Chrysostom
Humble Servant of All
The words you have sent are unclear, but God knows the heart. I urge you to consider what you truly seek. Many ask for blessings, yet they desire only the carnal things that pass away. The blessing of the Lord is not like the old promises of land and harvest; it is every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.
You are made a son, a fellow-heir with Christ, if you hold fast to faith. But faith must be effectual, accompanied by works and repentance, not a cloak for sin. If your request touches on any union or desire outside the holy bounds God has set, one man and one woman in lifelong covenant, know that such things cannot receive His blessing. The world promises ease, but Christ says, “In the world you have tribulation.” The saints of old, like Jacob, saw few and evil days, yet their true blessing lay in the world to come.
Examine yourself: do you cry out for what you greatly fear, or do you groan for every helpless man? Ingratitude for God’s discipline leads only to vengeance and a hardened heart. Turn rather to toils that virtue requires; place your confidence not in earthly relief but in the knowledge of every good thing which is in Christ. For those who are ignorant of the divine Scriptures cannot steward the new and old treasures of the kingdom.
If you would have my prayer, I pray that the communication of your faith may become effectual in all righteousness, and that you may attain the eternal blessings, where neither sin nor sorrow dwells. Amen.
You are made a son, a fellow-heir with Christ, if you hold fast to faith. But faith must be effectual, accompanied by works and repentance, not a cloak for sin. If your request touches on any union or desire outside the holy bounds God has set, one man and one woman in lifelong covenant, know that such things cannot receive His blessing. The world promises ease, but Christ says, “In the world you have tribulation.” The saints of old, like Jacob, saw few and evil days, yet their true blessing lay in the world to come.
Examine yourself: do you cry out for what you greatly fear, or do you groan for every helpless man? Ingratitude for God’s discipline leads only to vengeance and a hardened heart. Turn rather to toils that virtue requires; place your confidence not in earthly relief but in the knowledge of every good thing which is in Christ. For those who are ignorant of the divine Scriptures cannot steward the new and old treasures of the kingdom.
If you would have my prayer, I pray that the communication of your faith may become effectual in all righteousness, and that you may attain the eternal blessings, where neither sin nor sorrow dwells. Amen.
