Your Message in Life
Your Message in Life
It is good for a person to sit with himself and examine where he is and where he is going. However, some people, in their sitting with themselves, discuss small details without taking a comprehensive look at their lives, so that a person may ask himself about his message in life: What is it? And what has he accomplished of it?
First: Do you have a message for which you live?
And because of this message, your life has acquired value for you and for people, and your life has acquired a taste.
Or does your life pass in a routine manner, one day handing you over to another day, while you live each day as though it were a separate unit, independent in itself from the whole of life! And the important thing is that it passes well and comes to an end.
And do people feel your life and its effect on them?
Is your message in life clear and tangible, and do people feel its effectiveness? So that if you are absent one day, they feel that you have left a void that no one but you can fill.
Do people feel that your life is very necessary to their own lives?
And that you are carrying out a message toward them, and that you enter into their lives whether they want it or not, in order to do something beneficial or joyful for them, which they miss if you are not there, and long for it and for you when you are absent, so that you have become a part of them, from whom they cannot do without. And here we ask:
Is your message in life limited to yourself, or is it beneficial to others?
Many people have no concern other than to live, to enjoy themselves, and to achieve purposes in their lives, and fixed goals that give them a special position, or bring them to certain desires in their hearts. If they reach that, they feel self-satisfaction, happiness, and contentment, and nothing is lacking for them! As for others and the rest of the people, they are not a matter of their concern!
As for those with great souls, they feel that they have a message toward others. They do not live for themselves, but for others. And whenever they make people happy, they fulfill their message.
That is, their message is to make others happy. And for this they are prepared to give of themselves. Therefore, they always become exceedingly tired so that everyone around them may rest. They are constantly thinking, not about their own affairs, but about the good of the people, managing their affairs, and solving their problems. And this is their message in life.
The message toward others differs in its nature and in its temporal scope.
There is a person whose entire message toward others does not go beyond the boundaries of his very close family, such as his wife and children, or his father, mother, and siblings, and perhaps it expands to include more distant members within a wider family circle.
Another person’s message is directed toward his town or his local community, or the organization to which he belongs, such as an association, union, club, or some institution.
A person’s message may extend to encompass his entire homeland. It may extend even further to encompass all humanity, such as the message of scientists who work for the good, comfort, and benefit of all humanity.
As for the matter of its nature, we ask:
What is the type of your message: social, for example, or cultural, or is it a spiritual message?
Some fathers and mothers think that their message toward their children is complete if they take care of their health, attend to their material needs, complete their education and employment, and make sure of their marriage and stability in homes. Perhaps a father’s message toward his children may expand so that he leaves them an inheritance that they receive after his death.
But as for the spiritual lives of these children and the extent of their relationship with God, and as for their destiny in eternity, this is something that fathers and mothers may not give the importance and focus that it deserves. More than this, the life of the parents may be a stumbling block to their children and a cause of their being far from God!
And just as we say this about the message toward children, we also say it about the social message.
Many of those engaged in social service feel that their entire message is centered on providing financial or material assistance to the poor. Perhaps this assistance leads the poor to various forms of lying and deception, and inventing reasons by which they obtain money, deceiving the social workers with false ailments. And despite the workers’ toil in caring for the poor materially, their souls may perish and go to hell!
Therefore, we see that the noblest of messages is the spiritual message.
The message that aims at the salvation of the soul and at its happiness in eternity, whose means is leading people to repentance, to purity of heart, and to the love of God. And in all of this, offering every form of sublime love to everyone who needs it. And how beautiful is what was said about the Lord Christ in this regard: “who went about doing good” (Acts 10:38).
He cared for everyone, soul and body: “And Jesus went about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the gospel of the kingdom, and healing every disease and every infirmity among the people” (Matthew 4:23). He had a heart that loved everyone. His love and compassion for all were manifested in His saying:
“Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matthew 11:28).
Thus, the spiritual work goes hand in hand with the social work.
Our Lord Jesus Christ preached to the multitudes until the day was far spent. Then He said, “I cannot send them away hungry, lest they faint on the way.” And He commanded His disciples to give them something to eat (Matthew 15:32; Luke 9:13).
So, does your message in life include both matters together: spiritual work and social work? Do you work for the salvation of the soul, and at the same time solve people’s problems and relieve them in their troubles?
And does your message bear fruit?
Is the word of God on your lips “living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword” (Hebrews 4:12)? And does the word you speak have spirit, because you speak it while filled with the Spirit, having mingled your word with prayer?
Do you have fruit in service, having brought many to the knowledge of God? And can you say in the kingdom, “Here am I and the children whom the Lord has given me” (Isaiah 8:18; Hebrews 2:13)?
And does everyone who sees you love God because of you?
Does your life affect him, and does it draw him toward God through the perfection it contains?
And does your service continually grow? And have you obeyed in this the saying of the Apostle: “Take heed to yourself and to the doctrine. Continue in them, for in doing this you will save both yourself and those who hear you” (1 Timothy 4:16)?
How profound is the life of those saints who had a fruitful spiritual message. And how beautiful is the Apostle’s saying about this: “He who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins” (James 5:20).
So, are you working within this scope, according to the grace that God has given you, and according to the stewardship with which He has entrusted you, even if within a limited scope, according to your measure? Even merely by good example, without words, if God has not given you the gift of speech.
Many people’s message in life was that they were beautiful icons in the church.
They were a living message read by all people. They presented, through their lives, an image of God to everyone who met them. They were a practical good example of a life of righteousness, a life of faith, and the love of God. They were a sermon, and they were not preachers. “But whoever does and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 5:19).
This is truly the great message: to be the image and likeness of God, and to bear witness to God according to your ability.
And do not enter the kingdom of heaven alone, but let everyone who loved God through you also enter with you. Thus, you will have fruit, and you will be a wise builder in the kingdom of God.
Truly, the word of God frightens us when He says:
“He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matthew 12:30).
So, are you gathering with the Lord, following the saying of Paul and Apollos: “We are God’s fellow workers” (1 Corinthians 3:9)?
Many of the works that people undertake will come to an end after some time. They are attached to this world and do not transcend it to heaven. And they will cease in eternity.
But spiritual work remains. And it extends from here into eternity.
The one who chose it has chosen the good portion that will not be taken away from him.
So, are your works earthly or heavenly? And is your message in life limited to this earth alone, or does it extend to heaven?
And there is another question:
Is your message limited to your lifetime here on earth?
How many are there whose message ends in this life, within the span of their lifetime here on earth, and does not go beyond it. If they die, all their works die with them. Perhaps people forget them after a while. Or they remember them for a little while, and then they are erased from their memory.
As for those with great souls, their message extends beyond this earthly life.
The defense of Saint Athanasius the Apostolic of the divinity of the Son is something by which we and the whole Christian world still live to this day. And the monasticism established by Saint Anthony the Great still exists, alive, widespread, and growing throughout the inhabited world. And the books written by the holy Fathers of the Church are still a source of knowledge from which successive generations draw, and they will continue to nourish generations after us.
All these Fathers had their works extend beyond their generation, and their آثار remain and are effective. So, is your message in life of this kind? Does it have depth and an extended temporal scope?
A person remains in his message more than he remains in his children and descendants.
And his message gives a true picture of him, incomparably more accurate than the picture his children present of him. So, may you sit with yourself now and think: What is your message in life?
And if you have no message, you have a life without value.
You have an opportunity to make your life valuable by performing a work that has value, has permanence, and accompanies you into eternity.
And may constructive work be your message in life. What we mean by building is spiritual building. For many have built, and benefited nothing from what they built! Like the foolish rich man who built great storehouses for his wealth, and the Lord’s saying came to him: “This night your soul will be required of you; then whose will those things be which you have provided?” (Luke 12:20).
It is a vain building, resembling what Solomon built for his luxury and earthly pleasure.
And finally he said with sorrow: “Then I looked on all the works that my hands had done and on the labor in which I had toiled; and indeed all was vanity and grasping for the wind. There was no profit under the sun” (Ecclesiastes 2:11).
The truly wise person first builds himself spiritually from within.
There is one who tries to build for himself a fleeting glory on earth that ends after a while. Or he builds for himself wealth that he may perhaps leave to children who squander it without his knowing, without gaining anything for his eternity from all this wealth and prestige.
But the wise person builds himself, and builds himself on a sound spiritual foundation.
He builds his mind, understanding, and knowledge, and builds his will and character. And above all, he builds his relationship with God and his eternity.
And the house built on the sand, which the Lord Christ meant in the Sermon on the Mount, is every material building built on a weak foundation of fleeting worldly desires. It is also every spiritual building built on a false foundation of self-love or reliance upon oneself.
As for the building built on the rock, it is the building of the soul upon faith and the love of God.
You can work in this building through strong spiritual exercises that develop your spiritual feelings toward God. Likewise, you can build yourself spiritually by the grace of God working with you, and by calling upon Him through prayer and contrition. And through cooperation and communion with the Holy Spirit, with a life of complete surrender, in which you completely leave your life in the hands of God, surrendering to Him the will and desire, just as a piece of clay surrenders itself into the hands of the great Potter, so that He may shape it as He wills and make of it a vessel for honor (Romans 9).
And now enter into the details, and see how you build yourself.
As an example of this: What is the kind of reading by which you build your thought and information?
Do you limit yourself to building your mind scientifically, or do you limit yourself to passing amusements that have no depth to build you? Or, instead of building, are you destroying yourself through stumbling readings that stir wrong emotions in your heart, or through readings filled with doubts that mislead your mind or cause you to lose your faith?
And above all, how do you build your children?
These innocent, obedient, easily led souls—how do you build them? And what do you plant in them of feelings, thoughts, influences, and habits?
The Lord Christ said concerning building:
“On this rock I will build My church” (Matthew 16:18).
And this rock is the sound faith that does not waver. The unerring faith that the heavenly Father declared through the mouth of Saint Peter at that time. The question now is:
Do you share with the Lord in the process of spiritual building?
Do you work with the Holy Spirit in building faith, in building the Church and the kingdom, in building souls spiritually? Do you share in building the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the dwelling place of God with people? (Revelation 21:2, 3).
And how many souls have you built? And have you built them with the Lord upon a strong foundation that will not collapse after a while?
The Apostle Paul was a wise builder in the kingdom of God. He said about himself: “According to the grace of God which was given to me, as a wise master builder I have laid the foundation, and another builds on it. But let each one take heed how he builds on it” (1 Corinthians 3:10).
The one who builds needs wisdom, and he also needs love.
Mere knowledge is not enough. For knowledge may puff up, while love builds up (1 Corinthians 8:1). You cannot build people unless you love them.
How much the work of those who become zealous for the kingdom is wasted, when they overwhelm sinners with rebuke. They may crush their souls with harsh reprimand. Perhaps those people become repelled when they feel the harshness and violence of the rebuke, and they go away.
By love the Lord Jesus built the Samaritan woman and Zacchaeus the tax collector.
Likewise, the sinful woman caught in the very act. And by love He also built Saul of Tarsus, who was “breathing threats and murder,” and was also “kicking against the goads” (Acts 9). By love He built Peter, who denied Him three times; and built Nicodemus, who was afraid of the Jews and came to Him at night (John 3); and built Mary Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out (Luke 8:2).
By love, you have compassion on sinners and help them rise from their fall.
In this regard, Saint Paul the Apostle said: “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them—those who are mistreated—as if you yourselves were in the body” (Hebrews 13:3). He also said: “Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness… Bear one another’s burdens” (Galatians 6:1, 2). And the Apostle James said: “In the meekness of wisdom” (James 3:13).
The Lord Jesus gave us an example in Himself of the gentleness of the wise builder, for He was “a bruised reed He will not break, and smoking flax He will not quench” (Matthew 12:20). And He said: “The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me, because the Lord has anointed Me to preach good news to the poor; He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted” (Isaiah 61:1).
Be gentle with sinners so that they may love you, and then you will be able to build them through love.
With this gentleness, the Lord endured sinners in every generation, with extraordinary long-suffering, and through this long-suffering He led them to repentance. And in His gentleness and compassion, He did not accept that the scribes and Pharisees should burden people with burdens difficult to bear. Another point we say:
Just as you build with wisdom and love, build them also with prayer.
Yes, you are working in the building. But are you truly the one who builds? Or is it God, of whom the Psalmist says in the Psalm: “Unless the Lord builds the house, they labor in vain who build it” (Psalm 127:1).
If the Lord is the one who builds, then seek Him in prayer, so that He Himself may undertake the work. And let all your work be to share with Him in the process of building.
If God does not enter into the process of building, it will not be completed. For building the soul is not merely a human effort, nor is it human wisdom. Rather, God, by His Holy Spirit, is the One who builds all souls through the work of His grace. Therefore, the wise builder is the person who bears God, “Theophoros.”
God works in him, and works with him and through him.
Therefore, building the soul had to precede building others. And working with God had to precede working with people. But the one who works alone, without God working in him, will build nothing.
Rather, through misguided zeal, and through lack of love and lack of wisdom, he may destroy instead of build.
And here the difference appears between the spiritual person and the unspiritual person when both enter into the work of building.
The spiritual person, every word he says, is a word.. He says it, it is a constructive word. And every action he takes is a constructive action. And every person he meets feels that a spiritual foundation has been laid in his heart, and that a spiritual brick has been built into his life.
And every sinner who meets the spiritual servant becomes certain of his love, that he is building him, and that he cares for him more than he cares for himself. And everything he does with him is an act for good. Therefore, I say—as I say to my beloved ones—build.
And if you have no experience in building, then at least encourage the builders and support them.
And at least: do not destroy.
Listen to the voice of Saint Nehemiah as he says: “Come and let us build up the wall of Jerusalem, that we may no longer be a reproach” (Nehemiah 2:17).
And let the building be in every field: within the family, among friends and acquaintances, in the workplace, in the Church, and in society in general, and on the ecumenical level, as well as in individual work.
And trust that God does not forget the labor of love.
And how beautiful is the saying of our teacher, the Apostle Paul: “Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord” (1 Corinthians 15:58).
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