My beloved brothers and sisters in Christ Our Only True Lord, God, and Savior,
CHRIST IS IN OUR MIDST! HE WAS, IS, AND EVER SHALL BE.
THE VOICE OF OUR CONSCIENCE
“I myself always STRIVE TO HAVE A
CONSCIENCE WITHOUT OFFENSE
TOWARD GOD AND MEN” [Acts 24:16].
“having A GOOD CONSCIENCE, that
when they defame you as evildoers, those
who revile your good conduct in Christ
may be ashamed. For it is better, if it is
the will of God, to suffer for doing good
than for doing evil” [1 Peter 3:16-17).
“How much more shall the blood of
Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit
offered Himself without spot to God,
CLEANSE YOUR CONSCIENCE FROM
DEAD WORKS TO SERVE THE LIVING
GOD” [Hebrews 9:14)
In our spiritual ascesis or struggle it is most important that we maintain a sensitive and a good conscience. We understand that what blunts our conscience is evil and sin. Then the voice of our conscience grows faint and very weak. Sin smothers it and puts its divine light out and darkness sets in. When we deliberately and knowingly ignore the voice of our conscience we sever our communion with the voice of the Holy Spirit Who calls us to repentance, holiness, and purity.
Saint Tikhon of Zadonsk says, “What the Law of God reproves, is also reproved by conscience, The Law of God threatens a sinner with the judgment of God; the sinner hears the same in his own conscience. The Law singles out and praises the innocent man; he feels the same also in his own conscience. Then in sinning against our conscience, we also sin against the Law of God…Do, then, Christian, as Christian conscience demands, and you will live in accordance with the Law of God. And this is why people call a good man conscientious but a wicked man without conscience.”
However, it is true that when we are absorbed by material concerns, vain ambitions, obsessions of acquiring wealth and the desire to gratify our every passion and pleasure, our conscience becomes unresponsive and seriously ill. All earthly distractions and selfish and sinful desires become an obstacle to our communication with God. Our prayer life suffers, our sacramental life becomes compromised. worshipping at church becomes infrequent. We become complacent and indifferent to our spiritual needs and nourishment. Under these conditions we tend to entertain all evil thoughts that are directed to us by the evil one who takes advantage of our lack of conviction and devotion to our Lord.
It behooves us to maintain a healthy and a good conscience. No Christian can attain a godly life without a vibrant and dynamic conscience. Another way to injure one’s conscience is to deprive it of the grace of the Holy Spirit which gives life to our soul and our conscience. Our salvation is directly connected with doing good and helping our neighbor. When Jesus was asked “And who is my neighbor?” Jesus answered by telling him the divine Parable of the Good Samaritan. The Parable of the Good Samaritan occurs only in the holy Gospel of Saint Luke, and illustrates Jesus’ teaching of who our “neighbor” is: ANYONE IN IMMEDIATE NEED, EVEN A SUPPOSED ENEMY. Symbolically, of course, the Good Samaritan is Christ Himself, the wounded man is humanity set upon by demons, and the inn is the Church. Love for neighbor proves our love of God. Our Lord, God and Savior says it very clearly, “Assuredly, I say to you, inasmuch as you did it TO ONE OF THE LEAST OF THESE MY BRETHREN, YOU DID IT TO ME” [Matthew 25:40]. Jesus IDENTIFIES HIMSELF WITH THE POOR AND THE OUTCAST and invites to brotherhood all who are kindled with love and compassion for others.
“If someone says, ‘I love God,’ but hates his brother, HE IS A LIAR; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God Whom he has not seen? And this COMMANDMENT we have from Him, THAT HE WHO LOVES GOD MUST LOVE HIS BROTHER ALSO” [1 John 4:20-21]. Saint Tikhon writes: “On the contrary, you wish your neighbor to help you in your need, to feed you when you are hungry, to give you drink when you are thirsty, to clothe you when you are naked, to take you into his house and give you rest when you are a stranger, and so on. He also wishes you to help him in his need. Then do for him what you would wish for yourself. That is WHAT CONSCIENCE AND THE LAW OF GOD DEMAND, and this is also what the Lord says, “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: FOR THIS IS THE LAW AND THE PROPHETS” [Matthew 7:12]. When you do not do for your neighbor what you would have them do for you, you sin against conscience and the Law of God.”
Furthermore, Saint Tikhon says, “Whoever acts against conscience stubbornly and deliberately sins against the Law of God, and therefore sins grievously, for he does not wish TO SUBMIT HIS WILL TO THE WILL OF GOD. Therefore, that man IS NOT A TRUE CHRISTIAN, BUT A FALSE ONE. For a true Christian does not wish to sin against conscience in anything, but takes care to keep his conscience pure of sin, and he would rather die than sin against his conscience and provoke it. “Let every one that nameth the name of Christ depart from iniquity” [2 Timothy 2:19]. Everything a man does in this age shall be made manifest at the just Judgment of Christ, and he shall receive according to all he did, according to the word of Christ, “with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again” [Matthew 7:2]. [Source: Journey to Heaven. Counsels on the particular duties of every Christian]
____________
“Glory Be To GOD
For
All Things!”
– Saint John Chrysostomos
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With sincere agape in His Divine and Glorious Diakonia (Ministry),
The sinner and unworthy servant of God
+ Father George
The Eastern Orthodox Christian Ethos 