for their pleasantness but to be at peace with them. When a man does not put them to death due to his pleasure in them, they, being alive in the flesh and in the heart, have no mercy on him but immediately torment him in the soul. His fighting will not be proper if he does not want to put them to death. Again, he fights improperly when he is entangled and encumbered with worldly things and does not comprehend the spiritual battle. That is why he sometimes puts up resistance and then weakens. Not understanding the battle, he falls into the enemies’ hands or runs away whimpering and, because of that, he will not receive rewards.
That is why the apostle speaks of all the important things about the spiritual battle here. The beginning of the discourse is about us tucking up our loins, and it is necessary to tuck up the loins of one’s thoughts in the aforementioned things. It is also necessary to be tucked up from the love of worldly people, because the adulterous heart clings there perniciously and is led away from God. The devil leads into grave snares through the love of camaraderie and fleshly friends, but a person does not easily recognize that because it is a pleasurable thing to have the favor of many friends. The devil seizes a person in much evil because he wants to be pleasing to others. Such friends lead one another into evil things for pleasure and look for praise from one another. Not only is it evil because of things that can be explicitly seen, but also because the devil has a footing in the love of friends and camaraderie. He ruthlessly approaches people from a distance so that iron wills are broken and they deviate from faith through those affections. It is certainly made clear to us that many have turned away from faith for the love of fleshly friends and friendships and permit those things that are clearly against God’s commandments. They are entangled in serious things because they do not easily get out of them. What grave falls have occurred for the affections that are evident in some spiritual people–loss of virginity, widowhood, spiritual peace, many virtues, a good conscience, and the introduction of serious offenses in people–and that all for the love of illustrious friends and friendships!
The devil works all of this immodestly–and not only through affection itself. He also has other devious and unassuming inroads to people through it. Because his cunning stands behind that affection for a long time until he gets what he wants and turns a person away from a good beginning, intention, and peace of heart, the Savior, knowing that it is not possible for people to remain close to God, also says, “If anyone comes to me, and does not hate his own father, mother, wife, children, brothers, and sisters, yes, and his own life also, he can’t be my disciple.” (Luke 14: 26) Those are dreadful words to the one who would fear them, when he cannot be His disciple. That matter is not altered for any selfjustification. Though someone would say, “I cannot leave that love behind,” or, “They are very dear”–in other words, “That love is not hurting me, so I can serve God and have that love”–the truth is more unyielding than these justifications. When He says that he cannot, that ought to be believed and not the excuses of fleshly people. As Saint James declares, “You adulterers and adulteresses, don’t you know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Whoever therefore wants to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.” (James 4: 4) The apostle also says, “For if I were still pleasing men. I wouldn’t be a servant of Christ.” (Galatians 1: 10)
It is clearly stated in those scriptures that, when a person does not reject the love of friends and other worldly people, he is always the enemy of God. However, a person would uselessly carry on with many other endeavors, wanting to serve God that way, for that affection snatches a person’s heart and gives it to the world and the devil. The devil also gets at a person through such affection, since he would not have inroads to him so easily otherwise. For that reason, the apostle commands one to be tucked up so that he himself does not send his heart away from itself through such affection. He has it at home and
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