Saint Makarios the GreatOn Heart and Mind
When those who are rich in the Holy Spirit, really having the heavenly wealth and the fellowship of the Spirit in themselves, speak to any the word of truth…it is out of their own wealth and their own treasure, which they possess within themselves when they speak, and out of this that they gladden the souls of the hearers of the spiritual discourse…
But one who is poor, and does not possess the wealth of Christ in his soul…even if he wishes to speak a word of truth and to gladden some of his hearers, yet not possessing within himself the Word of God in power and reality but only repeating from memory and borrowing words from various parts of the book of Scripture, or what he has heard from spiritual men, and relating and teaching this - see, he seems to gladden others…but after he has gone through it, each word goes back to the source from which it was taken, and he himself remains once more naked and poor…For this reason we should seek first from God with pain of heart and in faith, that he would grant us to find this wealth, the true treasure of Christ in our hearts, in the power and effectual working of the Spirit. In this way, first finding in ourselves the Lord to be our profit and salvation and eternal life, we may then profit others also, according to our strength and opportunity, drawing upon Christ, the treasure within.”
But one who is poor, and does not possess the wealth of Christ in his soul…even if he wishes to speak a word of truth and to gladden some of his hearers, yet not possessing within himself the Word of God in power and reality but only repeating from memory and borrowing words from various parts of the book of Scripture, or what he has heard from spiritual men, and relating and teaching this - see, he seems to gladden others…but after he has gone through it, each word goes back to the source from which it was taken, and he himself remains once more naked and poor…For this reason we should seek first from God with pain of heart and in faith, that he would grant us to find this wealth, the true treasure of Christ in our hearts, in the power and effectual working of the Spirit. In this way, first finding in ourselves the Lord to be our profit and salvation and eternal life, we may then profit others also, according to our strength and opportunity, drawing upon Christ, the treasure within.”
Mourning Dove
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