The Purpose of Life

The Purpose of Life Purpose of Life 6/10/2018 12:00 πμ

The true purpose of our Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. ( St. Seraphim of Sarov ).
But we deceive ourselves if we think that we are saved while remaining sinners. Christ saves those sinners by giving them the means to become saints. (St. Philaret of Moscow, Sermon of September 23, 1847)

The Purpose of Life

Every Christian should find for himself the imperative and incentive to become holy. If you live without struggle and without hope of becoming holy, then you are Christians only in name and not in essence. But without holiness, no one shall see the Lord, that is to say they will not attain eternal blessedness. It is a trustworthy saying that Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners (I Tim. 1:15).

But we deceive ourselves if we think that we are saved while remaining sinners. Christ saves those sinners by giving them the means to become saints. (St. Philaret of Moscow, Sermon of September 23, 1847)

The acquisition of of holiness is not the exclusive business of monks, as certain people think. People with families are also called to holiness, as are those in all kinds of professions, who live in the world, since the commandment about perfection and holiness is given not only to monks, but to all people.  (Hieromartyr Onuphry Gagaluk) 48.

The chief end of our life is to live in communion with God. To this end the Son of God became incarnate, in order to return us to this divine communion, which was lost by the fall into sin. Through Jesus Christ, the Son of God, we enter into communion with the Father and thus attain our purpose.  (St. Theophan the Recluse, Letters to various people, 24)

Just as people do not enter a war in order to enjoy war, but in order to be saved from war, so we do not enter this world in order to enjoy this world, but in order to be saved from it. People go to was for the sake of something greater than war. So we also enter this temporal life for the sake of something greater: for eternal life. And as soldiers think with joy about returning home, so also Christians constantly remember the end of their lives and their return to their heavenly fatherland.  (St. Nicholas of Serbia, Thoughts on Good and Evil)

The true purpose of our Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. ( St. Seraphim of Sarov )

Fasting, prayer, alms, and every other good Christian deed is good in itself, but the purpose of the Christian life consists not only in the fulfillment of one or another of them.

The true purpose of our Christian life is the acquisition of the Holy Spirit of God. But fasting, prayer, alms and every good deed done for the sake of Christ is a means to the attainment of the Holy Spirit. Note that only good deeds done for the sake of Christ bear the fruit of the Holy Spirit.

Everything else that is not done for the sake of Christ, even if it is good, does not bring us a reward in the life to come, not does it bring the grace of God in this life. This is why our Lord Jesus Christ said, ‘Whoever gathereth not with me scattereth’ (Matt. 12:30). ~ St. Seraphim of Sarov