God is not an author of confusion: what you read in His word will be in harmony with what you hear from your father of confession; and you will have peace in your heart; God Himself directs you toward His will and might lead you one step at a time; also you need to be in fellowship with God and to walk with Him all day long, if you want to discover His will.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
Category: DISCERNMENT
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When God is leading me, one of the sure signs that I am walking according to His will is the peace. His peace will rule in my heart even if I am in prison like St. Paul, even if I am in the lions’ den like Daniel, even If I am in the furnace of fire like the three young men; nevertheless, I will have peace.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
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God is not an author of confusion
Another principle is that God is not an author of confusion. That is to say, God will not send you a certain message through the Scriptures, a different message in your heart, a third message through your father of confession, a forth message through your parents, a fifth message through your friends, and so on. God is not an author of confusion. So, if it is the will of God, God will change the heart of everyone, almost to be in consensus, to declare that this is the will of God, except if some people are clearly against His will; and this will be outside our calculation. But anybody who is willing wholeheartedly to know the will of God, all will be in agreement: whether you read in the Scripture, or the voice in your heart, or the counseling you are receiving from your spiritual father, or you hear from your parents; everything will be in harmony together.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
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we need to be persistent in seeking the will of God. When we are persistence and seeking His will and seeking His guidance, He told us, “Ask, and you will receive.” Also, the Lord said to us, “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. This means that if you seek the kingdom of God and His righteousness, if you live righteously, God will reveal to you in a way or another His will in everything else. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things will be added to you. And here is the rule, one rule that is very important: if you are faithful and honest in keeping the general will of God— to do good, sanctification, abstain from sexual immorality, giving thanks in everything—if you are faithful in this area, then God will reveal to you His will in other areas. But if you are not faithful but are careless about fulfilling the will of God in this general area, why would God reveal to you His will in other areas. So, the more you are faithful, the more the will of God will be revealed to you regarding the specific questions.
—H.E. Metropolitan Youssef, How to Know the Will of God
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“Those who have been humbled by their passions may take courage. For even if they fall into every pit and are trapped in all the snares and suffer all maladies, yet after their restoration to health they become physicians, beacons, lamps, and pilots for all, teaching us the habits of every disease and from their own personal experience able to prevent their neighbours from falling.”
—St. John Climacus, The Ladder of Divine Ascent -
Let me not be deceived by my own insecurity and weakness which would make me hurt another as I try desperately to help myself.
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Every bad behavior comes from an unmet need.
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If one says a word to you, you could accept the word calmly, or you could think about it deeply: Why did he say this? What did he mean? Did he mean to belittle me? I cannot keep quiet. Here you have allowed the word to affect you profoundly, and so it became deeply-rooted in you. Therefore, do not ponder daily events in depth; overlook them and allow them to pass by calmly. Only those thoughts which take root in your mind and heart will bother you.
—H.H. Pope Shenouda III, Monastic Treasures for All of Us
SO GOOD QUOTES 