Kind of like seeing your own eyeball, seeing and critiquing one's own worldview is rather difficult. One of the best tools for accomplishing this difficult task is the spiritual father. The church has established for us this wonderful blessing. We need to take the responsibility of using the tool.
The spiritual father is one who has spent many years and effort in cleansing his soul from sin and learning to listen to the guidance of the Holy Spirit. This is so incredibly foreign to our modern American thinking that it almost sounds ridiculous.
The spiritual father is one who can see our hearts and our weaknesses and guide us toward holiness. He can see things that we cannot see. He is familiar with the lies that we tell ourselves and that the demons tell us. He knows how to avoid certain sins, how to work past certain sins and how to repent.
The hard part is finding one, for as Paul tells us in 1 Cor 4, there are not many fathers.
The place to start is your local Eastern Orthodox church.
Sunday, August 28, 2016
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Marginally related:
ReplyDeletePastor Assink, if you are open to considering teaching requests, I and perhaps others would like to hear your insights on the subject of fasting as the prophets did. IE, how long to fast, how this benefits the soul and ones spiritual relationship with the Lord, what to expect and what not to expect, etc. So far I have conducted 3 fasts of 24hrs each, one per week, and hope to be achieving something positive. The idea of a longer fast is on the table, pending advisability.
Thank you in advance
- C