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Gebre Menfes Kidus
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« on: February 08, 2013, 08:14:51 AM » |
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You are not a failure. You are a child of God. You might sin, struggle, stumble, and fall; but you are NOT a failure. You are the very image of God. You are so valuable that God became a man and died on the Cross for you. You are so precious in His sight that He extends His unfailing mercy and offers His unconditional love to you. The judgments of society are not the judgments of Our Lord. The fickle loyalty of man is not the abiding love of God. The demands of society are not the peace of the Savior. The standards of the world are not the expectations of our Creator. Sometimes those who try the hardest are those who suffer the most. Those who strive to ‘seek peace and pursue it’ [I Peter 3:11] are those who experience the greatest violence. Those who proclaim righteousness are those who may fall into the worst of sins. Those who desire holiness are those who may succumb to the foulest temptations. And those who truly serve a heavenly cause are those who may suffer the worst earthly hardships. When people say, “His ministry failed; her marriage failed; their children failed; etc.” they speak the words of the devil rather than the words of God. For “Our Lord works all things together for the good of those who love Him.” [Romans 8:28] The works of true love and genuine service to others are never failures. Ministry and marriage are not businesses that predicate success upon financial gain, popular following, or longevity. What appears to be stable on the outside may be rotten at the core, and what appears to be broken on the surface may be rock solid underneath. So remember that God does not look at any of His children as ‘failures.’ His love is too pure, too great, too faithful and too profound. He looks upon us with love- not because we deserve it, not because we have earned it, not because we are holy and not because we are wretched. God loves mankind because He is God and He has fashioned us with divine love. If we know this truth, we will rise up and march forward with faith and hope- regardless of our circumstances, setbacks, sins or mistakes. The love of God is ever faithful and ever sure. Let nothing cause us to think otherwise. Selam, +GMK+ |
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« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 08:17:20 AM by Gebre Menfes Kidus »
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"Salvation is free, but not easy. It is completely dependent upon the grace of God, and yet we must work it out with fear and trembling. It is given to all, but only a few find it. We are saved only by His Cross, and yet not without taking up our own." +GMK+
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CoptoGeek
of Alexandria, the Christ-loving City
Elder
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Faith: Oriental Orthodox
Jurisdiction: Coptic Orthodox Church
Posts: 1,127
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« Reply #1 on: February 08, 2013, 08:37:12 AM » |
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Thanks for posting that, Gebre.
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"Be oppressed, rather than the oppressor. Be gentle, rather than zealous. Lay hold of goodness, rather than justice." -St. Isaac of of Nineveh
"Men never do evil so cheerfully as when they do it from religious conviction" -Pascal
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Symeon77
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Faith: Eastern Orthodox
Jurisdiction: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese
Posts: 102
'with fear and trembling work out your salvation.'
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« Reply #2 on: February 08, 2013, 08:39:59 AM » |
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Amen, Amen, Amen.
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Where Christianity disappears, greed, envy, and lust invent a thousand ideologies to justify themselves.~ Nicolás Gómez Dávila
Abba Anthony said, "A time is coming when men will go mad, and when they see someone who is not mad, they will attack him saying, 'You are mad, you are not like us.'"
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stavros_388
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« Reply #3 on: February 08, 2013, 08:41:01 AM » |
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Very encouraging. Thanks.
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"Our mind is pure and simple, so that when it is stripped of every alien thought, it enters the pure, simple, Divine light and becomes quite encompassed and hidden therein, and can no more meet there anything but the light in which it is." -- St Simeon the New Theologian
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Sophie
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« Reply #4 on: February 08, 2013, 10:08:19 AM » |
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Thank you, I needed to hear that.
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"Thoughts are like airplanes flying in the air. If you ignore them, there is no problem. If you pay attention to them, you create an airport inside your head and permit them to land!" (Priestmonk Christodoulos Aggeloglou, Elder Paisios of the Holy Mountain Mount Athos, Greece, 1998,pp. 29-30, 48)
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orthonorm
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« Reply #5 on: February 08, 2013, 11:13:36 AM » |
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Newage.
People fail.
People are failures.
It is not a very American sentiment where one can always "turn it around" and become something new. One of the most endearing things I saw in EE (to a lesser degree in CE) was that being failure was not seen as a problem.
People try. They fail. Big deal.
In the world of capitalist-everyone-can-make-it-at-any-given-time does failure take on moral dimensions.
Sincerely,
A Constant Failure
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We cannot legislate morality by passing laws controlling firearms. The only evil we can combat lies within our hearts. We need stronger laws to protect the moral foundation of society against the evil of gay marriage. |
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Iconodule
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« Reply #6 on: February 08, 2013, 11:19:46 AM » |
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"A Poet a Painter a Musician an Architect: the Man Or Woman who is not one of these is not a Christian." - William Blake
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Cyrillic
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« Reply #7 on: February 08, 2013, 11:31:33 AM » |
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I am a failure amongst failures. But thanks for trying to cheer me up.
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« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 11:31:46 AM by Cyrillic »
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stavros_388
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« Reply #8 on: February 08, 2013, 11:36:12 AM » |
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I've watched that video about four times now. Kai is the bomb! |
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"Our mind is pure and simple, so that when it is stripped of every alien thought, it enters the pure, simple, Divine light and becomes quite encompassed and hidden therein, and can no more meet there anything but the light in which it is." -- St Simeon the New Theologian
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IoanC
Sr. Member
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Faith: Orthodox Christian
Jurisdiction: Romanian Patriarchate
Posts: 600
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« Reply #9 on: February 08, 2013, 12:13:26 PM » |
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Very beautiful! I see that in our times we are confronted with a terrible illness. I guess we could call it spiritual depression. We don't believe in God's perfect love, and that He came to save us, to sacrifice Himself in order to be The One who forgives us because only He can forgive as a gift even as He allows Himself to be harmed by us. Truly, The Gospel is being turned upside down. We see God as possessed master who can't even bear the sight of us. I see this in a lot of Christians around the world. In Romania, where we are an Orthodox nation, this depression manifests itself in all sorts of sad ways. Even those in The Church who try to act happy according to ways and the standards of the world still appear as not fulfilled and transformed by the light and joy that can only be found in Christ through The Grace of The Holy Spirit.
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« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 12:22:48 PM by IoanC »
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stavros_388
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« Reply #10 on: February 08, 2013, 12:18:36 PM » |
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I've watched that video about four times now. Kai is the bomb! My mistake. Not that video, but the actual interview. Sorry, carry on.  |
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« Last Edit: February 08, 2013, 12:22:32 PM by stavros_388 »
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"Our mind is pure and simple, so that when it is stripped of every alien thought, it enters the pure, simple, Divine light and becomes quite encompassed and hidden therein, and can no more meet there anything but the light in which it is." -- St Simeon the New Theologian
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GTAsoldier
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Faith: Christian
Jurisdiction: Wherever God leads me.....
Posts: 414
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« Reply #11 on: February 08, 2013, 06:38:37 PM » |
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Very encouraging, Gebre. Thank you. In Christ, Jade |
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Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, the sinner.  God is always coming to you in the Sacrament of the Present Moment. Meet and receive Him there with gratitude in that sacrament |
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Gebre Menfes Kidus
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« Reply #12 on: February 09, 2013, 03:56:16 AM » |
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I am a failure amongst failures. But thanks for trying to cheer me up.
The point is that although we all fail in many ways, God does not look upon us as "failures." He always looks upon us as His divine image, and therefore He extends His unfailing mercy and unconditional love to us. Perhaps most of the sin and evil in the world is the consequence of our failure to see ourselves and our fellow man as God sees us. Selam |
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"Salvation is free, but not easy. It is completely dependent upon the grace of God, and yet we must work it out with fear and trembling. It is given to all, but only a few find it. We are saved only by His Cross, and yet not without taking up our own." +GMK+
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JamesR
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« Reply #13 on: February 09, 2013, 04:11:32 AM » |
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If I could make it to the Judgment seat knowing that I've mastered control over my carnal passions, I won't see myself as a failure.
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"'Blessed are the peacemakers' For those are peacemakers in themselves who, in conquering and subjecting to reason all the motions of their souls and having their carnal desires tamed, have become in themselves a Kingdom of God."-St. Augustine of Hippo
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Asteriktos
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« Reply #14 on: February 09, 2013, 04:16:28 AM » |
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If I could make it to the Judgment seat knowing that I've mastered control over my carnal passions, I won't see myself as a failure.
But let's not push it too far "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." - Lk. 17:10 |
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« Last Edit: February 09, 2013, 04:16:50 AM by Asteriktos »
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Cyrillic
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« Reply #15 on: February 09, 2013, 04:44:08 AM » |
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If I could make it to the Judgment seat knowing that I've mastered control over my carnal passions, I won't see myself as a failure.
But let's not push it too far "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." - Lk. 17:10 I knew you were going to quote that. I should become a gypsy fortune-teller |
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Asteriktos
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« Reply #16 on: February 09, 2013, 04:56:49 AM » |
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If I could make it to the Judgment seat knowing that I've mastered control over my carnal passions, I won't see myself as a failure.
But let's not push it too far "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." - Lk. 17:10 I knew you were going to quote that. I should become a gypsy fortune-teller Seemed like the most relevant Scripture verse  |
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Severian
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« Reply #17 on: February 09, 2013, 05:26:08 AM » |
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Thank you, GMK. I needed that.
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Christ is risen! !المسيح قام Χριστός ἀνέστη! ⲠⲓⲬⲣⲓⲥⲧⲟⲥ ⲁϥⲧⲱⲛϥ! Christus resurrexit! Come and join OCnet's new book club! |
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Gebre Menfes Kidus
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« Reply #18 on: February 09, 2013, 05:32:41 AM » |
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If I could make it to the Judgment seat knowing that I've mastered control over my carnal passions, I won't see myself as a failure.
But let's not push it too far "So likewise ye, when ye shall have done all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants: we have done that which was our duty to do." - Lk. 17:10 I knew you were going to quote that. I should become a gypsy fortune-teller Seemed like the most relevant Scripture verse Indeed. I hope that my OP does not indicate that we can get to heaven by our own worthiness. That was sort of my point. We do fail and we do sin, but God still looks upon us with love. Humans judge us by our successes or failure, but God's Judgment is different it seems. I was inspired to write the OP after learing that a friend I admire and respect greatly is getting divorced after 30 years of marriage. My friend has written many books on spiritual themes, and he and his wife had even written a wonderful book about marriage. So I could only imagine that they may feel like failures. And I think of all the other people in this world who strive to serve God and help others yet still suffer from divorce, the loss of jobs, the dissolution of a ministry, etc. It is easy to feel like a failure and to give up trying. But God doesn't look upon us like man does. He doesn't sit up in heaven and shake His head in disappointment. People are harsh, cruel, and judgmental. So, I just wanted to offer a word of hope to all of us. I had the audacity to write a book about Orthodoxy, yet everyday I feel like a failure. But if I wait until I'm righteous before I try to serve the Lord, then I'll never do anything at all. My friend's book on marriage has been very helpful to me. And although he is getting a divorce, that doesn't nullify the beautiful truths and principles that he has written about. And those 30 years of marriage produced a lot of wonderful fruit. He and his wife blessed and touched countless lives during their time together. So, I don't look at them as failures, even if society does. I've been beat down, rejected, betrayed, and judged so much in my life. It has been a constant struggle to maintain faith in God's love. It has been a constant struggle to believe that my life is actually worth something. May God give us strength. "Lord have mercy." Selam |
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"Salvation is free, but not easy. It is completely dependent upon the grace of God, and yet we must work it out with fear and trembling. It is given to all, but only a few find it. We are saved only by His Cross, and yet not without taking up our own." +GMK+
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