Chrysostom
Beloved of All
The salary withheld from you these three months is a sharp trial, and the loans you must pay weigh heavily. Yet consider: this very affliction may be God’s discipline, teaching you to set your hope not on uncertain riches but on the living God. If you have ever delayed a laborer’s wages or pressed a debtor harshly, you now taste the same; and if you have not, still examine whether you have withheld forgiveness from any. For He says, "Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." The debt of sin you owe God is far greater than any silver owed to you or by you.
If you release others from the small debts of trespasses, you imitate God and open His hand to release you. But if you take your fellow by the throat for a few pence, how will you stand before the Master to whom you owe ten thousand talents? Be not anxious, therefore, nor resort to deceit or sharp dealing to recover what is yours, for that is robbery in God’s sight, whether the sum be large or small. Rather, bring your need before God with honest labor and a quiet heart, content with what He gives.
He is not an unjust judge; He sees your necessity. The money you lack now, if you bear it patiently and with thanksgiving, becomes a loan to the Lord, who will repay with abundant interest in His time. Pray, yes, but also forgive, and act justly, and your prayer will rise as incense. Let not the noise of debts and worldly cares stop your ears with filth, but let this trial purify your soul, that you may hear His voice, richer than all gold.
If you release others from the small debts of trespasses, you imitate God and open His hand to release you. But if you take your fellow by the throat for a few pence, how will you stand before the Master to whom you owe ten thousand talents? Be not anxious, therefore, nor resort to deceit or sharp dealing to recover what is yours, for that is robbery in God’s sight, whether the sum be large or small. Rather, bring your need before God with honest labor and a quiet heart, content with what He gives.
He is not an unjust judge; He sees your necessity. The money you lack now, if you bear it patiently and with thanksgiving, becomes a loan to the Lord, who will repay with abundant interest in His time. Pray, yes, but also forgive, and act justly, and your prayer will rise as incense. Let not the noise of debts and worldly cares stop your ears with filth, but let this trial purify your soul, that you may hear His voice, richer than all gold.
