Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Consider the nature of the conflict you have described. You see an enemy pressing in, and you name your wife as the threat to your inheritance. But lift your eyes higher: “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers.” The spirit that now works in her is what truly wars against you, seeking to steal not merely your money but your peace, your holiness, your heavenly treasure. For the struggle is not about riches, not about glory, but about our being enslaved. The enemy’s aim is to despoil you of vast blessings, to cast you out of the peace that is your true inheritance. When you fear the loss of earthly goods, you have already yielded ground.
What inheritance do you seek to protect? Money that perishes? A sum that can be squandered in a holiday? In Heaven there is no such fear: after a man is dead, no enemy succeeds to his inheritance. The tabernacles of the saints are eternal, built not with carpenters but by the hands of the poor. If you would safeguard your true wealth, exhaust your care on that which is incorruptible. Do not cling so fiercely to what cannot last. He who has stolen your money has not injured you, only let him not steal the treasure which is above. You fret over a loan that will not be repaid; but what if God permits this to test your hold on things of earth? “Follow peace with all men, and holiness.” Marriage is not the giver of holiness, but it preserves the holiness that comes from faith by forbidding defilement. Your wife’s separation from your bed is a wound to that bond, yet you treat the money as the greater crisis. Seek first the restoration of chastity and unity, not the withholding of a sum she desires.
You ask for God’s intervention to head her off and provide for her so she does not lose face. But consider: is it always gain to be spared every temporal shame? Sometimes the Lord allows our schemes to fail so that we may learn to despise the world’s honours. Why pray for what may feed her vainglory? Instead, pray that she be delivered from the love of money, which is the root of this strife. Her deception and threats are the fruit of covetousness. And what of your own heart? Examine whether you too have been snared. Every conflict springs either from covetousness, or envy, or vainglory. If you both were at peace, you would learn to despise the things of the earth.
Do not rush into this fray as if the kingdom of heaven depended on a few hundred dollars. Our King often disguises His power, permitting the enemy to advance, that the victory might be more glorious when we stand firm without striking a blow. Be quiet, and wait for the time of conflict; do not let anxiety provoke you into a battle over perishable goods. You have an invincible ally, the grace of the Spirit. Why then do you tremble as one unarmed? Your true enemy knows he cannot rob you of heaven unless you consent. So turn your prayers: ask not so much that God stop her hand, but that He cut out the root of worldly desire in both your hearts. Then the fruit of discord will wither.
The severity of this trial may be a sign that you are near the end of these conflicts; the devil rages because his time is short. Endure nobly. Entrust the money to God. If it is taken, you have lost nothing of substance. If you keep it but lose your peace, you have gained nothing. Strive for the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, and that includes the ordered life of marriage, the bed undefiled. Pursue peace with the wife given you by God, not by handing over what she demands, but by showing her a soul set free from the love of riches. Then you will overcome the spiritual hosts of wickedness, for darkness is driven away by light.
What inheritance do you seek to protect? Money that perishes? A sum that can be squandered in a holiday? In Heaven there is no such fear: after a man is dead, no enemy succeeds to his inheritance. The tabernacles of the saints are eternal, built not with carpenters but by the hands of the poor. If you would safeguard your true wealth, exhaust your care on that which is incorruptible. Do not cling so fiercely to what cannot last. He who has stolen your money has not injured you, only let him not steal the treasure which is above. You fret over a loan that will not be repaid; but what if God permits this to test your hold on things of earth? “Follow peace with all men, and holiness.” Marriage is not the giver of holiness, but it preserves the holiness that comes from faith by forbidding defilement. Your wife’s separation from your bed is a wound to that bond, yet you treat the money as the greater crisis. Seek first the restoration of chastity and unity, not the withholding of a sum she desires.
You ask for God’s intervention to head her off and provide for her so she does not lose face. But consider: is it always gain to be spared every temporal shame? Sometimes the Lord allows our schemes to fail so that we may learn to despise the world’s honours. Why pray for what may feed her vainglory? Instead, pray that she be delivered from the love of money, which is the root of this strife. Her deception and threats are the fruit of covetousness. And what of your own heart? Examine whether you too have been snared. Every conflict springs either from covetousness, or envy, or vainglory. If you both were at peace, you would learn to despise the things of the earth.
Do not rush into this fray as if the kingdom of heaven depended on a few hundred dollars. Our King often disguises His power, permitting the enemy to advance, that the victory might be more glorious when we stand firm without striking a blow. Be quiet, and wait for the time of conflict; do not let anxiety provoke you into a battle over perishable goods. You have an invincible ally, the grace of the Spirit. Why then do you tremble as one unarmed? Your true enemy knows he cannot rob you of heaven unless you consent. So turn your prayers: ask not so much that God stop her hand, but that He cut out the root of worldly desire in both your hearts. Then the fruit of discord will wither.
The severity of this trial may be a sign that you are near the end of these conflicts; the devil rages because his time is short. Endure nobly. Entrust the money to God. If it is taken, you have lost nothing of substance. If you keep it but lose your peace, you have gained nothing. Strive for the holiness without which no man shall see the Lord, and that includes the ordered life of marriage, the bed undefiled. Pursue peace with the wife given you by God, not by handing over what she demands, but by showing her a soul set free from the love of riches. Then you will overcome the spiritual hosts of wickedness, for darkness is driven away by light.
