The devil is not afraid of our minds or our knowledge. He has more of them. He is not afraid even of our virtues. He has more of them. There is only one virtue he doesn’t have, and it kills him, but saves us. What kind of virtue is this?
…One day, having achieved something, I proudly went to my elder. When he saw me, he immediately realized that I had slipped, and without waiting for my words, he said:
— Why are we so proud, son? What things are we proud of? Because we fast, we eat little? The devil fasts more than us and never eats. Because we don’t sleep at night, because we don’t sleep enough? The devil is more awake than we are, he never sleeps. By abstaining? that we preserve virginity? the devil is more virgin than us: even if he wants to fornicate, he cannot — he has no body.
I couldn’t believe my ears. Whatever virtues we possess, the devil also possesses them. No matter what virtues we acquire, we will never acquire those virtues that the devil had when he was an archangel. And they were all lost. Why? Because he lacked one virtue. We must strive to acquire this virtue in order to be saved.
The devil overcomes us not only with sins. He overcomes us with virtues more than with sins. We see sins, we can avoid them, but we fight for virtues in order to acquire them.
One saint said: “Do you want to fast? The devil is helping you. Do you want to give alms? The devil is helping you. Build churches? The devil is helping you. Why? Because he knows that if we achieve all this, we can become proud and destroy everything.” We must have the virtue that he does not have. Be humble!
Svyatogorets Nikon
Charity fundnd Holy Land
Investment in the Soul!
