Practical spiritual advice /4/ – True and false repentance
1Jn 1:7 “If we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from every sin.”
The blood of Jesus Christ cleanses us from all sin if we walk in the light. What does it mean to walk in the light? To confess our sins is the first step in the light.
The second step in the light is to fix our spiritual eyes on Jesus crucified and to receive His forgiveness by faith. “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (1Jn 1:9) Jesus died for my sins however small or great they are. We must wholly trust in God’s mercy. Not to degrade God’s mercy by saying: “God is merciful, so I can sin.” That’s a deceit. Remember that God is just at the same time. God did promise the forgiveness of sins but He did not promise you tomorrow. I must not rely on God’s goodness, sinning. I must resist sin: I won’t sin! I won’t! I must cut off a sinful thought or feeling and start to think about something different.
If I confess my sins in the light, it means that I confess them in God’s, Jesus’ presence. I cannot confess sins like Judas, for that was not in the light! That was in despair. He returned money into the temple, took a rope and went to hell. If he had fallen on his knees and said: “Lord, forgive me, I have sinned…”, we would now have St Judas. Although he was a traitor, God would have forgiven him. But he believed the devil instead of God. And the spirit of Judas is a great danger. It begins with the love of money and ends in despair and rebellion against God. Why did Judas become a traitor if he had seen the miracles? In certain situations, when I met different people, I could see that they were in the bondage of the spirit of Judas. They were in rebellion against God. And then I could see their addiction to money, though they did not have much. If someone has responsibility for his family, he cannot be indifferent, he needs money. But we cannot serve both God and mammon. If I serve God, He will give me the money I need. But if you give the first place to money and put God aside, it’s bad. It is the mystery of original sin in us that many people are in hell, and broad is the way that leads to hell. If people knew that they are going to hell, they would never want to go there. Who wants to suffer in hell? That’s absurd. And the faith of Christians today is often so weak! They are not rooted in Christ, have their own lifestyle, including monks and priests. That’s miserable. They were not guided in the essence to be really aware who Jesus is.
We must give God the first place in our life. All things pass away and what is behind us will return never more. Not a single second. Someone is 30, someone 50 years old, and not a single second will return. Future is not in our hands. We live this day, this hour, this second but we are not sure if we will live to see the end of it. Every day we should bear in mind Jesus’ words: “Could you not watch with Me one hour?” We should give at least the tenth part of time to God – it doesn’t mean to spend two and a half hours daily in prayer but to make at least 5-minute stops during the day in order to give God one hour every day. That’s why we so much emphasize the holy hour from 8 to 9 p.m., because this is time when people are most under pressure of TV. We should acquire a habit: 8 p.m. – we all pray! And if you adopt such a rule, it will protect you. In the holy hour, we can confess our sins, sing songs, read the Scripture… The most difficult thing is to begin! To find time for God! When we were building a house, we tried to pray at least half an hour during the holy hour, though every minute was so precious.
We should give the tithe of time. In the past, people used to pray the Our Father and Hail Mary before sleep. They adopted this form of piety. However, this can’t give us the strength to live and sacrifice our suffering. Certainly, if the whole village folk used to go to church, the village lived in a Christian atmosphere and life principles were based on a Christian foundation, maybe such a short prayer was sufficient. That was the minimum thanks to which the believers did not die spiritually. They at least eked out a spiritual living but definitely did not burn with love for God. However, today to found our spiritual life on such a short prayer is impossible. If we want to resist the pressure of the world, we need an established order, certain principles according to which we are able to live – it must not be something unrealizable but a definite time which we can make the most of. The holy hour not only edifies the individual but it also restores the family. If the family – husband, wife and children – pray every day, sing songs, read the Scripture, confess their sins, shortly give thanks for God’s favours and ask for God’s help, one hour will be too short for them. Prayer in common forms children as well as their parents, and strengthens the family.
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