Be perfect like the Father in a body of dust. How to seek perfection in a sinful body

Summary

The speaker reflects on the importance of confession and spiritual guidance, emphasizing the clarity gained from these practices. They discuss the paradox of striving for perfection as commanded by God, while acknowledging human limitations and the need for mercy. The message urges embracing the commandment to love God and neighbor with all one's being, recognizing the impossibility of achieving perfection in this life, and the importance of repentance and God's forgiveness in shaping a Christian soul.

Takeaways

• 🛐 The importance of making confession and seeking spiritual guidance, as it brings clarity and direction in life.
• 🔄 The struggle to maintain a consistent spiritual practice due to the physical and temporal distance from one's spiritual father.
• 🌟 The realization of God's extreme commandment for perfection and the acknowledgment of our human inability to achieve it without divine grace.
• 💔 The need to hate one's own life and soul to gain eternal life, as paradoxically taught in the scriptures.
• 🙏 The concept of striving for perfection while recognizing our inherent imperfection and the necessity of God's mercy.
• 🔄 The balance between the pursuit of spiritual perfection and the acceptance of God's mercy when we fail.
• 🕊️ The transformative power of confession and absolution, which can lead to a renewed sense of clarity and purpose.
• 🚶 The danger of falling into pride or despondency if we focus too much on either our achievements or our failures.
• 🔥 The metaphor of metal being shaped by fire, illustrating how suffering can mold us into the image God intended.
• 💔 The potential for spiritual blindness and hardness of heart if we do not allow the pain of our sins to touch us deeply.
• 🌱 The encouragement to allow suffering to shape us into saints, emphasizing the role of pain in our spiritual growth.
• 🌟 The reminder that no matter our age or past, the ideal of perfection is always achievable through God's grace.

Q & A

What is the main purpose of the speaker's visit to their spiritual father in Romania?

The speaker visits their spiritual father in Romania to make their confession, which they describe as a difficult but necessary journey that brings clarity and guidance in their spiritual life.

How often does the speaker typically see their spiritual father?

The speaker sees their spiritual father only two to three times a year due to the time and effort it takes to travel to and from the monasteries and Bucharest.

What does the speaker describe as the 'extreme commandment' or 'extreme element' in God's desire for us?

The speaker refers to the extreme commandment as God's demand for perfection and complete devotion, with no room for compromise or negotiation in fulfilling His will.

According to the speaker, what should be our attitude after striving for perfection and making sacrifices for God?

The speaker suggests that even after striving for perfection and making sacrifices, we should consider ourselves as worthless servants who have only fulfilled a commandment, avoiding pride and recognizing our ongoing need for God's mercy.

What paradox does the speaker identify in the scriptures regarding God's commandments and His mercy?

The speaker identifies a paradox where God commands us to give our all without compromise, yet also offers infinite mercy and forgiveness when we fail, providing second and even seventh chances.

What does the speaker suggest is the consequence of not feeling the pain of our sins?

The speaker warns that if we do not allow the pain of our sins to affect us, our hearts may harden, and we may become insensitive and indifferent to God's love, losing the ability to see and feel His presence.

How does the speaker relate the Christian soul's formation to the balance between striving for perfection and relying on God's mercy?

The speaker explains that a Christian soul is formed in the balance between trying our best to be perfect and recognizing our need for God's mercy when we fail, using this dynamic to avoid both pride and despondency.

What role does the speaker believe pride plays in our spiritual journey, and how can it be guarded against?

The speaker believes that pride can lead to a loss of spiritual progress and warns that Christ protects us against pride by reminding us of our need for humility and reliance on His grace.

What analogy does the speaker use to describe the transformative power of suffering in our spiritual lives?

The speaker uses the analogy of metal being shaped in fire, suggesting that suffering can reshape and refine us into the image God intended, provided we allow it to affect us deeply.

What is the speaker's hope for the listeners after making their confession and receiving absolution?

The speaker hopes that the clarity gained from confession and absolution will stay with the listeners throughout their lives, guarding them against pride, despondency, and carelessness, and guiding them towards spiritual growth.

Outlines

00:00

🙏 Spiritual Clarity Through Confession

The speaker discusses the profound sense of clarity received after making a confession to their spiritual father, an event that occurs only a few times a year due to travel constraints. They emphasize the importance of striving for perfection in God's eyes, as emphasized in scriptures, and the impossibility of negotiating with divine commandments. The speaker reflects on the paradox of God's demand for perfection and the reality of human failure, highlighting the importance of recognizing one's shortcomings while also acknowledging God's infinite mercy and patience as illustrated through biblical examples like the prodigal son.

05:02

🔥 Balancing Perfection and Mercy

This paragraph delves into the Christian soul's formation between the extremes of striving for perfection and relying on God's mercy. The speaker warns against the dangers of pride that can accompany perceived spiritual success and the despondency that comes with recognizing repeated failure. They stress the need to maintain the tension between these two poles, using personal failure as a catalyst for immediate repentance and reliance on God's forgiveness. The speaker also touches on the importance of allowing the pain of sin to penetrate the heart to avoid becoming insensitive or hardened, and the necessity of continuous striving despite the inevitability of falling short.

10:04

🌟 Embracing Suffering for Sanctification

The final paragraph focuses on the transformative power of suffering in the spiritual journey. The speaker likens the Christian soul to metal that becomes malleable through the fire of suffering, shaping it into the divine image intended by God. They caution against avoiding the pain of sin, which is necessary for spiritual growth and sensitivity to God's presence. The speaker concludes with a prayer for clarity to accompany the listeners throughout their lives, guarding them against pride, despondency, and spiritual complacency.

Keywords

💡Confession

Confession in the context of this video refers to the religious practice of admitting one's sins to a spiritual guide or priest, seeking absolution and guidance. It is integral to the speaker's narrative as it brings about a sense of clarity and direction in life. The speaker mentions making their confession after a long time, indicating its importance in maintaining spiritual health.

💡Spiritual Father

The term 'spiritual father' denotes a religious leader or mentor who provides spiritual guidance and counsel. In the script, the speaker has a deep respect for their spiritual father in Romania, traveling great distances to receive counsel, which underscores the significance of spiritual mentorship in their life.

💡Clarity

Clarity, in this video, represents a state of mental and spiritual lucidity that the speaker experiences after confession. It is associated with understanding what truly matters in life and the path forward. The speaker emphasizes the recurring gift of clarity they receive, which helps them navigate life's complexities.

💡Perfection

Perfection is a central theme in the video, referring to the high standard set by God for humanity, as mentioned in the scriptures. The speaker discusses the commandment to be perfect, using terms like 'extreme need' and 'no place for delusion or compromise,' highlighting the pursuit of moral and spiritual excellence.

💡Commandment

A commandment, in this context, is a divine directive or moral law that the speaker believes Christians are obliged to follow. The script repeatedly emphasizes the importance of adhering to God's commandments without compromise, suggesting a strict moral code to live by.

💡Mercy

Mercy is portrayed as God's forgiving nature, offering second chances despite human failings. The speaker contrasts the demand for perfection with the reality of human imperfection, illustrating the balance between striving for spiritual excellence and relying on divine mercy.

💡Pride

Pride is warned against in the video as a potential consequence of spiritual achievements. The speaker cautions against the risk of becoming prideful when one believes they have achieved spiritual perfection, using the example of the Pharisee from the Old Testament.

💡Despondency

Despondency refers to a state of despair or loss of hope, which the speaker advises against falling into due to perceived spiritual failures. It is positioned as a danger that can lead to spiritual stagnation or regression if not countered by striving for perfection and seeking God's mercy.

💡Paradox

The paradox mentioned in the video is the seeming contradiction between the demand for total commitment to spiritual perfection and the reality of God's boundless mercy. It is the tension between these two poles that shapes the Christian soul, according to the speaker.

💡Sacrifice

Sacrifice is the act of giving up something valuable for the sake of a higher purpose, in this case, spiritual devotion. The speaker encourages the utmost sacrifice in one's life for God, suggesting it as a path to spiritual growth and fulfillment.

💡Repentance

Repentance is the act of feeling regret or remorse for one's wrongdoings and seeking to amend one's behavior. The speaker discusses the necessity of repentance, linking it to the process of confession and the subsequent receiving of absolution.

Highlights

The importance of making confession and seeking spiritual guidance, as it provides clarity and direction in life.

The challenge of maintaining a spiritual connection with a spiritual father, especially with the physical distance involved.

The concept of perfection as emphasized by God's commandments, and the pursuit of it as a spiritual goal.

The impossibility of achieving perfection and the role of humility in recognizing one's limitations.

The paradox of striving for perfection while also relying on God's mercy and forgiveness.

The necessity to love God with everything one has, as a reflection of God's love for us.

The idea of considering oneself as a 'worthless servant' after achieving one's best, to maintain humility.

The potential for pride to undermine spiritual growth and the importance of guarding against it.

The role of suffering in shaping one's spiritual life and the transformative power of embracing it.

The warning against complacency and the need to continually strive for spiritual improvement.

The metaphor of metal being shaped by fire as an analogy for spiritual transformation through trials.

The significance of the prodigal son parable in illustrating God's mercy and the possibility of redemption.

The balance between striving for spiritual perfection and acknowledging human fallibility.

The spiritual danger of despondency and the importance of maintaining hope and striving for improvement.

The transformative power of confession and the role of pain in deepening one's spiritual connection with God.

The metaphor of the hardened heart and the spiritual blindness that can result from repeated sin without repentance.

The final call to embrace the clarity received through confession and to live a life of spiritual striving and humility.

Transcripts

hello my dear

ones I have just returned from seeing my

spiritual father in Romania and uh

making My Confession after a long time

it's quite difficult for me as some of

you know to make my way to see my

spiritual father and then travel back to

the monasteries it takes two days from

Iona to Bucharest and two other days

back to Iona so I only end up seeing him

twice maybe three times a year if God

bless is but I wanted to share with you

a

certain sense of

clarity that is always returned to me

always gifted to me by the grace of God

after I've seen my spiritual father and

after I've made my confession there's a

sense of

clarity about what matters and what does

not matter about the way forward and the

ways to get things wrong which

unfortunately as time goes by

um gets muddled and I tend to to lose

sight

of there

is an extremism I don't know how else to

express it there's an extreme

commandment or there's an

extreme element in

God's desire for us there is an extreme

need that he voices repeatedly

throughout the scriptures for us to give

him our

role there is no place for delting what

he asks of us there is no place for

negotiation there is no place for trying

to make do with 20% or

40% he asks us very plainly to be

perfect he talks about us having the per

affection which the father himself God

the Father himself has he talks about

the need for us to hate our own lives in

order to be granted eternal life he

talks about the need for us to hate our

souls in order for us to save our souls

and there are countless examples in the

scriptures uh about this commandment of

Christ that we should be perfect and

that we should give God our every

and once we've done everything there

isn't even the question of not doing

anything or doing things halfway once

we've done everything to the degree of

perfection that we are able to do things

then we should consider ourselves as

worthless servants who have achieved

nothing except fulfilling a Commandment

that was given to

them he asks us to be perfect he asks us

to love him with everything that we are

he asks us to love our neighbor with as

if the neighbor is ourself he again gets

back to the idea of perfection with

God's Perfection and then once we've

achieved all of that assuming anybody

ever achieves all of that in this

lifetime we should consider ourselves as

nothing but worthless servants who have

done nothing but fulfill a Commandment

that was a

requirement and that's where the clarity

lies for me this need absolute need to

try one's absolute best this extreme

need to try one's extreme best to

sacrifice everything in one's life for

God that is something that we can never

delute and even if by the grace of God

or by the Temptation of the evil one

even if we get to a point where we think

we have actually done that we should

think of ourselves as having achieved

nothing and when Christ tells us that he

actually protects us he guards us

against our own

Pride because it is possible that we

achieve things in the Holy Spirit and

then because of the pride with which we

contemplate what we've achieved we lose

everything and

yet at the same time as Christ demands

us to to be perfect with God's

Perfection he is also fully

aware that for all of us this is

impossible and this is why the gospel is

also filled with examples of his mercy

and of his patience examples of the

prodigal son and prodigal daughters in

all their incarnations in the world

examples of those who have worked from

the first hour but also those who have

worked from the 10th 11th or 12th hour

and who are also received with the same

love and mercy and the same gentle

Embrace of a parent as those who have

sacrificed everything from the very

beginning there is this Paradox in the

scriptures between God's Commandment

that we should give him our

all without delusion without negotiation

without compromise and at the same time

when there's not a question of if but

when we see

that we've fallen and we've failed in

doing that there's always a second

chance and there's always a seventh

chance and there's a chance even if you

fall 7even time 7even which is a symbol

of the infinite in the

scriptures and it's between these two

extremes our need to always try our

absolute best and our need to always

fall back onto God's mercy and love and

forgiveness it's between these two

extremes that a Christian soul is

formed because if you only hold on to

the need to be perfect you either fall

into

Pride if by some miracle or Again by

some delusion of the devil you manage to

actually do something with your

spiritual life you will fall into pride

and you'll become like the Pharisee like

all those righteous ones of the Old

Testament whom Christ

condemns or you will fall into complete

despondency seeing how you fail again

and again and again and if you let go of

this need to try your best to be perfect

and you only Embrace God's love and

mercy and the idea that oh God is the

forgiving father then you are going to

walk follow in your filth and in your

sin until the moment when death will

grab you and nothing good will come out

of it it's between these two extremes

that we are placed on our own personal

cross the cross that forces us to try

our best to love God love our neighbor

and do actually do everything that

Christ commands us to do and when we

fail we need to immediately go back and

allow God to wash us to forgive us to

give us the love and the life to restart

again and again and again and again

until the moment death finds us either

Fallen God forbid or trying again may

God grant that to all of

us if you only Embrace his love we are

going to be like like dogs that always

go back to their filth and our hearts if

you fall and you

don't allow that fold to cut deep to

hurt you to create pain in you then our

hearts would thicken and our our eyes

would go blind and we would become as

Christ tells us like those who are now

blind because they've refused refus to

see and once they've refused to see they

lose the ability to

see and our hearts have hardened the

skin of our hearts have thickened to a

degree where we no longer see him we no

longer feel him he is the light telling

us follow me follow the light while you

have the light so that you can become

children of light and what does he say

and they didn't do that because their

eyes had grown blind so they couldn't

see and their hearts had thickened so

they couldn't hear and feel and that

happens every time we fall and we think

it doesn't matter because God

automatically as if he's a machine will

forgive and erase my

sin God will always forgive and erase

our sins if we allow our fallenness to

cut deep and to create pain he needs

that cut in our hearts so that our

hearts are open so that his forgiveness

and his healing saving hand can reach

deep inside and shape us into the saint

he created us to be if we try to protect

ourselves against the pain the suffering

of sin then we just add layer upon layer

upon layer of of

carelessness and insensitivity

and just

plain blasphemy and disregard for God's

love never compromise on the ideal that

Christ places before us that we should

be perfect and remember that even if

you've been living a life of sin until

your 60s or 70s or 80s if you still have

a fraction of a second of life in you

that ideal of being perfect

is still achievable by his grace never

compromise that because you would lose

the ideal of Salvation and on the other

hand never ever allow the devil to push

you either in despondency for the weight

of your sin or into a state of not

feeling the pain of your sin

anymore allow suffering to shape you my

brother

allow suffering to to shape you into the

saint you made to be my sister we are

like like metal it's such a beautiful

image that the fathers are using again

and again a plain metal like iron when

it is placed and left into the fire

becomes golden like fire it's like

nature of fire is imparted to the

harshness of iron and the minute you

remove the iron from the fire slowly

slowly it goes back into

its into its harsh nature that's

impossible to reshape and remold

according to that Divine seed Divine

image in

it may God bless you my brother and my

sister and may this Clarity that I'm I'm

certain it's not just me experiencing

this Clarity that we all get by the

grace of God after we've made our

confession and received our Absolution

for our sins may this Clarity by the

grace of God travel with our hearts and

our minds and our bodies all our lives

because this Clarity would guard us

against both

pride and

despondency or

carelessness be blessed to the core to

the the the Ence of your being my

beloved

ones amen

amen amen