Humility and Health
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
“In order not to humble yourself before the evil world you must humble yourself before Christ. Otherwise, your pride will tear your heart into pieces. Humility is the path to mental and physical normality and health…Humility (no matter before what) makes a person able to believe in something that is above him and thus allows him to find a point of support and of reference, meaning, purpose and the coordinates of life. Those who humble themselves before “this world” acquire faith in it, its consciousness, ideas and values. Those who humble themselves before the Lord acquire faith in Him, in His power and authority, in His Providence, and receive His mind, desires, and feelings (1 Cor. 2:16). You believe in what you humble yourself before. You serve what you believe in. If you do not humble yourself before anything, you are left alone—in the vacuum of your self-love, in the weightlessness of your pride, in the emptiness of your introspection and self-pity. Such a person makes himself an enemy and a stranger to everyone, and ultimately to himself.” (Priest Tarasiy Borozenets)
“So, one said that humility “means constant oblivion of one’s achievements.” That is, when we do some good deed—a spiritual podvig [spiritual struggle] or virtue, we should always forget about it, not remember it, not go back, and not look back to it: “See! I’m fasting, prostrating, keeping vigil, and giving alms!” That is, having accomplished some spiritual deed, we must leave it behind us, because the mere fact that our mind goes back and looks at what we have done is a sign of an unhealthy person and unhealthy humility.” (St. John Climacus, Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)
“The denial of one’s self which Christ commands of His disciples is the same as turning away from a spiritually unhealthy self-love in favor of God’s true love which is always directed towards the other. ‘Do nothing from selfishness or conceit, but in humility count others better than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others’ (Philippians 2:3-4).” (Fr. Ted Bobosh)
“When we are invited to repentance for our sins, contrition and humility, forgiveness of others without even judging their intentions or motivations, searching for ways to put others first and learn to enjoy the ministry of service, rejecting praise and adulation as detrimental to the health of our souls, we are doing no more than what our Lord Jesus had done. To follow His example is formidable. In a society of greed and deceit, populated by those with the me-first attitude, true Christians must be humble without being duped or used by those who would exploit the gentle, tender and forgiving, while at the same time making use of the spiritual gift of discernment. The pure in heart are able to see with the eye of the Spirit the genuine from the con artist, the honest person from the deceiver.” (Fr. Vladimir Berzonsky)
“Remember, however, that even the most conscientious performance of spiritual disciplines lacks the power, in and of itself, to bring healing to our hearts, to our loved ones, or our world. Even as the Lord chided the disciples for their lack of faith, prayer, and fasting, He foretold His great Self-offering on the Cross and victory over death through His glorious resurrection on the third day. He alone is the Savior, but we open ourselves to receive His healing by calling to Him in humility from the depths of our broken hearts. They will be broken when we honestly engage the struggle to turn away from addiction to the self-centered desire that corrupts our relationships even with those we love most in this life. It is only then that we will be able to say with the brokenhearted father, “Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” It is only then that we will be able to entrust our hearts to Christ with integrity.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
Comments