You ask, will the others be saved… Why do you worry about them? They have a Savior Who desires the salvation of every human being. He will take care of them. You and I should not be burdened with such a concern. Study yourself and your own sins and not so much how to preach to others.
When you turn to Christ, pay no attention to what’s going on inside you. Keep your attention focused on the Lord and beg Him for help. There’s no room for malicious thoughts in a mind focused on the Lord. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
People who preserve the experience of painful contrition before the Lord in all its potency, an experience which comes from the recognition of the dangers and difficulties of the spiritual life, these people have found the right path. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
Love of pleasure opens the door of our soul to the enemy. If you fight this with firm resolve, then it will be very difficult for any passion to overcome you. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
Allow yourself whatever’s constructive for you, but not what causes spiritual damage, upset and turmoil. What rational person would drink from a glass which they knew had been poisoned? “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
God doesn’t discriminate. He doesn’t take into consideration what people were – good or bad, virtuous or sinful – before they desired Grace. He simply awaits the expression of this desire from each of us, and as soon as that happens, Grace begins to act. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
If you are purified from the passions, then you can leave your heart freely to its will. But the more active its passions are, if you leave your heart to its will, it’ll condemn itself to general instability and insecurity. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
The passions are serpents. When one of them emanates from the heart, it’s like a snake sticking its head out of a hole. Strike it in the name of Christ. It’ll withdraw at once. As soon as another one manifests itself, hit that as well. Strike them all. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
To live truly, we have to live in the way God ordained when He made us. Unless we do, we aren’t living at all. “Saint Theophan the Recluse”
The sickness of human nature is the failure to reach personal perfection. The diagnosis concerns…