The cause of all evil & its remedy

Listen to what the Lord Himself tells us, Learn of Me, for I am meek and humble of heart and you shall find rest for your souls, (Matt 11:29).  There you have it in a nutshell:  He has taught us the root and cause of all evils and also the remedy for it, leading to all good.  He shows us that pretensions to superiority cast us down and that it is impossible to obtain mercy except by the contrary, that is to say, by humility.  Self-elevation begets contempt and disobedience begets perdition whereas humility begets obedience and the saving of souls.  And I call that real humility which is not humble in word and outward appearance but is deeply planted in the heart; for this is what He meant when He said that I am meek and humble of heart. 

Love the sinner, hate the sin

Who hated sin more than the saints?  But they did not hate the sinners at the same time, nor condemn them, nor turn away from them.  But they suffered with them, admonished them, comforted them, gave them remedies as sickly members, and did all they could to heal them. 

 

On the providence of God

Let us be convinced that nothing can happen to us apart from the providence of God. 

When endurance is no longer possible

The grace of God comes swiftly to the soul when endurance is no longer possible. 

Do this and God's will is understood

In the measure that we pay attention and take care to carry out what we hear, God will always enlighten and make us understand His will. 

Check your heart when seeking God's will

If a man really sets his heart upon the will of God, God will enlighten a little child to tell that man what is His will.  But if a man does not truly desire the will of God, even if he goes in search of a prophet, God will put into the heart of the prophet a reply like the deception in his own heart. 

Keeping God's commandments brings its reward

By keeping the Commandments the soul is purified and the mind, too, is enlightened and starts to function as nature intended it to.  The command of the Lord gives light and enlightens the eyes, (Ps. 19:8). 

Suspicions

By accepting a suspicion against the neighbor, by saying, ‘What does it matter if I put in a word about my suspicion?  What does it matter if I find out what my brother is saying or what a guest is doing?’ the mind begins to forget about its own sins and to talk idly about his neighbor, speaking evil against him, despising him, and from this he falls into the very thing he condemns.  Because we become careless about our own faults and do not lament our own death, we lose the power to correct ourselves and we are always at work on our neighbor. 

How the devil harms us

When the devil looks at a man who sincerely desires not to sin, he is not so unintelligent as to suggest to him (as he would to a hardened sinner) that he go and commit fornication or go and steal.  He knows we do not want that and he does not set out to tell us something we do not want to hear; but he finds out that little bit of self-will or self-righteousness and through that, with the appearance of well doing, he will do us harm. 

Hidden corruption made manifest

There is the case of a man minding his own business, sitting at peace and quiet; and when a brother comes up and says an annoying word to him, he is put out by it.  And from the circumstances he thinks that he is justifiably angered, and he speaks against the one who troubled him, saying, ‘If he had not come and spoken to me and annoyed me I should not have been at fault.’  This is a delusion:  this is false reasoning!  It was not the one who spoke that put him in a bad mood.  He only showed that it already existed in him; so that he could, if he chose, make reparation for his fault.  But the man referred to above is like clean-looking winter wheat, externally good and ready to use; but when someone crushes it, its corruption is revealed.  He was sitting at peace but he had this anger inside him and he did not know it.  One word to him from other and the corruption hidden inside him leapt out. 

Our needs and God's provision

It is God, Who is merciful and grants everyone what he needs, Who is building him up when He gives him more than he needs; in doing so He shows the abundance of His love for men and teaches him to give thanks.  When He does not grant him what he needs, He makes him compensate for the thing he needs through the working of the mind and teaches him patience.