Saint Paisios The Athonite
If you
want to help the Church, it is better to try to correct yourself, rather
than be looking to correct others. If you manage to correct yourself,
one small part of the Church is immediately corrected. Naturally, if
everyone did the same, the body of the Church would be in good health.
But, today, people concern themselves with anything but themselves. You
see, judging others is easy, whereas working on yourself takes effort.
If we
work to correct ourselves and look more intently towards our "inner"
activity rather than our external, giving precedence to divine help, we
can in turn be of greater and more positive help to others. We will also
achieve an inner serenity that will quietly help the souls of the
people we encounter because spiritual serenity reflects the virtue of
the soul and transforms souls.
When
someone applies himself to external activity before having polished his
spiritual inner state, he may struggle spiritually, but he will be
fraught with worry, anxiety, lack of confidence in God and frequent loss
of serenity. If he does not improve himself, he cannot say that his
interest for the common good is pure. When he is liberated from the old
self and all things worldly, then he will receive divine Grace and be
not only at peace with himself, but also able to bring peace to everyone
else. But if he has not received the Grace of God, then he can neither
govern himself nor help others in order to bring about a divine effect.
He must first be immersed in divine Grace and then utilise his resulting
sanctified powers for the salvation of others.
Source: Spiritual Awakening (Spiritual Counsels of Elder Paisios)
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