Inside Out
- Michael Haldas
- 8 hours ago
- 3 min read
“…being a Christian isn’t about preserving a cultural tradition or repeating a religious routine. Faith is not measured by how often we enter a church building, nor by how much we know about rituals or church history. To be a Christian means to enter into a living relationship with Christ—not as a distant memory or symbol, but as the One who is alive, who loves, and who transforms every hidden corner of the soul. Christ doesn’t stand upon the altar like an idol waiting for offerings. He steps into the human heart like a holy fire that must be tended. And only when His love begins to soften our hearts—to drive out hatred, pride, and illusion—only then do we truly begin the Christian journey. Not only from the outside in, but from the inside out; not only from rule-keeping, but from receiving life; not only from “knowing,” but from being changed.” (Savva Tống)
“…faith changes the heart…faith reconfigures behavior…faith in the living God re-orders the entire personality…As we participate in the sacraments, the Holy Spirit works within us to reshape our consciousness and actions entirely. After receiving the Holy Mysteries, we plead with Christ that “every evil deed and every passion may flee as from fire.” The results of this prayer do not come about by magic, but by means of ascetic struggle aided by the grace of God. God’s grace guides our actions from the inside out, so that we may behave and live as children of the Light.” (Dynamis 4/17/2024)
“I have always said that Christianity is a movement from the inside out. Just look at how it grew in the world. It started with Christ Himself. He had an inner circle of three (Peter, James, and John), then the twelve, then the seventy, and so on. It was like a rock thrown into still waters and rippled outward. This inward movement in us begins with the acceptance of the bigger reality outside of us, Christ Himself in all of His glory. Next is the inward change in our hearts due to humility that leads to obedience and love. It culminates, or expresses itself, in the loving service to others in a concentric outward movement, meaning our immediate family, friends, then our church community then people we work with and am ever growing sphere depending on where God places us” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“The moral/spiritual life, when treated as one more progressive project, is largely marked by constant failure or worse. We cannot teach a corpse to behave like a living human being. Until the inner-man is healed, all outward efforts will end in frustration or a false existence. What is required in our life is not new behavior but a new creation. That new creation begins in the very depth of the soul. The journey to that depth is marked by weakness, shame, loneliness and what might even feel like failure. It is the difficult work of bringing into the light what we would often prefer to remain hidden. Christ has not come to improve us, but to remake us from the inside out.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“…Christ assumed our “fallen nature” and therefore was subject to all the trials and temptations that we face. Thus, the apostle writes that He can sympathize with all who “are ignorant and going astray” (Hebrews 5:2). Moreover, this identification not only enables Christ to be compassionate. His sharing of our fallen nature is the essence of His compassion. The Greek word for “compassion” is derived from the thought of “gentleness” and suggests the treatment of others with mildness…Therefore, The New King James Version translates the phrase as “able to deal gently”…We might say that the Lord knows us “from inside out” since he became one of us. He, therefore, understands our human condition and is kind and forgiving to us.” (Fr. Basil)
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