not to God your Creator?
28. The secular church is in constant competition. It can never know stillness, humility, peace, and love. These attributes belong to the Orthodox Christian Church.
29. We have lost our self-determination (autexousio), that is, our power to raise our nous to God. What remains of our self-determination is our free-will to seek our Deliverer, Lord Jesus.
30. Lord Jesus delivers us from all our faults.
31. The Orthodox Christian must have perfect faith in Lord Jesus, perfect self-denial, perfect obedience, perfect humility, and perfect spiritual love.
32. We keep spiritual law by the grace of Lord Jesus.
33. A virtuous life is achieved by the power of God. ( See St Symeon the New Theologian, Discourse 30).
34. Love every person, both good and bad. This way you will be a complete person, free of the suffering caused by hate and enmity.
35. Follow the royal road of Orthodox Christianity.
36. Abandon the illogical life and live the Orthodox logical life.
37. Consider the two sacrifices. The sacrifice of the Cross, and the sacrifice of a contrite and humble heart of every Orthodox Christian believer. (See St Symeon the New Theologian, Discourse 31).
38. Our great enemies are unbelief, self-love, pride, disobedience, and tyranny.
39. Be crucified to the world, and resurrected to the keeping of spiritual law.
40. Do and it will be done to you. Do good and good will be done to you. Show mercy and mercy will be shown to you. Show love and love will be shown to you. Do evil and evil will be done to you. Show no mercy and no mercy will be shown to you. Show no love and no love will be shown to you.
41. Lord Jesus delivers us from the passions. He is our Deliverer. (See Rom. 11:26).
42. The person we marry cannot be just anyone. The person we marry is a special person, they are our soul mate.
43. Cover the faults of you neighbor. Never reveal the faults of your neighbor without good reason. Be logical and always see the good in your neighbor.
44. Practice faith, self-denial, and obedience to the Lord.
45. Never seek the praise of men for any of your works. Ascribe your achievements to God and let Him be praised.
46. Carnal law is overeating, overpossessing, vanity, and unchastity. Psychical law is overeating and vanity. Natural law is good for good, bad for bad, neutrality for neutrality. Spiritual law is good for good, good for bad, good for neutrality.
47. God wishes all to be saved. God calls all to salvation in Christ. But not all heed the call. “For many are called, but few chosen” (Matt. 20:16).
48. Heed the call of your Creator. Repent and keep spiritual law. Become a member of Lord Jesus, become a member of His Orthodox Christian Church.
49. We must love all, saints and sinners. Saints choose to keep spiritual law. Sinners choose to not keep natural and spiritual law.
50. On Judgment day we must give account for every lawless thought, every lawless feeling, every lawless word, and every lawless work we have accepted.
51. Study and practice spiritual law and natural law and repent for every transgression of it.
52. God calls us to separate from the life of lawlessness and to embrace the life of lawfulness.
53. God calls us to return to the life of grace, humility, lawfulness and perpetual joy.
54. Do not dispute over food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, or romance.
55. A person who is not willing cannot change. Only those who are willing and turn to God, may be changed by His Grace.
56. What will you choose? Marriage, worldly non-marriage, or monastic non-marriage?
57. The majority of people on earth are married. The majority of people on earth are non-Jews. Therefore they must be given the appropriate ethical precepts.
58. Do not think of food, possessions, glory, or romance. Think of God and His justice.
59. Pride wrath and tyranny cause a psychological disturbance between persons. The persons then become distant from each other, separated by rancor, enmity and hatred.
60. Evil causes a psychological disturbance that must be cured by repentance. Repent for every evil thought, evil feeling, evil word, and evil work.
61. Do not be negligent about your spiritual work, nor be influenced by the negligent. Practice your fastings, charities, prayers, Confessions and Communions.
62. Wear the garment of humility, virtue, and holiness.
63. A life of faith and virtue leads to eternal life. A life of wealth, glory, and pleasure leads to eternal death if these are used illogically.
64. Study the systems of the body and the powers of the soul. Consider how these function canonically, and how they are restored when they are not functioning canonically.
65. The world views success as the abundance of food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. The Orthodox Christian views success as the abundance of virtue, spiritual knowledge, spiritual gifts, and kinship with Lord Jesus.
66. Practice humility, meekness, mercy, and love. If all practiced these, we would have paradise on earth.
67. Practice the three humilities: rank yourself below every person, ascribe your knowledge to God, ascribe your achievements to God.
68. If you practice humility, meekness, mercy, and love, you will never cause a psychological disturbance in the community of fellow persons.
69. Our true kin are those who practice humility, meekness, mercy, and love.
70. Do your spiritual work unceasingly and before God, not before men.
71. The message of Orthodox Christianity is that we must love all, both good and bad and neutral. The secular church does not accept this message. The secular church loves the good, hates the bad, and is neutral to the neutral.
72. The main work of the monk is prayer and the guarding of the mind and heart.
73. Every blessing comes to us when we practice obedience to our father and mother, and obedience to our spiritual father.
74. Practice discerning self-denial. Practice discerning obedience to your father and mother. Practice prudence-inducing obedience to your spiritual father.
75. Practice fasting, prayer, charity, study, Holy Confession, and Holy Communion.
76. A married person must practice non-monastic chastity. An unmarried person must practice monastic chastity until they marry, and non-monastic chastity thereafter. A person who does not marry must keep all their life monastic chastity.
77. We must consider the vessels willing to practice spiritual law and direct our efforts towards them. The vessels unwilling to practice spiritual law we must leave alone to practice natural law, psychical law, or carnal law, according to their choice.
78. If the elder envies the younger how can there be canonical obedience shown to the elder?
79. Be independent of the narrow opinion of worldly persons. Have a broad spectrum and be free to always see good.
80. Be independent of the likes, dislikes and neutralities of other persons.
81. Be free of food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. Live the freedom of the Holy Spirit. Live the freedom of independence from the world, and the cleaving to the Holy Spirit.
82. We cannot force a torah community. We cannot force a gospel community. No person can be forced to practice torah or gospel.
83. Be detached from the likes, dislikes, and neutralities of other persons. Be still and free, and rejoice in the comfort of the Holy Spirit.
84. Be free from wealth, glory and pleasure. Rejoice in the freedom of the Holy Spirit.
85. Freedom is keeping the law of God. Slavery is transgressing the law of God.
86. The Lord allows us to be crucified by poverty, disease, and oppression, in order for us to enter the tomb of humility and repentance, and be resurrected to the life of grace and the keeping of spiritual law.
87. We cannot force the practice of virtue. The practice of virtue requires a free and self-determined will. Vainly therefore do people hope to force a gospel community.
88. Be independent and free of the negligence and evil thinking of others persons. You look to practice virtue diligently, and keep your mind free of evil thoughts.
89. Be free of the vices of other persons. Do not be swayed by the evil thoughts, evil words, and evil works of other persons.
90. Be free of wrong thoughts.
91. A young person must be celibate from puberty till they marry. After marriage they must keep marriage chastity.
92. Let go of food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. Be still, free, simple, humble, obedient, and you will be comforted by the Holy Spirit.
93. Train your mind to be free, simple, good, humble, and watchful.
94. Consider secular culture and Orthodox Christian culture. Be detached and free from secular culture.
95. Down with the kingdom of unbelief, pride, lawlessness, and despair!
96. We cannot force a virtue community. The practice of virtue requires free-choice.
97. A practitioner of virtue must retire from the four pursuits: food, possessions (including knowledge), glory, and romance. A practitioner of virtue must be free of the four pursuits and obedient to his religious rule.
98. Obey your religious rule diligently.
99. A gospel community consists of persons who have retired from worldly pursuits and who are devoted to gospel virtue.
100. A gospel community is the only true community.
