The essence of Orthodox Christian perfection
In our search for meaning in life, we are restless at heart and never fully satisfied. Only when we discover the purpose for which we were created, that is, when we discover our dignity , will we find peace in our hearts, be completely joyful and free, and open to love.
We must know that in our search or journey towards perfection and holiness we can go astray, fall into error and be far from the true and saving path. Therefore, we must be careful of landmarks, because if we get lost and fall into error, then we are in great danger of not discovering the purpose for which we were created and fulfilling the Lord's words: What does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul (Mt 16:26)?
The question arises, what are we obliged to do so that we can recognize the saving landmarks that will lead us to the purpose for which we were created, that is, to the bliss in Heaven?
To recognize the true landmarks and not fall into destructive error, we must humble ourselves and be obedient to the Lord's words: Ask, and it will be given to you! Seek, and you will find! Knock, and it will be opened to you! For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it will be opened (Mt 7:7-8).
Only by humbly and obediently carrying out the Lord's words will we find our dignity and come to a state where we can joyfully exclaim with Saint Augustine from a free and peaceful heart: "Great are you, Lord, and greatly to be praised, great is your power, and your wisdom is immeasurable. And man, a tiny part of your creation, wants to praise you, man who carries with him his mortality everywhere, who carries with him the testimony of his sin and the testimony that you oppose the proud. And yet man, a tiny part of your creation, wants to praise you. You encourage him to seek joy in praising you, because you created us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
The question arises, what are we obliged to do so that we can recognize the saving landmarks that will lead us to the purpose for which we were created, that is, to the bliss in Heaven?
To recognize the true landmarks and not fall into destructive error, we must humble ourselves and be obedient to the Lord's words: Ask, and it will be given to you! Seek, and you will find! Knock, and it will be opened to you! For everyone who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks it will be opened (Mt 7:7-8).
Only by humbly and obediently carrying out the Lord's words will we find our dignity and come to a state where we can joyfully exclaim with Saint Augustine from a free and peaceful heart: "Great are you, Lord, and greatly to be praised, great is your power, and your wisdom is immeasurable. And man, a tiny part of your creation, wants to praise you, man who carries with him his mortality everywhere, who carries with him the testimony of his sin and the testimony that you oppose the proud. And yet man, a tiny part of your creation, wants to praise you. You encourage him to seek joy in praising you, because you created us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it rests in you."
Love is the essence of our perfection.
The Lord Jesus Christ calls love for God the first and greatest commandment because without this love there is no perfection in us. All the perfection of our life is contained in love, as the Apostle Paul confirms: And above all these things, clothe yourselves with love, which is the bond of perfect harmony (Col 3:14).
The words of the Apostle Paul show that love unites all the virtues and makes them perfect. Therefore, we are obliged to strive for love in order to become perfect, that is, we are perfect only when our love is perfect .
From what has been said, it is clear that our perfection consists only in love. Since we are destined to unite with God once and enjoy Him for all eternity, our perfection consists only in love, that is, only love unites us with God and leads us to enjoy the joy of Heaven.
Therefore, if we fulfill the commandment to love God in its entirety, then we have become perfect , that is, we do what the Lord commands us : Therefore: be perfect as your heavenly Father is perfect (Mt 5:48)!
We would be mistaken if we sought our perfection in the performance of individual good works as well as in the mere observance of the evangelical counsels, that is, in voluntary poverty, perfect purity, and complete obedience.
Our perfection does not consist in voluntary poverty, because then, as Saint Jerome notes, even pagan sages would be perfect, many of whom despised earthly goods and voluntarily lived in poverty.
Our perfection does not consist in perfect purity either, because many pagans also believed in this virtue, and in the Gospel we can read about the five foolish virgins who were excluded from the wedding feast even though they were virgins.
Likewise, our perfection does not consist in complete obedience, because soldiers and robbers are often blindly obedient and yet because of that they are not perfect. The question arises, in what does our perfection consist?
The answer is always the same, our perfection consists only and solely in love, which the Lord confirms when He said to the rich young man who wanted to be perfect: If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven! Then come, follow me (Mt 19:21).
The rich young man had to leave his temporal goods only so that he could faithfully follow the Lord without any obstacles. In these words, by our perfection the Lord does not mean renouncing all earthly goods, but by renouncing He means that in our lives we are obliged to imitate Him.
The rich young man had to leave his temporal goods only so that he could faithfully follow the Lord without any obstacles. In these words, by our perfection the Lord does not mean renouncing all earthly goods, but by renouncing He means that in our lives we are obliged to imitate Him.
As St. Jerome and Ambrose say and teach, to follow the Lord means nothing else than to love Him. Only with love do we completely surrender and consecrate ourselves to the Lord, that is, we agree to follow Him, become His disciples and follow Him faithfully.
The question arises, what can be concluded from what has been said? As Christians, are we obliged to despise and belittle good works, virtues, and the evangelical counsels since our perfection does not consist in them?
No, not at all, because even if our perfection is not found in these expressions alone, they are nevertheless necessary or necessary means to achieve that perfection. Amen!
No, not at all, because even if our perfection is not found in these expressions alone, they are nevertheless necessary or necessary means to achieve that perfection. Amen!
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