How does the will become strong and how does it become weak?
I have spoken to you before about the conscience, and the aspects of strength and weakness to which it is exposed. And today I would like to speak to you about the will, its place in relation to the human person, and how it becomes strong and how it becomes weak? …
**How does the will become strong and how does it become weak?**¹
There are many who say that they love goodness, but they are unable to do it, and their condition is the saying of the Apostle: “But how to perform what is good I do not find. For the evil that I do not want, that I practice.” And they justify this by saying that their will is weak.
Here we examine the matter from the following points:
1—Are you able to resist sin or do you grow weak before it?
2—Can you easily do good or only by forcing yourself?
3—When your will is weak, do you exert effort to strengthen it?
4—Is your will weak by nature, or because of your spiritual negligence?
The origin of the human will is inclined toward goodness, as the image of God. Therefore, weakness of the will and its inability to do good is something foreign to the human being.
The inclination toward good is original in the human person. But the inclination toward evil is something foreign to him, and we must search for its causes…
A human being—especially in the grace of the New Covenant—is capable of walking in the way of the Lord. So what is it then that drives him to sin?
Eve, for example: when God created her, there was no sin in her, but she sinned when she desired. And how did she desire? This happened when the devil introduced into her heart doubt, and the lust to become like God…
And by desire the will became weak. And then she became unable to resist, so she sinned.
When desire enters the heart, the will becomes weak. And the more desire increases, the more it presses strongly upon the will… Therefore, among the factors that strengthen the will is treating desire and driving it out of the heart.
What weakens the will and strengthens desire is closeness to the material of sin.
One of the Fathers said: when you are far from the material of sin, you may be fought only from within. But when you are near the material of sin, two wars rise against you: one from within, and another from without.
Therefore, a wise person must keep away from stumbling blocks and from all causes of sin, lest his will grow weak before the stumbling blocks.
And among these causes is keeping away from evil associations, of which the Scripture says that they “corrupt good morals”…
Among the things that weaken the will also is the element of time, and continuity…
If sin fights you, resist it at once, without keeping it, and you will find your will strong, capable of driving away sin. But if you allow it to graze in your heart, and tickle your senses, and play with your emotions, and tempt your soul, and convince your mind, then by the length of time it grows strong over you, and your will grows weak in resisting it. And if you overcome it, it will be with great effort and with the intervention of grace…
There is a great difference between removing sin when it is like grass on the ground, and attempting to remove it after its roots have deepened and its trunk has risen high in the air. And for this the Psalm says well: “Blessed is he who takes your little ones and dashes them against the rock,” and the Rock was Christ.
If a wrong thought comes to you and you drive it away quickly, your will is strong.
But if you engage with the thought and give in, and the thought remains for a time in your mind, then driving it away becomes difficult.
Thus speed is necessary. Slowness helps weaken the will.
It was good that Joseph the Righteous fled quickly from before sin. And likewise the Prodigal Son did not delay in presenting repentance, but said, “I will arise now and go to my father,” and he arose immediately and went… And Abraham, the father of the patriarchs, when the command came to him to offer his only son as a burnt offering, did not delay and did not give thoughts a chance to fight him, but with a strong will, “he rose early in the morning, and took the wood and the knife”…
Likewise you, if you delay in giving your tithes, your will may grow weak in giving them, and you give the devil a chance to invent obstacles…
When Lot delayed in leaving Sodom, the two angels pushed him and commanded him to hurry. And to Zacchaeus, Christ said, “Make haste” and come down…
It is a push from grace; hurry in benefiting from it while you are inclined toward good, before the devil intervenes and weakens your will by his causes.
Any sinful relationship, or any corrupt material, or any sin—often the will was strong at its beginning and was able to get rid of it, but with the passage of time it began to weaken…
In the story of Cain, God said to him, “Sin lies at the door… and you should rule over it…” But when it remained within him, it became the one that ruled over him.
The battles of sin require a decisive act to get rid of them, because laxity, delay, and laziness give an opportunity for weakening the will. When Samson experienced the long persistence of sin’s pressure on him, he finally weakened.
A human being is a collection of sensitive faculties. Everything affects them for good or evil, and the effect increases with time…
He is affected by thoughts, by the senses, by inner feelings, by external causes, by the environment, by associations, by things heard, etc.
Often our will grows weak because we were not firm and decisive in dealing with the causes that weaken the will…
Because of our negligence and laxity, we lose our strength and stand in a position of weakness. Let us therefore be continually alert and watchful for the salvation of our souls…
Among the causes that weaken our will also is being far from the means of grace. For as long as we are surrounded by a spiritual atmosphere, our will remains strong.
There are spiritual factors such as prayer, meditation, spiritual reading, spiritual meetings, and perseverance in Communion and Confession, and the influence of spiritual friendships—all these inflame the heart with the love of God, strengthen the will in clinging to the Lord, and give immunity during the resistance of sin.
But if a person becomes distant from spiritual means, his spiritual life weakens, his inclination toward good diminishes, and his will becomes easily drawn toward sin.
And the devil seizes the opportunity and strikes it, and there is no spiritual weapon around it to strengthen its resolve in resisting him, as it becomes distant from the inner voice calling it to God.
Look at Lot: his righteous soul was tormented every day in Sodom because he had lost two spiritual means: the companionship of the holy Abraham, and the presence near the altar…
Sodom had neither an altar nor Abraham, therefore the will of Lot’s wife weakened and she perished, and the will of his two daughters weakened and they fell into sin. And Lot himself was no longer in his former strength.
Because of the importance of the spiritual means in strengthening the will, Scripture says of the righteous man that he is “like a tree planted by streams of water,” meaning continually connected with the springs of spiritual nourishment, and therefore strong and fruitful at all times.
Thus the will can grow strong and can grow weak. If you grant it the causes of strength, it will grow strong. And if you expose it to the causes of weakness, it will grow weak.
Peter, when he was in a spiritual atmosphere with the Lord and the disciples, was filled with the strength with which he said, “Even if all deny You, I will not deny You,” and “Even if it leads to death with You.” But Peter himself, when he was in another environment with the servant girls and the servants of the high priest, his will grew weak, and he swore and cursed and said, “I do not know the Man!”
And you—what is the environment that surrounds you? Does it strengthen your will or weaken it? Do the means of entertainment and amusement around you strengthen your will toward good and give you resistance to sin—or the opposite? Do your friends and acquaintances and companions with whom you spend your time encourage you to cling to God?
Another matter that affects the will is the factor of gradualness:
Sin may not fight you suddenly with a clear face, but may proceed with you in a long gradual path that you do not notice until you fall into the pit! And perhaps the first step that leads you to sin is not in itself a clearly sinful act… And by this gradualness it steals your will little by little without you feeling it!
Among the things that weaken and strengthen the will is thought:
If your thoughts are attached to God continually, and to spiritual work, you will find your will strong, always ready to do good. But if your mind becomes occupied with satanic temptations, or even with worldly and material matters, or if your mind remains estranged from God for a long time, then your will cannot be in the same strength that helps it resist.
Among the other factors that influence the will is self-discipline:
Are you constantly indulging yourself and giving it what it desires? Or do you stand firmly and force yourself in spiritual work? And do you not yield to your desires in everything? If you constantly struggle with yourself, your will shall undoubtedly grow strong. But if desire, love of comfort, and obedience to inclination lead you, then your will loses all its control…
If you give your soul what it wants, then where is commitment? And where are principles and values? And where is the strength of the will?
The matter requires seriousness, and overcoming obstacles…
A person who is serious in his spiritual life does not grow lax, nor retreat, nor fail, nor despair, nor acknowledge obstacles, but exerts his effort to overcome every obstacle that confronts him…
With David before Goliath, obstacles that called for despair stood before him, but with faith he confronted them and triumphed…
The most important point I say on the subject of the will is the love of God:
And also the work of grace in the heart…
If the love of God reigns over the heart, the will also will reign, and love will lead the will to good. And even if the will grows weak, grace will lead it, by casting itself before God asking for help.
¹ Article by His Holiness Pope Shenouda III – in El-Keraza Magazine – Ninth Year – Issue 43, 27-10-1978.
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