“Repentance mainly consists of our inner free will; wishing that sin never occurred, and the resolve never to commit sin again.”

- St Nikodemos of Mt Athos, Made for Union, pg 164

Reflection: 

Repentance does not begin with our determination to make changes, but rather God’s determination that we be saved. It is not doing or acquiring something, but it is about relinquishing our life into the loving hands of our Savior.  It is an act of trust.

The aim of repentance is not guilt, but freedom and responsibility.  A true life in honesty, integrity, and personal accountability to God, all others, and oneself. 

Repentance is a focus of change, of improving oneself with God’s help.  We cannot do it on our own, we must invite and ask Christ for His help.

The primary orientation of repentance is not toward our past, but toward the future which has become brighter due to the divine mercy, forgiveness, and hope offered in Christ Jesus.(1)

Resources:

1) Soul Mending, John Chryssavgis

“If you had a little faith, almost everything would change, and if you had a little humility, the Grace of God would be with you.

Even when one has faith, this faith is rendered inactive if he also has pride.”

- St Paisios V 5 Passions and Virtues pg 289.

Reflection: 

Do we trust in God? Are we deeply confident that He will reveal what is best for us as we continue to do our part? 

While we may have faith in God and know He is with us, sometimes we are prideful and think that we accomplish things on our own. Our pride tells us that our success is only because of our efforts, forgetting that Christ our savior and creator is responsible for all of our abilities and potential to succeed.    

When we think with pride, we end up like the Pharisee in the parable(1), thanking ourselves in prayer (praying to ourselves!) for what we have accomplished, instead of recognizing our dependence on God: asking for His help, His mercy, and thanking Him for all He has revealed to us.

Let us build our confidence in God by asking Him for humility to recognize that we cannot fully succeed on our own and the revelation of His Will in everything we do.

Resources:

1) Luke 18:9-14 Parable of the Publican and the Pharisee 

“Arm yourself with patience and prayer and in time, you will acquire discernment as well.”

- St Paisios V. 5 Passions and Virtues, pg 313.

 

Reflection: 

Do we tend to act impulsively on our own, or take a moments to invite God into our moment and consider all parts of our situation? 

When we arm ourselves with patience, we defend ourselves against being egotistical. 

Arming ourselves with prayer invites God into the situation, opening our hearts and minds to possible solutions we could never think of on our own. We need Christ in order to make the best possible decisions.

Together, with patience and prayer, we humbly await God’s direction, we begin to trust in God.(1) This takes time.

When we fully trust in God, giving our joys and our troubles to Him in prayer and with patience, He grants us clarity and discernment in our decisions.

We will work together with God’s will in our lives, and the result is far better than anything we can imagine. 

Resources:

1)  Proverbs 3:5-6  Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.

“If I am what he says I am, then I will be troubled and try to correct myself.

If I am not as he says I am, I am still troubled because I think that I must have erred in some other way; that somehow I was careless and provoked him.  I do not lay blame on the other person.

I examine how God will judge what I have done, not how I will be seen by others.”

- St Paisios, V. 3 pgs 154-155.

Reflection:

When someone points out something we may have done wrong, whether accurate or not, how do we react?  

We might become defensive, we might blame others and assign no fault to ourselves. Blame is often the result of the shame we feel. In these instances, we choose to look outward instead of inward for a solution(1). Instead we should be honest with ourselves about our thoughts/actions and strive to make things according to God's vantage point.

If we take the approach noted in St Paisios' quote, we will be sure to grow and make progress with every person we encounter.  We cannot change other people, but with God’s help we can improve ourselves. 

Let us examine our interactions from how God will judge them rather than how other people do.  This way the result of examining our inner selves will be growth, maturity, and peaceful progress in the relationships in our lives.

Resources:

1) Matthew 7:3-5 “And why do you look at the speck in your brother’s eye, but do not consider the plank in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove the speck from your eye’; and look, a plank is in your own eye? Hypocrite! First remove the plank from your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.”

“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails”   

- St Paul, 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Reflection: 

We often think of these verses as how we ought to love others, have we considered that these verses also describe how God loves us? When we replace “Love” with “God” we see who God is.

“God is patient, God is kind. God does not envy, He does not boast, He is not proud.

He does not dishonor others, God is not self-seeking, He is not easily angered, He keeps no record of wrongs (when we take responsibility for our actions, repent, and participate in Confession).

God does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  God always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. God never fails.”

Since God is so generous with His love, let us also strive to love our neighbors in this same way. Resources:

1) 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

“Let it be. Today we are offended by one person - who knows who will offend us tomorrow? We are constantly thinking about these insults, but we should just let them be in peace.” 

- Elder Thaddeus, Our Thoughts Determine our Lives, pg 157. 

Reflection:

The health of our mind, soul, and body depends on our ability to forgive others.  

When we hold onto something someone said, we are holding our own thoughts, feelings, and maturity captive. We stunt our ability to grow in Christ and fully live our lives when we hold onto these things.  We are at fault for holding onto them. 

Forgiving does not mean we condone another person’s actions, rather, it frees our hearts from anger. Anger only hurts us and restricts us from becoming our true self, it does not prove anything to the other person. We are then able to move about peacefully, praying for everyone.  

A peaceful and joyful life with Christ begins by praying and having compassion for everyone around us, and asking God to have mercy on those who mistreat us.(1)

Resources:

1) Matthew 5 "Love your enemies"

“The soul grows like what it pursues, and is molded and shaped according to what it does.”

- St Basil the Great, On Christian Doctrine and Practice, pg 117.

 

Reflection:

What do we spend most of our time thinking about, or going after?  

Just as ‘you are what you eat’ in regards to physical health, ‘we become what we pursue’ when it comes to our hearts, souls, and who we are.(1)

Jesus Christ is the #1 example of what it means to be fully human.  Let us check in with ourselves and ask - are we pursuing to become more Christ-like as we strive to reach our goals in life?(2)

Resources:

1) Luke 6:19-21 "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."

2) Luke 6:43-45 "For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." - Whatever we concern ourselves with the most, what our hearts and minds are fixated on, our soul will become like.

 “A small but persistent discipline is a great force; for a soft drop falling persistently hollows out a hard rock.”   

- St Isaac the Syrian What the Fathers Say About, pg 260

Reflection: 

Sometimes it feels like the hardest thing to do is to change ourselves. 

That is because we try to do it by ourselves, but what would happen if we relied on Christ? For, "with men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible"(1) 

We need Christ + consistency on our end. If we start small, but keep ourselves accountable for the small change we are making, it will lead to our transformation in Christ.

If we want to be more patient, loving, or peaceful - start with a small amount of prayer each day, and/or 5 minutes of reading Scripture. Set a particular time, and keep consistent. 

The result over time is a changed life; for we will have consistently invited God into our day and He will help us grow and nurture the habits we want to keep.

Resources:

1) Matthew 19:25-27