Saint Lukas of Crimeea
We all get angered when we are offended and we are ready to swoop on the neck of the person who offended us: we glare, pull a long face because of our anger and we become nasty for all those who see us; the movements become unsightly, abrupt, the hands and feet tend to grab and hit, the tongue utters offences addressed to the person who offended us.
Did Christ adopted such behavior when they slandered and abused him?
No way. We do not follow Christ’s example, we adopt the behavior the devils teach us about – the demons of anger, since who is that one from us who is free of anger, who receives the offences peacefully and quietly?
If only we saw ourselves when we burst into anger, when we say curses, how ashamed we would be of ourselves! All the people who witness our anger and hear our curses find us awful and nasty but we don’t understand it.
So if we cannot see ourselves then at least when we see someone who gets angry, curses, fights, instead of condemning him, we should better imagine us in his place and think: Am I not looking just as awful when I argue, I get angry and answer with curses to curses? And from that moment on we will be shamed to quarrel to get angry, to offend and fight.
But how did the saints answer to offences? When they were offended, when they were slandered and abused they kept their calm. Why? Because they felt they were innocent – and if they were innocent why getting angry?
Do not offend anyone. When offended humiliate yourselves and endure in silence. Think that the person who offends you is right because in many respects we are sinful before God, we did many wrong things and we deserved punishment.
Even if the sins are not as big as the offences we committed, bend your heads and say: My Lord! I am sinful and deserve all offences. And your heart will calm down and the person who has offended you will calm down as well
Article taken from: ganduridinierusalim.com
