“We put a lot of time and effort into achieving balance in our lives. What do we mean by balance? Is our notion of what balance is for our lives the same as someone else’s notion of what balance is for theirs? What does a life lived in balance look like for a Christian, or perhaps better phrased, what should it look like? Our quest for balance can actually become an obstacle to our faith if we consider God, prayer, and worship one of many things to balance on a given day. If we “seek God first” then all things are given to us as Christ says (Matthew 6:33). We need to live for God and inside of God and submit all aspects of our lives to Him and balance will flow from that orientation.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“A person who demonstrates a renewed spirit recognizes that his intellectual abilities are gifts from God, and, therefore, he is mindful of the dangers of being arrogant or prideful due to his intellectual abilities. Instead, he values humility and views a keen intellect as a gift that God provides to him not to advance himself, but to serve others… a person with a renewed spirit functions properly in being with God. Such a person is able to balance the stress of work and life issues by knowing that God is a real and constant source of strength. He reaches out to God in prayer on a daily basis, and he is not afraid to raise the question of faith or to express his faith with others. He knows that God is active and omnipresent in all arenas of life, pouring forth his peace and serenity.” (Archbishop Demetrios of America)
“We need to perceive losing our balance as a temptation. When we lose our balance, we tend to fall into extremes. These extremes are in the forms of emotions that we feel, practices, reactions, and also views or opinions we adopt. To maintain balance means to not be quick to react. It means to preserve our inner peace. It means to be patient and use critical thinking before we come to a conclusion or react. It means to hear and see the forces on the right, left, the top, and the bottom; listening to them, but not being carried away by them. It means retaining the information which is helpful, accurate, and helpful, and letting go of that which is fear-based, pride-based, or serves some other agenda. It means to utilize the skill and gift of discernment…Truly, humility keeps us balanced. Indeed, the soul that is balanced marches to the beat of a different drummer, it listens only to that of the Holy Spirit.” (Fr. Joshua Makoul)
“In the end, we are never really at home in this world. We are constantly making mistakes. We are constantly off balance. We get too caught up in the world, and we repent. We fall down and get up again. We fall down and get up again. We fall down and get up again. This is the Christian life in this world, which is why we are looking for a City whose foundations and builder is God.” (Fr. Michael Gillis)
“There is only one safe and sure center of Christian experience, doctrine and testimony: Jesus Christ. Stand at any other point, no matter how good, and you will become lopsided. Stand with Him and you keep your balance, for by Him all things consist.” (Vance Havner)
“The Incarnation is the touchstone against which we can test the rightness of our efforts. That is because we must remember to keep the divine and human perspectives in a healthy balance. Emphasize the human over the divine and you fall into the progressive error; stress the divine over the human and you commit the traditionalist sin.” (Gregory Wolfe)
“ In the tension between transcendence and finiteness, freedom and limitations, possibilities and actualities, human beings tend to become anxious. In their anxiety most of the time they fail to hold the balance between the two poles of their existence, and they tip over to one side at the expense of the other. Either they ignore their limits and posture as gods, or they give away their freedom and succumb like animals to the worldly forces that squeeze and determine them. The tension between transcendence and finiteness and the anxieties that it generates, along with its potential imbalances, do not fully exhaust the possibilities of living the fullness of human life. Human life flourishes by its enhancement through the active and all pervasive presence of God’s presence in the world.” (Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Clapsis)
“Perhaps someone says: Who can always be thinking of God and eternal bliss, since all men must be concerned for food, clothing and the management of their household? God does not bid us be free from all anxiety over the present life, for He instructs us through his apostle: “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” [see 2 Th 3:10]. The same apostle repeats the idea with reference to himself when he says: “We worked night and day so that we might not burden any of you.” Since God especially advises reasonable thought of food and clothing, so long as avarice and ambition which usually serve dissipation are not linked with it, any action or thought is most rightly considered holy. The only provision is that those preoccupations should not be so excessive that they do not allow us to have time for God.” (St. Caesarius of Arles)
“In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus preached to the people telling them how to live a godly life. Regarding our worldly cares He said, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you.” (6:33) When we seek the kingdom of God first, all the objects that we juggle seem to have their proper place. Christ Himself is no longer set aside but He Himself is helping us balance the other objects in our lives. I pray that we all can find an inexhaustible source of strength for our families and our lives through living a life in Christ.” (Melissa Tsongranis)
“There’s a difference between leisure and laziness. Relaxation and recreation provide a necessary and much needed balance to our lives; when it is time to work, however, Christians should jump right in. We should make the most of our talent and time, doing all we can to provide for ourselves and our dependents. Rest when you should be resting, and work when you should be working.” (Life Application Study Bible, 2 Thessalonians 3:6-10)