9781644135945

The Light of the World
we also be angry at times and oppose evil with all our strength and with our whole soul? Yes,
indeed! But we must not resort to force; we must not shed blood to avenge blood; we must
not seek bitter revenge.
“Be angry and sin not.” “Be not overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good” (Rom 12:21).
True Christianity gains all its strength from within. It begins with a thorough self-reformation,
with the establishment of the new man, and only then turns to the reform of others. Because
we are not so regenerated, our anger is unholy and unfruitful.
When we have put on the new man, who is meek in the spirit of Christ, we become spiritually
strong. Then we turn to the reform of others with firmness, yet without bitterness. Then
only may we safely apply the outward means of correction to others without sacrificing principles,
and yet with discretion. “Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the land.”
Prayer
Almighty and merciful God, in Thy loving kindness shield us from all adversity, that being
prepared in soul and body, we may with free minds perform the works that are Thine. Through
Christ our Lord. Amen.
Saturday
The Judge shall come. Therefore, “Be ye renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new
man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth. Wherefore, putting away
lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbor; for we are members one of another”
(Epistle). We are, as it were, clothed by nature in a lie, by reason of Original Sin — a lie which
like a garment covers us and makes us appear otherwise than we are. The new man, the one
baptized, puts away this deceptive garment and speaks the truth.
“Putting away lying.” “The mouth that belieth killeth the soul” (Ws 1:11). “Lie not one to another”
(Col 3:9). “Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips from speaking guile” (Ps 33:14). Such is
the unchangeable law of God. And yet there is in the world, even among Christians, so much
untruth, dishonesty, deception, and deceit. Dishonesty is the essence of the world’s maxims
and of worldly actions. The so-called polish of the world is at best little else than an attempt
to cover the inward man with a pleasing veneer, an attempt to veil the sense of words so as to
make the right seem wrong and the wrong seem right. The spirit of the world is the prudence
of the flesh. Its maxim is: Do what you like, but do not get caught in your wrongdoing. Keep up
appearances, protect your honor. Faults you may commit, but do not admit them. You may sin
and dishonor God and your conscience, but you should never through an honest confession
seek to restore the honor of God and of your own self-respect.
The world thinks a man stupid and silly who would suppose that his outward actions should
be a mirror of his heart. To the world such an attitude is only a new proof that Christianity is
naive and outmoded, unfit to compete with the culture of our modern world. There is much
conscious deception of one’s neighbor, parents, and superiors in the pursuit to achieve personal
ambitions and aims. Such is the world; and even we have gone so far that we cannot bear the
truth. If someone tries to point out a cheap deception, to tell us the truth in a kind way, we
condemn him for a lack of culture and delicacy. We who daily perform our devotions, partake
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