“The world encourages us toward godless self-reliance rather than meek dependence on God…The spirit of contemporary culture is foolish, for it never invites us to consider God. Many people never think to turn to the Lord “until they [are] struck” (Isaiah 9:12). What an accurate definition of godlessness! And even the nicest people are guilty of indifference…” (Dynamis 3/26/2019)
“Divine love does not tolerate this elevated status of self, for the ego is the enemy of our communion with God...worship of self dooms us to a life of total loss. We were created for communion with God, and the worship of the ego has led us into a state of spiritual bankruptcy....We need to return to the worship of God and reject the worship of self...The destruction of the ego begins with repentance and the acquisition of a humble and contrite heart, that we might have this communion.” (Abbot Tryphon)
“What most often gets in the way of the Lord’s word? It is our self-will…Self-will rules our lives quietly, slipping in unnoticed. We do not like being told what to do! We may never say out loud, “I do not like God telling me what to do,” but in fact we often tune Him out.” (OCPM 11/2/2016)
“Within this soul stands an idol: the Ego. This idol is offered constant incense and sacrifices. How can such a soul combine service to the All-Holy God with service to the foul idol? The soul is in horrifying delusion, in terrible darkness, in frightening numbness.” (St. Ignatii Brianchaninov)
“We use pleasure as a painkiller, because our egos have been weakened and damaged by our distorted vision of God. We see Him as the great killjoy in the sky and not as our Father. We act like greedy and angry consumers rather than grateful, peaceful children. When this conviction and experience reverses, freedom and detachment follow.” (Kevin Scherer)
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