Striving for the sake of God
The one who wants to walk in the way of God must—as the Lord Christ said—enter through the narrow gate and walk in the difficult path, for He—blessed be His glory—says: “Enter by the narrow gate… and few are those who enter through it!”
This means that the one who wants to walk in the way of God must labor for God, and must offer effort for God… for this labor is a practical proof of his love for God…!
Striving for the sake of God
And if the spiritual path were easy, the love of a person for God could not appear… and therefore God wants us to prove our love for Him by what we offer for His sake, by what we labor for His sake, and by what we also endure for His sake, so that our love for God may appear… And for this, God has given some commandments so that a person may labor and strive in fulfilling them, and that this may be a proof of his love for God…! And when we look into the lives of the saints and the stories of the men of God, we find this labor for the sake of God clearly…!
For example, we find that nothing would have been easier for “Moses” than to remain in Pharaoh’s house, enjoying authority, wealth, position, and dignity… but he considered the reproach of Christ a greater and better treasure than the treasures of Pharaoh… and preferred to be humiliated with the people of God rather than have enjoyment in sin…!
And Moses labored much—even with the people—and endured murmuring and insult, and strove for a long time… and according to his labor, he was rewarded in the world to come…!! God wants people who labor and strive, and He does not want the lazy who prefer a life of comfort over striving…
The martyrs were the ones who labored the most for God, because they offered their lives and endured for God, and therefore the Church places the martyrs in a rank higher than that of the patriarchs, monks, and anchorites… and considers them in the highest rank of all.
And the martyrs are considered in the first rank, because they labored, suffered, and were tormented by death for the sake of God.
And for the blessing of labor and suffering, God allowed pains and troubles to befall even His dearest children… even the Virgin Saint Mary herself lived in suffering and hardship from her birth, her orphanhood… to her flight with Joseph… to the pains she endured with the Lord Christ.
And the one who wants to live with God must labor for God and endure pains and hardships for God… and perhaps one of the most beautiful verses of the Holy Bible in this regard is the saying of the Apostle Paul: “Each one will receive his own reward according to his own labor”!
And therefore—also—Christ said to the angel of the Church of Ephesus: “I know your works, your labor, and your patience, and that you have endured and labored for My name’s sake, and have not become weary”!
Be assured—my brothers—that every labor is kept for you by God, and God is not unjust to forget your labor of love… He does not forget a drop of sweat offered for His name, nor a tear shed for His name!
A person, by his labor for God, shows his love for God… and look at Jacob, the father of fathers, who labored for Rachel fourteen years, completing them to twenty… and the Scripture says that these years “were in his sight but a few days”… because of his love for her…!
And the Apostle Paul also labored much and boasted of this labor, even saying: “In labors more abundant… I labored more abundantly than they all”… for he considered labor the first virtue that distinguished his Christian life!
Once I was with some brothers who were carrying out a project for God, and hardships befell them, so I told them that I was happy for these hardships, because they indicate that this path is the path of God, and these hardships… are its sign!
If we walked in the path of God without hardships, perhaps we would doubt; therefore it is fitting that a person—in the way of God and virtue—encounter hardships… and hardships are a sign of the path!
And you—my brother—if you walk in the path of virtue, expect hardships… and concerning this Saint Mar Ozorius says: “If you begin to pray with purity, prepare yourself for what will come upon you”… and in the book of Jesus son of Sirach: “My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for all trials.”
And we, out of our admiration for this saying, make it one of the prayers performed at the ordination of every new pastor!
And when a person walks in the way of God and finds hardships, he should not murmur, but should thank God who made him worthy to suffer and labor for His name… and he should rejoice and be assured that this is the way of God… and concerning this the Apostle Paul says: “I take pleasure in infirmities”!
What then shall we say about those who seek pleasure and comfort and are troubled by labor and hardships? … We say to them the saying of Jesus son of Sirach: “My son, if you come to serve the Lord, prepare your soul for all trials”!
The spiritual life—my brothers—is war against the powers of demons and the powers of evil, and readiness to walk the path of virtue is striving and struggle between good and evil, and there is no war or struggle without labor…
And the Holy Bible says about the devil: “Your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour. Resist him, steadfast in the faith.”
Spiritual life is a life of struggle, striving, and labor… a life in which a person walks the difficult path and enters through the narrow gate, and the Holy Bible says that through many tribulations we must enter the kingdom of God…
And tribulations may come to you—first of all from within you—for the Holy Bible says: “A man’s enemies will be those of his own household”… and your own self is what you must resist in its desires and lusts… and you must take a firm and decisive stand against it… for the person who yields to his desires is not a good soldier for Christ!
You must labor for God, and look at what the prophets, apostles, and men of God did… God—for example—could have given the kingdom to David very easily, but He trained him in the school of labor, so David lived pursued by Saul, fleeing from cave to cave, from wilderness to wilderness… with the sword over his neck and death chasing him… and these hardships enabled David to sing the beautiful psalms that we repeat today in our prayers…!
So when will each of you have psalms like the psalms of David… psalms you say from your depths—like David—as a result of your experiences, suffering, and striving?
In our spiritual life, we must labor for God… our fathers labored much for God, and I do not want to speak about the prophets and apostles… take for example the monks who spent the whole night in prayer… and it is enough to know that Anba Bishoy—for example—used to tie his hair with a rope… to pull him if his head leaned in sleep during prayer…!
And the saints were keen on resisting every thought not of God… the matter was not easy… and the Apostle Paul says concerning this: “Casting down strongholds”…!
And today I want to ask you: Have you entered the spiritual war?… Have you begun to resist the devil? Have you declared war on every wrong thought, laziness, negligence, and surrender…?
If you have entered the spiritual war, then you have begun the spiritual life!
I want to measure your spiritual life by the extent of your struggle and striving for God…
Struggle in every field, and against every desire… and for spiritual growth and progress… and for reaching purity of heart and mind… and in order to reach purity of heart and mind, and to become a good son of Christ, you must struggle against sin and temptations… and enter into battle with the devil. And you must stand before the devil with all boldness and strength like the Apostle Paul, who says: “I fought with beasts at Ephesus”!
Some people ask the Church to reduce fasting periods and the hours of liturgies… these people do not want striving… but want an easy life…
While in reality, in our spiritual life we need special fasts—besides the appointed fasts—that we impose on ourselves for the sake of our spiritual life… and Saint Isaac says: “Force yourself in the Midnight Prayer, and add to it more psalms”!
We want people who strive for God… and God wants people who work in His kingdom… I want you to carry out spiritual activities in the summer and organize spiritual programs to be implemented during the summer vacation… for prayer, contemplation, memorization, and readings…!
We want you to strive for God and labor… for we have never heard of a saint who reached spiritual gifts through comfort… rather they all labored and strove…
And the clearest example of this is that we have chosen for ourselves as our emblem the image of the suffering, crucified Christ… and we made the cross the emblem of Christians… because it reminds us that we must labor to obtain the kingdom of God!
And believe me… if we lived a life of striving like the saints, we would have reached their virtues and gifts…
Let us—in this summer vacation for students—begin a life of striving and struggle against evil… a life of striving for the sake of God… until we reach the gifts of the saints…
And believe me… if we lived a life of striving like the saints, we would have reached their virtues and gifts…
Let us—in this summer vacation for students—begin a life of striving and struggle against evil… a life of striving for the sake of God… until we reach the gifts of the saints…
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