GIVE…
But give rather the spirit of chastity,
humility, patience, and love to thy servant.
(prostration)
Great Lent is a time for all of us to relearn what it is to live as a faithful disciple of our Lord and God, Jesus Christ. Our lives become so filled with work, children, events, and trials that we begin to just go through the motions and forget about who we truly are and who we truly serve. Sadly, going through the motions can even bleed into our discipleship and our church activities as well, we must guard against this and be vigilant. Great Lent is not just a time to remove things from our lives, but to add necessary virtues in order to grow in holiness, such as:
Chastity- Although not a common word, it means we try to have a pure heart first and foremost. Our world today promotes anything but purity and usually scoffs at those who endeavor to be chaste in their daily affairs. The Gospel of Matthew shows us the way we are to live that is contrary to the world in the beatitudes and even says we will see God when we apply this virtue “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God” (Matthew 5:8). David wrote often about chastity in the book of Psalms and his struggles to attain it, and we are told he was a man after God’s own heart. Beloved, knowing you will see God when you have a pure heart, are YOU willing to fight against the world, the flesh, and the Devil, in order to see Him? Are you willing to go to any length for your Lord and God and Savior Jesus Christ?
Humility- All of these virtues mentioned in our prayer are a struggle to attain, but humility, even more so. Our fallen nature is imbued naturally with an abundance of pride, which is the opposite of humility, and the fight to attain it is both hard and deceptive. I remember that I had struggled to attain humility and finally did! Then I was so proud of how humble I was and ended up losing it. The point is beloved, humility is a lifelong struggle, but one that God honors, “Learn of me for I am meek and humble of heart…”. The Fathers tell us that pride draws the demons, but humility drives them away. Is the struggle worth it? I think so.
Patience- Patience and humility go together. You cannot have one without the other, so if you are seeking humility, you are also seeking patience. In our day-to-day lives, patience is a much-needed virtue both at work and at home, but it isn’t only exercised in our relationships; it is also a most necessary virtue in our pain and illnesses. Suffering is the lot of all mankind, but most do not handle it as God would have them to. Have you ever heard of the saying “you have the patience of Job’? The book of Job is and has always been a book to demonstrate patience through great suffering, with our human frailty as well. Beloved, patience requires endurance, holding on to our faith in the midst of the battle of pain or illness. We must not waver in light of suffering because God is with us. The stories of the martyrs are sources of inspiration through untold suffering and death yet God remained present in the midst of it all.
Love- The last virtue mentioned is love. Love has a plethora of meanings in our culture and is a word that is used loosely. In the Scriptures, the word love is always connected to the cross in one way or another because love always entails a measure of sacrifice and denial of self: “For God SO loved the world…”. Jesus is love, His actions were through love, and He told us, “A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.” Beloved, if the world just observed you and your interactions with each other, would they conclude that you are an Orthodox Christian, a true disciple of Jesus Christ?
How do we apply these virtues in our lives?
- Identify and remove the obstacles that you are able to, that are in the way of you pursuing a pure heart.
- Our spiritual growth necessitates a part of us dying to self, and in doing this, we learn humility. What are the things in your life that need to die for you to cultivate humility?
- Would others say you are a patient person? If not, what steps will help you become more patient?
- The foundation of the Gospels is love. How can you become more loving to those around you? What obstacles need to be removed from yourself in order to be truly loving and caring?
Fr Lazarus