/lit/ - Literature

By theosis.

>>7958904
The angelic friends of God live in a higher plane of existence which is uncorrupted by sin. These beings are capable of rational thought and attempt to influence our plane of existence when they can. Of course they are not omnipotent so their influence is limited to what God permits. The blessed man attempts to mirror his life to those angelic beings (who are themselves imitators of Christ). In his mind, the Christian attempts to spiritually raise himself up to heaven and perceive the world as Christ did, then act accordingly. We are incapable of perfectly achieving this goal, but the mere act of striving for it is a key to our redemption. The blessed sincerely believes the validity of God's commandments and does all that he can to obey them even through failure. Attempting to live righteously is a constant struggle within one's consciousness but by simply engaging in it we begin to imitate God Himself. Rejecting earthly values is the willing acceptance of ridicule in exchange for a spiritual kingdom.

Christians have many reasons to reject the world; either for the hope of things to come, or because of the number of their sins, or simply because they love God. Without these objectives, denial of the earthly pleasures would make no sense. We believe God will judge us if we do not prepare for Him and will likewise reward us if we love Him (Heb 11:6).

Those of us who wish to escape this worldly prison, to free ourselves from Pharaoh, need our own version of Moses to be our intermediary with God, to translate His will for us. Those who believe in God but attempt to serve Him on their own terms, without a leader, are deceiving themselves. We need someone to teach us how we can best serve God.

>>6448184
Christ is our leader and although we fail Him, let us try our best to follow His example because He truly knows how to make us happy. His teachings are those of our Creator Himself, it would be arrogant and foolish to reject them. Let all those considering this marvelous, tough and painful yet paradoxically easy leap of faith remember that Christ promised to help us and that our rewards are peace and happiness.

If we decide to take the leap, we must prepare a fertile soil from which Christ's vine can grow. Therefore, a Christian will attempt to turn away from worldly pleasures in order to pursue heavenly ones. Innocence, abstinence and temperance are a thrice-firm foundation upon which we can pursue our faith. Let all infants to Christian life begin with these virtues, taking real infants as their example; for among young children no evil is found, nothing deceitful, no insatiable greed or gluttony, no flaming lust. A Christian must remember that we are all children before the Lord.

It is detestable and dangerous for a wrestler to be slack at the start of a contest, thereby giving proof of his impending defeat to everyone. Let us have a firm beginning to our spiritual life, for this will help us if slackness comes later. A bold and eager soul will be spurred on by memory of its first zeal and new wings can thus be obtained.