What does it mean to grumble from the point of view of Orthodoxy? Murmuring against God and disagreement with his will regarding the death of one’s neighbor
You all know Moses and this wonderful story, when the Lord through him led the people out of Egypt, so this chapter is just an episode from this wandering of the people in search of the Promised Land.
There is such an expression about the people of God at that time. Israel left Egypt, but Egypt did not leave Israel.
Numbers 16:1-35
This chapter of numbers begins with a very negative moment of the stay of God's people, when Moses led them to the promised land, the chapter is filled with very vivid examples and images that I think take place in our time.
Now I will tell you one story that will be at the center of the sermon today.
1) Disobedience and disobedience are the causes of grumbling
Verse 3 And they gathered together against Moses and Aaron, and said unto them, It is enough for you; the whole community, all are holy, and the Lord is among them! why do you put yourselves above the people of the Lord?
The people who rebelled against Moses and Aaron, forgetting that their Lord had placed them over them, and not themselves. Korah and his accomplices showed rebellion towards Moses (disobedience and disobedience), forgetting that they promised to follow him and obey him.
This verse shows us that Korah and his companions distrusted, disobeyed, and disrespected Moses, whom the Lord had appointed over them!
Their hearts became so hardened that they did not even want to listen to Moses, through whom God worked miracles in the wilderness, and they saw all this with their own eyes.
And we can see in their eyes self-interest, hypocrisy, envy, thirst for more - everything that brings grumbling into a person’s life.
2) Murmur blinds our eyes
8-10 verse 8 And Moses said to Korah: Listen, you sons of Levi! 9 Is it not enough for you that the God of Israel separated you from the congregation of Israel and brought you near to Himself, so that you performed the services of the tabernacle of the Lord and stood before the congregation, serving for them? 10 He has brought you near and with you all your brothers the sons of Levi, and you are also seeking the priesthood.
Moses is trying to reason, to stop the people from coming to their senses, giving them as an example that the Lord separated them and gave them ministry, but their eyes were blinded (murmur blinds our sight). They continued to rebuke Moses and refused to come out to him. They had a chance but didn't take advantage of it!! Their gaze was fixed only on visible things (vineyards, honey, milk)
The people were looking for blessings, not for the one who gives those blessings.
13-14 verse 13 Is it not enough that you brought us out of a land flowing with milk and honey to destroy us in the wilderness? and you still want to rule over us! 14 Have you brought us to a land flowing with milk and honey, and given us fields and vineyards to possess? Do you want to blind the eyes of these people? will not go!
Murmuring blinds, hardens the heart, causes rebellion, as a result of which we become disobedient, resist God and do not want to do his will. We forget what the Lord has done!
3. Conclusion from Numbers 16:3-14 regarding Murmuring:
Dissatisfaction with one's position (work, marriage) Numbers 16:3 (example of Jesus who came into this world and took on the form of a servant, not caring at all about his position)
Dissatisfaction with circumstances in life (difficulties, problems, ministry, car broke down, health problems) - vineyards, milk, honey - numbers 16:14
Rebellion against people (envy, gossip, quarrels, conflicts) (the people rebelled against Moses, we rebel against the authorities, worse when against people in the church, relatives or friends)
Rebellion against God and his leading (disobedience to what God wants you to do; calling)
Numbers 16:22 22 And they fell on their faces and said, God, God of the spirits of all flesh! one person has sinned and You are angry with the whole community?
4. What is Moses' response to the murmuring?
- I prayed for them and asked the Lord not to destroy the whole people.
Until the last moment, Moses asked the Lord to spare the people, but the people were adamant and disobedient to God. And death befell them. Moses is an amazing man who was faithful to God and loved his people.
5. God's attitude towards murmuring:
God does not tolerate any sin or uncleanness because He is holy and perfect.
God did not want sin to be among the people, God destroyed the people because it was a negative example for the entire people (especially the Levites, who were supposed to teach the people the Torah and perform sacred rites at the Tabernacle).
He did this so that sin would not spread throughout society. God saw their hearts. They had a chance to repent, but they did not take it.
When a person sins, it affects the entire church (community), so the grumbling could spread to more people. If we look at the entire book of Numbers we will see that the people repeatedly murmured against Moses.
This was retribution not for a fleeting murmur, but for dissatisfaction and disobedience to God that had been going on for a long time.
6. How can we overcome grumbling?
Prayer (communication with God is the best cure for grumbling, God knows us and our infirmities, so he has compassion for us and comes when we call on him and open our hearts)
The smoking or burning incense that we read about in this chapter symbolizes worship and thanksgiving (prayer) to God when Aaron ran and stood between the people and the defeat stopped. Aaron brought his worship to God instead of the grumbling, discontent and disobedience that abided among the people.
And Moses said to Aaron: Take the censer and put in it fire from the altar and some incense, and bring it quickly to the congregation and intercede for them, for wrath has gone out from the Lord, [and] the defeat has begun. 47 And Aaron took, as Moses had said, and fled into the midst of the congregation, and behold, the defeat of the people had already begun. And he put down the incense and stood up for the people; 48 he stood between the dead and the living, and the defeat ceased.
Be faithful to God (obedience) like Moses. No temptation has befallen you other than that of man; and God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." (1 Corinthians 10:13)
Contentment with what you have (Your name is written in the book of life!)
“I know how to live in poverty, and I know how to live in abundance; I have learned everything and in everything, to be filled and to suffer hunger, to be both in abundance and in lack; I can do all things through Christ (Jesus) who strengthens me” Phil. 4:12-13
1 Timothy 6:6 It is great gain to be godly and contented.(learn to be content because the Lord makes you that way and wants to see you content and godly)
Trust in the Word of God (God has promised not to leave you or forsake you!)
A “All things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”(Rom 8:28.)
Results:
1 Thessalonians 5:18. In everything give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.
The will of God Himself is that we thank Him for everything, whether we like or dislike what happens in our lives, and this is largely a matter of our faith. If we trust God, then we have no problem thanking God.
This is the calling of each of us in Christ Jesus, so the Word of God tells us. Murmuring often comes when we forget to thank God or our eyes are directed somewhere else. When we thank God, there is no discontent and disobedience in our lives.
In the end, I want to say: God has prepared a “promised land” for us, and He wants to bless us, but our part is to take care of our hearts, keeping them from discontent and murmuring.
If there has been or is grumbling in your heart now, let us repent of it and pray that the Lord will come into our hearts and change our attitude.
Questions for the sermon:
How can grumbling manifest itself in the life of a Christian?
How can we overcome murmuring?
Share an anecdote about how you overcame grumbling.
Is there any grumbling in your life right now?
What was the last time you thanked God for?
We sometimes grumble about illnesses, while we should be grateful for them, because, not to mention the future reward for suffering, they are beneficial for us in that they tame our passions, which otherwise could intensify in us and God knows what to bring. And therefore, if illnesses visit you, try to endure them with patience and do not be tempted by the thought that they interfere with your spiritual exploits...
It is a great feat to patiently endure illnesses and, among them, to sing songs of gratitude to God. Have we lost our eyes? Let us not be sad: with our inner eyes we can contemplate the glory of God. Lost your hearing? Let us give thanks for the fact that we will not listen to empty speeches at all. Hands not working? But we have inner hands, ready to fight our enemies. Is your whole body suffering from illness? But through this the health of the inner man increases.
What can I, who am so weak, tell you as a consolation? better than that how he consoled himself in his infirmities supreme apostle Christ's Paul: “When I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Cop. 12. 10). The Lord Himself told him when he complained about his weaknesses: “My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Cor. 12:9). That’s why he boasted about his weaknesses and only about his weaknesses: “I will not boast about myself, he says, except in my weaknesses” (2 Cor. 12:5). Look at the example of the great apostle, and the Lord will strengthen you with His omnipotent grace!
Physical illness means nothing; We must be careful that mental illnesses do not remain unhealed...
The soul is greater than the body: the body will hurt, and that’s the end of it, but mental illness extends into eternity; Deliver us, Lord, from this disease and grant us healing.
Believe that our Sweetest Lord Jesus Christ loves you, sending you illness of the body to purify the spirit. While our outer man decays, our inner man is renewed(2 Cor. 4:16). Do not spare the flesh, someday it will decay, but the soul is eternal!
If your heart grieves when you feel any pain or illness in your body, then this means that you have a strong attachment to life, not entirely pure, especially if you grieve when you experience pain or illness while doing the work of God. A Christian must have impartiality towards life itself.
It is difficult to believe from the heart that the will of God is our suffering, when the heart knows both by faith and experience that God is our bliss, and therefore it is difficult to say in misfortune: Thy will be done. We think, is this really the will of God? Why does God torment us? Why are others calm and happy? What have we done? Will there be an end to our torment? etc. But when it is difficult for our corrupted nature to recognize the will of God over itself, without which nothing happens, and to submit to it with humility, then let it submit to it, then let it offer its most precious sacrifice to the Lord - heartfelt devotion to Him not only in peace and happiness, but also in sorrow and misfortune; Let him subjugate his vain, erroneous wisdom to the perfect wisdom of God, for as heaven is separated from earth, so are our thoughts separated from the thought of God (Isa. 55:8-9). Let every man offer his Isaac, his only begotten, his beloved, his promised one (who is promised peace and bliss, and not sorrow), as a sacrifice to God and show Him his faith and his obedience...
Do not be discouraged by strong temptations, sorrows or illnesses or stumblings from the embarrassment of the enemy: all this is reproof and righteous punishment testing the heart and womb of the Lord, for the purification, awakening and correction of yours, for burning out the thorns of carnal passions, and therefore do not complain if sometimes it happens you're in a lot of pain. Look not at the pain, but at the good consequences of this punishment and the health of your soul. What are you not doing to keep your body healthy? Moreover, for the health and salvation of the soul, which has immortal life, one must endure everything.
Scripture says: I passed through fire and water, and brought you to rest (Ps. 65:12); and those who want to please God must go through minor tribulations. How can we please the holy martyrs for the suffering they endured for God’s sake, if we ourselves cannot bear fever? Tell your grieving soul: is not a fever better for you than hell?
Let us not weaken; we have a merciful God, who knows our weakness more than we do. If, as a test, He allows illness to come upon us, then we have healing from the Apostle, who says: God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but when you are tempted, He will also provide relief, so that you can endure it.(1 Cor. 10:13).
In your petitions you call yourself a sinner, and a sinner is an evil slave; You are now saying that illness has befallen you, but illness is a punishment. - So, punishment is sent to the evil slave. If it’s hard for you to bear punishment, then stop being evil; if you are angry, then accept punishment; when you rejoice while being punished, then you are not evil, and whoever is not evil is loved by God. For the Lord punishes whomever he loves (Heb. 12:6). Consider in truth who you are and choose one for yourself from what has been said.
Venerable Barsanuphius the Great (VI century).
What is the use of having a healthy body but a weak soul? It is better to rot in body and be healthy in soul, than to be healthy in body and weak in soul. Treat or not treat the body, however, it will rot, and if the soul is healthy, then the body, united with the soul in the common resurrection, will become healthy, and will be clothed with immortality, and will be clothed in a beautiful appearance.
For some, health really helps to serve the Lord and be filled with heavenly, sublime thoughts and feelings; for others, it can only serve as a brake on spiritual work; it excites the blood, attracts you to the earth, so that instead of having and developing a spiritual life, you begin to crawl on the earth like some kind of reptile... Therefore, believe that the Lord knows best what is more useful for you: health or a painful state body, and therefore calmly be content with the health that the Lord has given you.
If you endure your bodily illness without grumbling, but with gratitude to God, then you will show your faith, your repentance and humility and you will receive not only forgiveness of sins committed before, but also help in the future to combat evil desires, and after death ≈ eternal life in communion with all the saints, indescribable joy. Don’t be discouraged, dear, drive away despondency and unbelief, call on the name of God more often, and the Lord will comfort you, although He will allow you to suffer illness.
[About patience with sorrows
From the epistolary heritage
During their earthly life, people are given various positions by an incomprehensible fate: some enjoy wealth, fame, power, health; others are poor, so insignificant in human society that anyone can offend them; others spend their lives in sorrows, moving from one sorrow to another, languishing in illness, in exile, in humiliation. All these situations are not accidental: they are distributed as tasks to be solved, as lessons for work, by the Providence of God so that every person in the position in which he is placed, fulfilling the will of God, works out his salvation.
Those who bear the burden of sorrows must bear it with humility, with submission to God, knowing that it has been placed on them by God. If they are sinners, then sorrows serve as retribution in time for their sins. If they are innocent, then sent or allowed sorrow, as if it befell them at the behest of God, with an all-good Divine purpose, prepares for them special bliss and glory in eternity. Murmuring about the sent sorrow, murmuring about God, who sent the sorrow, destroys the Divine purpose of sorrow: it deprives you of salvation, subjects you to eternal torment. The Lord loves and accepts whomever he loves, beats and punishes, and then delivers from sorrow. Without temptation it is impossible to draw closer to God.
Unsophisticated virtue, the holy fathers said, is not virtue! If you see someone called virtuous by Orthodox people, but he lives without any temptations, succeeds in worldly affairs, know: his virtue, his Orthodoxy are not accepted by God. God sees in them the uncleanness that He hates! He looks condescendingly at human uncleanness and heals it with various means; in whomever he sees demonic uncleanness, he turns away from him. Loving you and your son, bringing you closer to Himself, He allowed you to grieve. You will be convinced of this from the fact that after the tribulation, both for him and for you, “the path of God became clearer and closer.” My state of health is similar to yours: I couldn’t even go to church on Easter.
We must thank God for the punishment sent during earthly life: it gives hope of deliverance from executions in eternity, which constitute a necessary consequence of sinfulness. I am convinced both from the word of God and from the experiences of life that God will certainly send sorrow to whomever he loves. Because without sorrows the heart cannot die for the earth and come to life for God and eternity.
Hearing about you that you were constantly sick, I understood from this that the Lord paid special attention to you and wants to give you a blissful eternity. Thanksgiving in sorrows brings comfort and strength to endure and endure long. One should not wish for death. God does not send it because we have not prepared for it as we should. As much as you endure here with thanksgiving, you will enjoy spiritual consolation in your future life. The earthly sorrows sent by the Lord are the guarantee of eternal salvation, which is why they must be endured with patience, and patience is then poured into a person’s soul when a person thanks and praises the Creator for his sorrows.
We are pilgrims here on earth: both the good and bad situations of a person pass by, like a dream. Our treasure is the Lord. One who is in a sick state is like one who is shackled in heavy fetters from the outside and inside. But it is sent or allowed by God, who punishes anyone who accepts it. For this reason, illness is included in the labors by which our salvation is achieved. Every feat requires that it be correct. Then a person strives correctly in the work of his illness, when he thanks God for it. The Holy Fathers classify illness, accompanied by thanksgiving to God and glorification of God for His fatherly punishment, leading to eternal bliss, as two of the greatest monastic feats: silence and obedience.
I am writing to you because you are in an ill state. I know from experience the difficulty of this situation. The body's strength and abilities are taken away; together the strength and abilities of the soul are taken away; disorder of the nerves is communicated to the spirit, because the soul is connected with the body by an incomprehensible and intimate union, due to which the soul and body cannot help but influence each other. I am sending you a spiritual recipe, which I advise you to use the proposed medicine several times a day, especially in moments of intense suffering, both mental and physical.
When used, there will be no delay in revealing the power and healing hidden in medicine, which in appearance is the most humble. When you are alone, say slowly, out loud to yourself, enclosing your mind in words (as Saint John of the Climacus advises), the following: “Glory to Thee, my God, for the sorrow sent; I accept what is worthy according to my deeds; remember me in Your Kingdom." Since the essence of this exercise lies in concentrated attention, the body must be given a calm position so that body movements and the resulting heating of the blood do not interfere with the mind’s concentration. Best position- lying on the bed. And the Gospel says that the sick man in this position was presented to the Lord and received mercy from the Lord. For the same purpose of convenient attention, it is commanded to enclose the mind in the words of prayer, and to pronounce the prayer extremely slowly. After saying the prayer once, rest for a while. Then say it again and rest again. Continue praying like this for five or ten minutes until you feel your soul calmed and comforted. You will see: after three prayers said in this way, you will begin to feel that peace is entering your soul and destroying the confusion and bewilderment that tormented it. The reason for this is clear: the grace and power of God lies in praising God, and not in eloquence and verbosity. Doxology and thanksgiving are acts taught to us by God Himself - they are by no means a human invention. The Apostle commands this work on behalf of God (1 Thess. 5:18). The person whom God chooses to serve Him is sent various sorrows.
During sorrows we must thank and glorify God, praying to Him to grant Him obedience and patience. Saint Isaac of Syria said very well, exhorting us to submit to God: “You are not smarter than God.” Simple and true. The life of a Christian on earth is a chain of suffering. You must fight with your body, with passions, with spirits of evil. In this fight is our hope. Our salvation is our God. Having placed one's trust in God, one must endure the time of struggle with patience. Temptations seem to trample a person, turning grain into flour. They are allowed to us according to the Providence of God, for our great spiritual benefit: from them we receive a contrite and humble heart, which God will not despise.
Mirrors.
Each newborn is a new image of God, slightly darkened by the sin of disobedience. This small shadow on the soul of a newborn is his various evil inclinations. For the sin of disobedience to God is expressed by other sins, bad ones...
Here is some advice from St. Nikolai Serbsky:
Mirrors.
Each newborn is a new image of God, slightly darkened by the sin of disobedience. This small shadow on the soul of a newborn is his various evil inclinations. For the sin of disobedience to God is expressed by other sins, bad habits, vices and passions. This small shadow on the soul of every newborn is a certain tendency towards evil. Since the number of these inclinations is large, the dramatic situations in a person’s life are also numerous.
But God is merciful to every person. Knowing the illness of each soul, He puts it in a position in which it could be healed more quickly, and the shadow covering it could be replaced by light.
If this shadow is pride, the Lord places the newborn soul in modest living conditions so that the soul learns humility and gets rid of the pride that threatens it.
If this shadow is selfishness, the Lord will put such a soul in a position in which it will be easier for her to sacrifice herself for the good of others, be it a large family, society or fatherland.
If the soul is prone to despair, the Lord will place it in the center of the most intense work, where it will not have time to indulge in its passion.
A soul sick with a tendency to carnal lust will find itself in a place where it cannot develop its vice.
That is why it often seems that everyone is out of place, that a merchant is more like a policeman, and a policeman is more like a merchant, that a monk is like an officer and an officer is like a monk, that a servant is like a king and vice versa.
But regardless of the situation in which God places souls, He vigilantly watches over each one, ready to come to the rescue with His grace-filled medicines. The more difficult a person’s situation is, the more abundant is God’s gracious help.
When people give vent to their dissatisfaction with the position that God has assigned to them, then they repeat the sin of Adam - the sin of disobedience. And then the passion, with the inclination towards which they are born, begins to rapidly develop and take possession of the person. To the extent that human passion grows, a person begins to become like the embodiment of this passion in nature - a cat, a dog, a wolf, a fox... If a passion completely captures a person, then he will surpass its image in nature. A cat man becomes more selfish than a cat, a dog man becomes more lustful than a dog, a wolf man becomes more ruthless than a wolf, a fox man becomes more cunning than a fox...
I’m telling you this not so that you just know, but so that you can test yourself and find in yourself the passion with which you were born, so that you understand how and to what extent, by your disobedience to God, you allowed it to take possession of you. For when the last hour strikes and the soul hidden by the mask of flesh is exposed, then it will be revealed in the guise of the beast that you raised in it.
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One of the main vices of our time is ingratitude to God. It stems from a lack of faith and love. And at the heart of it all is wavering faith. Even in the existence of God, some people have wavering faith. But hesitation in faith in God is already on the verge of madness, that is, if such thoughts come to mind and a person dwells on them, his mind is on the verge of madness, because that “the speech is unchangeable in one’s heart: there is no God”(Ps. 13:1; 52:1).
At one time, Metropolitan Platon (Levshin) said wonderfully - we had such a famous church figure, one might even say a saint. Then all sorts of so-called “enlighteners” were received at the royal court, or rather, “they were darkened,” and one of these French atheists, having arrived, it seems, under Empress Catherine, smugly declared: “But Diderot says that there is no God.” It was he who decided to show off his “progressive” knowledge. And Metropolitan Platon calmly answers: “Yes, he didn’t come up with anything new, because several thousand years ago it was said “Reche foolish in his heart: there is no God. David also said this. So they were predicted a long time ago.”
Why is there such a general confusion of mind now? Because they always forget O God. And all understanding comes only from God. The Lord is the Supreme Mind. Higher intelligence! Therefore, if a person is separated from the Higher Understanding, that is, from God, he loses his mind, he becomes insane and instantly falls into the power of the devil. Of course, the Lord tries to save a person, but if a person does not realize this danger, then he completely falls into the power of the devil, and what he does - for example, drunkenness, drug addiction, obsession with all passions - is evidence of the devil’s violence against a person.
A person thinks that he does it himself, but in fact he already lives like a puppet, a doll that is pulled by strings, and she does what she is ordered. Likewise, the tongue of a person who has left God utters all sorts of crazy phrases, as the Gospel says - other crazy verbs. Hence all kinds of curses, foul language - all this is the influence of the devil. A person who has lost faith, who has departed from faith, no longer knows what he is doing. Therefore, the goal of all the devil’s tricks is to shake faith, and it is for this purpose that they began to corrupt people, turn them away from the church, from faith in God.
Or as we once wrote, I remember, “I am an atheist.” But this is the same as saying: “I am blind” or: “I am deaf.” So what, poor thing, that you are blind and deaf? This means you don’t see or hear, that’s your problem. But why brag about it? One can only regret this.
There is a story on this topic: former classmates who became doctors meet, she is a simple doctor, treats people, and he is a professor, has written dissertations. And he suddenly sees a chain around her neck: “What is that cross you have? Are you a believer?!” She says: “Yes, Petya, a believer” (she calls him like a student). “But I,” he says, “can’t, I’m so learned that I can’t believe.” And she calmly answers him: “Well, what can I do if it’s given to me, but it’s not given to you.” That is, he thought that he couldn’t believe because he was so smart, but in fact it’s the other way around.
How many people deny God, deny the Providence of God. They’re like, “What a coincidence it was!” Someone wisely said a long time ago: “Chance is the god of the fool.” After all, we Orthodox say: “The Lord arranged it this way!” I met someone, someone said something to you, saw someone... There were so many such examples, people tell me: something delayed me, I was late, and at that time there was an explosion or some kind of accident. If I hadn't delayed, I would have gotten into trouble. “Wow, what a case it was! “It’s not a “case”, but the Lord took it away, but for them it’s all a “case”
That’s why these people live in hopeless darkness, that everything is “accidental” for them, and in this life they don’t know where they are going, and they don’t know what will happen next, when life begins to come to an end, all desires die away, nothing is left. necessary, and then what is a person left with? He does not understand that the essence of life is the future eternal life, that the soul is what it is. By the way, you most clearly begin to understand that there is a soul with age: you rush somewhere, but you no longer have the strength. Because the impulses are still spiritual, the soul does not age, the body ages, and the soul - as young as it was, remains so.
It is not common for a person to think about death, because his soul is immortal, because if you were born, that’s it: you exist and you won’t go anywhere. Another thing is that you will have to answer for everything - they don’t want to think about it. They want to live for the flesh, and it turns out that people sin so much that they have completely stopped distinguishing between where the soul is and where the body is.
Remember how in the Gospel the man who received a good harvest decided: “That’s it, I now have a supply for many years, the river of my soul: for my soul there is much good. rest, eat, drink, be merry"(Luke 12:19). And the Lord says to him: "Madman" - a madman, first of all, because the soul does not eat or drink, it does not need any of this, but he says: my soul, - that is, people put the body in the place of the soul, and, as the holy fathers say, the soul falls into slavery to the body and suffers from this. Why does the Prophet say bring my soul out of prison(Ps. 141:7). That is, the soul is tossing about, it’s hard for the soul. So, what is next? The person got what he wanted, enjoys it, enjoys it. Here's food - I ate it, I ate some more - that's it, there's nowhere else to go, the body doesn't allow more food into itself. That's all? What's next? Sweet sleep? When you get tired, it’s good, but then you get tired of it; a person also suffers from idleness. Sometimes a person doesn’t want to work, quits his job, and then suffers from idleness.
We sin, first of all, by ingratitude to God, and not only by ingratitude, but also by murmuring. We sin with pride - we have a little something, but we are already proud. We sin with conceit, pride, vanity. Forgive me, Lord! We sin by justifying ourselves and judging others.
We sin a lot with idle talk. How much empty talk, how much chatter! We sin by slander, all kinds of lies. Forgive me, Lord!
We sin through self-will, stubbornness, and unwillingness to give in to our neighbors. Now, since childhood - this is especially noticeable when there are several children in a family - everyone fights for their own. No one will give in! Everyone shouts: Give it to me, give it to me!” I myself, a sinner, was little, but now you look at your children - they fight from morning to evening. One grabs a toy, and the other immediately needs it too. One moment it was lying there and no one needed it, but as soon as someone took it, everyone began to need it. What does it mean? It turns out that there is actually a need to take away from another person. Definitely take it away! Strength can be taken away, but to give in requires humility. Let u him will be, not you, and y him. Two fight, one takes the toy from the other, and the third comes up and says: “Give it to him, he doesn’t need it, he just needs to take it from you.” I was even amazed at how correctly the children understood everything; the child said absolutely exactly.
What is envy? This is when someone else has it, but you don’t. Well, you grab it for yourself, now you have it - what next? And it turns out that this is where it all ends. Saint Nicholas of Serbia said that freedom is like bread: one has a lot of bread - the other does not, one has a lot of freedom - the other has no freedom. This is true. Take your family. One is completely free - he leaves when he wants, he comes when he wants, and everyone else “dances” around him and is in his slavery. If there is a drunkard in the family, then everyone around him, everyone is not free, only he is free.” And freedom was called arbitrariness, licentiousness in sin. Forgive us, Lord!
We sin a lot in our thoughts. We sin from childhood - with all kinds of dreams and plans. A person will dream for himself, imagine something extraordinary, and if this does not work out in life, then he considers himself unhappy. You are not unhappy! You have invented for yourself something that does not belong to you, and when it “works out because it is not yours, you still complain. A person truly does not even know himself and what he deserves.
For example, in every country there should be one king, the whole people cannot be kings, but everyone dreams of this. Remember: “Every cook can rule the state”? One said foolishly, and everyone else foolishly began to repeat it. Everyone imagines himself to be someone, sits in front of the TV and thinks that he runs the state. Nonsense, of course, no one controls anything, whoever is in front of the TV, much less in the kitchen Where to run the state - you can’t manage anything in your family! So they started making porridge, because the cooks began to run the state.
Why is all this happening? Because a person lives a ghostly life, dreams, imagines something: “I would tell him this... I would do this and that...” Two people will quarrel, and then they grind for days, or even weeks, sometimes even years I have it all in myself. Man sins, he sins, but why? Forget. If you have sinned, say: “Forgive me, Lord, if you are guilty of anything.” We need to stop grinding, it’s all empty. In thoughts, in imagination, a person sins a lot.
And all kinds of sinful dreams! Someone likes him - and the person begins to imagine something. He can no longer sin, so he begins to imagine, all sorts of abnormal perversions begin. Why? Because I dreamed up all sorts of things. Some people go crazy over these things and do all sorts of things. And all this is from the imagination.
The Holy Fathers said that the devil takes a person away from true spiritual life, fixating him on earthly temporary life. And now man acts even more crazily and leaves this earthly life - into an imaginary one. They watch TV series, all kinds of nonsense. These are fictions, but people sit and worry. What is there to worry about?! There is nothing! Turn it off and everything is dark. And so a person, deceived by the devil, lives his whole life. He will watch enough of these films, imagine the so-called “beautiful life”, and this imaginary beautiful life does not receive it and considers himself unhappy. Yes, thank God for what you have! People who have experienced need, hunger, misfortune - they understand the value of everything and are grateful: “Glory to You, Lord, there is shelter, there is something to wear, there is something to eat, and that’s good.” And everything is not enough for us. As Pushkin wrote: a fisherman had an old wife - everything was not enough for her. How can you satisfy a person with something if his greed is immeasurable and he envies everything, just to envy?
The world is laughing at itself. There was such a joke. Out of envy, a person writes a denunciation against someone: “The neighbor is eating caviar.” Then time passes, the caviar is no longer available, he writes: “The neighbor is eating sausage,” then: “The neighbor is eating white bread,” then: “He is eating black bread,” and then: “The neighbor is eating something there, in my opinion.” . That is, a person comes to the point that he just needs to inform. Such envy! What are we jealous of? All this worldly decay? Our life is like bitter laughter. And hell - all-laughing, That’s what the holy fathers call hell, because the devil laughs at everyone.
For example, one person at first won, won, because he was engaged in spiritualism and the devil suggested everything to him. Finally he became convinced that he would win so much. He bet everything and lost everything. He comes home and hears: “Ha-ha-ha.” That is, the devil laughs at man, mocks creation, at the image of God, and man, instead of worshiping God, chases after ghosts like a cat sometimes runs after a sunbeam.
At one time they gave us the “ghost of communism”, now other ghosts are the ghosts of this ghostly life. And this is instead of living in good relations with each other, in love, in peace, in the temple of God, spiritual life, in prayer - Instead, a person turns into an unknown thing. They drive people like cattle in herds to all sorts of performances, to all sorts of fashion shows - everyone has gone crazy. This is madness - it is precisely that slavery from which only the Lord can liberate. Forgive us, Lord! We do not listen to God’s commandments, God’s law, or spiritual instructions. We don't live by these laws. We are even ashamed - forgive me, Lord! - We are ashamed of faith, we are ashamed to profess faith. And the Lord said: whoever is ashamed of Me and Mine words of this kind prelude clothed and sinful, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy Angels(Mark 8:38).
We sin by laziness, forgive us, Lord! I've been lazy since childhood: I don't do my homework, it's hard to get up in the morning, it's hard to do anything, and everywhere everything is laziness, laziness, laziness. And we don’t make any effort on ourselves.
We sin by laziness in prayer, by not doing good deeds To correction of your soul. Around We can turn ourselves upside down, but not in ourselves, in ourselves - everything is out of place. Forgive us, Lord!
We have no patience, no humility, so we are completely relaxed in our thoughts, everything is haphazard. Forgive me, Lord! We succumb to two dangers that people sometimes talk about without thinking and that are very common in our lives. The first is when he says: “Oh, a thought came to my mind!” Thoughts come into our heads, many thoughts - but they are not ours. We must firmly remember that if thoughts of unbelief, doubt, all sorts of henna are all demonic. Throw it away immediately. Sometimes there are more subtle thoughts - to distract you from prayer.
And the second danger is when they say: “I’m not in the spirit.” We need to fight this. This is not an excuse: “I’m in such a mood, I’m somehow not in the spirit today, you never know, I’m not in the mood,” you need to work on yourself. Spirit need peaceful acquire! And no matter what, if you start to be indignant, if something starts to “boil” inside, that’s bad. We need to quickly try to calm down, calm down, whatever it is. The matter itself is no longer important, or rather, not so important, compared to what what's wrong happens to you.
You need to try to be attentive and internally collected all the time. This does not mean being tense; on the contrary, you need to be calm. Calmly contemplate what is happening. When, by the grace of God, you learn To this, then you already begin to understand: for example, some thing fell or something overturned, got caught, you begin to “flare up” - clearly, this is the enemy starting to “work”: he is trying to make you irritated. And you, knowing this, do not be irritated and do not complain - but pray and humble yourself. Forgive us, Lord!