Spiritual Messages from a Monastery
Freedom is a double-edged sword. It either makes you accept God rightly and win salvation forever, or deny God and lose yourself forever.
But if you go to God because you’re forced to do so, God doesn’t want you to be there. You will gain nothing. Only if you go freely, does He accept you in order to make you happy, to make you as you long to be from the bottom of your heart.
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Unless we find ourselves in a tight spot, unless we are made to push ourselves to the limit –as we feel the pressure of situations, the pressure of people and a corrupted society– we won’t renounce ourselves or anything else for that matter, once things go well. That’s why God puts us to the test by means of vari- ous sufferings.
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Did you get angry? Why did you? Because deep down, there is self-love.
Transcribed talks by Archimandrite Symeon Kragiopoulos
From: Holy Hesychasterion “The Nativity of Theotokos” Publications
Spiritual Messages from a Monastery
