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In this video recording, Archbishop Christophoros from Jordan talks about how to be a student in Jesus’s spiritual school and gain the mind of Christ. He also talks about hardships in life and the right Christian attitude starting from the gospel of the Canaanite woman. This is a sermon recorded in February 14, 2021 by the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese – Amman – Jordan.
English translation by Waad Rabahie
Video source: Greek Orthodox Archdiocese – Amman – Jordan
Archbishop Christophoros:
Our Lord trains each one of us… That’s why it’s very important to be student in Jesus’s spiritual school.
Many times we want things fast. We want our requests to be answered soon. We ask and expect our request to happen, because that’s how we see our goodness. But this is not how things go in Jesus’s school. Jesus’s school is different from the world and from our pride, and from our will (want), even if it’s good will. Jesus’s school teaches us how to be able to ask from God what is for our good, and only God knows the good, because He loves us more than we love ourselves.
We should realize God’s love towards us and that He loves us more than we love ourselves. Because God’s love wants to save us, to sanctify us, to make us children of heaven and children of eternity.
Our Lord doesn’t want us only for this temporarily life. But He wants to prepare us for the eternal life, for the Heavenly Kingdom.
He wants us to live with Him forever, not to live with Him for only a certain period of time, here on earth, and however we want…
He wants us to be with Him in eternity. We should know and realize this to be able to deal with God’s will in our life and how to accept it and how to be joyful and satisfied with it.
It’s very important to have joy in us as Christians and this joy comes when I believe that my beautiful Lord, my compassionate Jesus manages what’s good for me, regardless how difficult things can be. God didn’t promise us that when our life is according to God’s will, it is going to be paved with flowers. This is a trap set by the devil for the people of this world. He makes us think that for our life to be good we should be close to God. So that we suppose that when we get close to God everything will go well, but this is not true, nor is what Jesus told us.
On the contrary He told us, “in this world you shall have tribulation” [John 16:33] And He said “if they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” [John 15:20]. But He also said, “but be of good cheer… and He continues “I have overcome the world”.
And here comes our will to overcome the world with Jesus.
What does it mean to overcome the world? It means to kill our passions and sins and live with Christ and have joy with Christ and be in peace and joy with Christ.
I’m sad when I see many of church people distressed, overwhelmed, and tired. Children of the church should be joyful, because Christ gives joy and peace. Only Christ gives joy and peace, while we are in distress, while we are in hardships, while we are in temptations, we ache, we are pained, but we learn, we mature, we get sanctified.
This is how we start seeing things around us in a different way than this world and its vanities.
Thus, my children, we always grow spiritually and get sanctified. This is the will of God for you: to be holy as your heavenly Father is perfect and holy.
