“We go to Church to set our hearts on fire with love for God and the world. We go to Church because there are so many things to care about and for which we offer prayer to the merciful God. We are to awake from our slumber so we can follow the Lord with diligence and vigilance.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“Although some early Christians failed the test of faith, the names of steadfast disciples such as Timothy, Luke, Mark, Priscilla, Aquila, and Onesiphorus, are well known to readers of the New Testament. These servants of the Lord distinguished themselves by their diligence, usefulness in ministry, obedience, loyalty, and prayer on behalf of the brethren…Paul encourages us to show forth the virtues these disciples expressed…he presses Timothy to be diligent in coming to him quickly (2 Tim 4:9). Diligence is widely respected in every culture. Among his proverbs, Solomon affirms that “the hands of the courageous are diligent” (Prv 13:4), while the idle never accomplish their desires…Along with the grace of God, our own diligence in Christ helps us “preserve our baptismal garment and the earnest of the Spirit pure and undefiled unto the dread Day of Christ our God.” (Dynamis 12/29/2021)
“It was possible that those who had obtained from Him this precious and saving lesson [on the Lord’s Prayer and persistence], might sometimes make indeed their supplications according to the pattern given them, but would do so wearily and lazily…In order, therefore, that we not experience this . . . He teaches us that we must diligently continue the practice, and, in the form of parable, plainly shows that weariness in prayer is to our loss, while patience therein is greatly to our profit.” (Saint Cyril of Alexandria)
“ [We] may become spiritually stale and discover that we are not getting anywhere in our prayer life, that the Liturgy has lost delight for us, that sermons are not moving us. We go to confession for the same old sins. We see no progress in getting free from them. We know what is going to happen at Church; so, when we pray, we just spin our wheels. There are times when, plainly, we are bored. We wonder what happened to the delight, the joy, the spiritual life we had. We are ashamed and disappointed…“we must begin with a right faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of God, Who came into the world to save sinners.” Now faith is right if and when we trust foremost in Christ to enliven our efforts and give us the grace of the Holy Spirit….no matter how hard we try and how diligent we are, if we trust more in the efforts we put forth than we do in Christ, we simply will spin our wheels and become stale.” (Dynamis 7/25/202, Saint Seraphim of Sarov)
“Time erodes zeal. As the days go by, our original dedication to a cause tends to diminish. This observation is true of our spiritual intensity…Knowing how easy it is to lose our initial enthusiasm for the faith, the writers of the New Testament frequently urge us not to “lag in diligence” but to be “fervent in spirit” (Romans 12:11).” (Fr. Basil)
“In the spiritual life, theory must always be practiced. We must be diligent in working at the divine commandments and remain as energetic as possible in obeying Christ.” (Dynamis 5/10/2015)
“Be diligent to be pure in mind and in heart, correct in your conscience and in peace with God.” (St. Nikolai Velimirovich)
“Diligence is a law of life, and many of the proverbs of Scripture praise this trait and condemn laziness…much of our sin comes from our inherent laziness not to make the effort to do the right thing in our thought and actions… We use diligence to fight against sloth or laziness. Diligence is doing any task (work/chore/job/responsibility) until it is completed to the very best of our ability.” (Rev. Andrew J. Demotses, Sacramental Living, Annalisa Boyd)
“Diligence is widely respected in every culture. Among his proverbs, Solomon affirms that “the hands of the courageous are diligent” (Prv 13:4), while the idle never accomplish their desires.” (OCPM 12/9/2015)
“Salvation comes through Christ...Being ethical, working diligently to help others, and giving to charitable causes are all commendable, but all of our good deeds cannot save us or make us right with God.” (Life Application Study Bible, Hebrews 7:18,19)