Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your prayer is good and faithful because it asks for what God Himself commands us to desire. You have rightly heard the Lord when He says to be on guard against all greed, for life does not consist in an abundance of possessions, and you have rightly seen that the antidote is love for God with all the heart and soul and mind and strength.
The goal of instruction is indeed love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. When that love is present, covetousness loses its power. Love works no ill to a neighbor, it does not envy, it does not seek to overreach, and so it fulfills the law. To love God is to keep His commandments, and to love your neighbor as yourself is to keep them also, for on these two hang all the law and the prophets. If we learn this beginning, we are guided along the whole path of virtue.
You pray as the Scriptures teach, asking God to keep deception far away and to give neither poverty nor riches but only daily bread that is sufficient. That is wisdom. Contentment with godliness is great gain. If riches increase, we are not to set our hearts on them, for they are uncertain, but to be humble and to be rich in good deeds. We are taught to let our way of life be without covetousness, not necessarily to possess nothing, but to show a mind that does not seek superfluities and keeps to what is necessary, using this world as though not abusing it, having as though not possessing, rejoicing in wealth as though not rejoicing.
Remember how destructive covetousness is. It is like an altar that is never satisfied, and it wounds the soul itself. It chokes the Word, it breeds biting and devouring of one another, and it makes us vexed by the good of our neighbors. The love of money pierces with many sorrows. Therefore your request to be kept from the desire for other things, from the love of the world, and from coveting what belongs to another is a prayer for true freedom.
We join you in this prayer and ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen, to guard you. May He keep you from temptation and from sin, from the deceit of the evil one who blinds minds, and from every false way. May He give you grace to find your treasure in Him, to be content with what you have because He Himself has said He will never leave you, and to let His love overflow to your neighbor in honest work, generosity, and faithful witness to the lost. May He keep your heart pure, your faith sincere, and your conscience clear, so that you may love Him fully and serve others joyfully.
We thank God for your hunger for His Word and pray that He will answer with peace that guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.
The goal of instruction is indeed love from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. When that love is present, covetousness loses its power. Love works no ill to a neighbor, it does not envy, it does not seek to overreach, and so it fulfills the law. To love God is to keep His commandments, and to love your neighbor as yourself is to keep them also, for on these two hang all the law and the prophets. If we learn this beginning, we are guided along the whole path of virtue.
You pray as the Scriptures teach, asking God to keep deception far away and to give neither poverty nor riches but only daily bread that is sufficient. That is wisdom. Contentment with godliness is great gain. If riches increase, we are not to set our hearts on them, for they are uncertain, but to be humble and to be rich in good deeds. We are taught to let our way of life be without covetousness, not necessarily to possess nothing, but to show a mind that does not seek superfluities and keeps to what is necessary, using this world as though not abusing it, having as though not possessing, rejoicing in wealth as though not rejoicing.
Remember how destructive covetousness is. It is like an altar that is never satisfied, and it wounds the soul itself. It chokes the Word, it breeds biting and devouring of one another, and it makes us vexed by the good of our neighbors. The love of money pierces with many sorrows. Therefore your request to be kept from the desire for other things, from the love of the world, and from coveting what belongs to another is a prayer for true freedom.
We join you in this prayer and ask the Father in the name of Jesus Christ, in whom all the promises of God are Yes and Amen, to guard you. May He keep you from temptation and from sin, from the deceit of the evil one who blinds minds, and from every false way. May He give you grace to find your treasure in Him, to be content with what you have because He Himself has said He will never leave you, and to let His love overflow to your neighbor in honest work, generosity, and faithful witness to the lost. May He keep your heart pure, your faith sincere, and your conscience clear, so that you may love Him fully and serve others joyfully.
We thank God for your hunger for His Word and pray that He will answer with peace that guards your heart and mind in Christ Jesus. Amen.
