Caring For Oneself

Aἰδεῖσθε δὲ πλέον ὑµᾶς αὐτοὺς, καὶ τὴν πιστευθεῖσαν εἰκόνα, καὶ τὸν πιστεύσαντα, καὶ τὰ Χριστοῦ πάθη, καὶ τὰς ἐκεῖθεν ἐλπίδας, πίστιν µὲν ἔχοντες ἣν παρειλήφα τε, καὶ ᾗ συνετράφητε, µεθ' ἧς καὶ σώζεσθε, καὶ σώζειν ἄλλους πιστεύεσθε· οὐ γὰρ πολλῶν, εὖ ἴστε, τὸ ὑµέτερον καύχηµα. Τὸ δὲ εὐσεβὲς µὴ ἐν τῷ πολλάκις περὶ Θεοῦ λαλεῖν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῷ τὰ πλείω σιγᾷν εἶναι τιθέµενοι· γλῶσσα γὰρ ὄλισθος ἀνθρώποις µὴ λόγῳ κυβερνωµένη· καὶ ἀκινδυνοτέραν ἀκοὴν ἀεὶ λόγου νοµίζοντες, ὥστε τι µανθάνειν ἥδιον, ἢ διδάσκειν περὶ Θεοῦ· τὴν µὲν ἀκριβεστέραν τούτων ἐξέτασιν τοῖς οἰκονόµοις τοῦ λόγου παραχωροῦντες· αὐτοὶ δὲ λόγῳ µὲν εὐσεβοῦντες ὀλίγα, ἔργῳ δὲ πλείονα, καὶ τῇ τηρήσει τῶν νόµων µᾶλλον ἢ τῷ θαυµάζειν τὸν νοµοθέτην, τὸ περὶ αὐτὸν φίλτρον ἐπιδεικνύµενοι, φεύγοντες κακίαν, διώκοντες ἀρετὴν, πνεύµατι ζῶντες, πνεύµατι στοιχοῦντες, τούτῳ τὴν γνῶσιν ἕλκοντες, ἐποικοδοµοῦντες τῷ θε µελίῳ τῆς πίστεως, µὴ ξύλον, µηδὲ χόρτον, µηδὲ καλάµην, ὕλην ἀσθενῆ καὶ ῥᾳδίως δαπανωµένην, ἡνίκα ἂν πυρὶ κρίνηται τὰ ἡµέτερα, ἢ καθαίρηται· ἀλλὰ χρυσὸν, ἄργυρον, λίθους τιµίους, τὰ µένοντα καὶ ἱστάµενα. Ταῦτα πράσσοιτε, καὶ τούτοις ἡµᾶς δοξά ζοιτε εἴτε παρόντες εἴτε ἀπόντες, εἴτε µεταποιούµενοι τῶν ἡµετέρων λόγων, εἴτε ἄλλο τι προτιµότερον ἄγοντες· καὶ γίνοισθε τέκνα Θεοῦ καθαρὰ καὶ ἀµώµητα, ἐν µέσῳ γενεᾶς σκολιᾶς καὶ διεστραµµένης· καὶ µὴ περιπλέκοιτο ὑµῖν τὰ τῶν κύκλῳ περιπατούντων ἀσεβῶν σχοινία, µηδὲ σειραῖς τῶν οἰκείων ἁµαρτιῶν περισφίγγοισθε, µηδὲ ταῖς βιωτικαῖς µερίµναις συµπνίγοιτο ὑµῖν ὁ λόγος, καὶ ἄκαρποι γίνοισθε· ἀλλ' ὁδῷ πορεύοισθε βασιλικῇ, µὴ ἐκκλίνοντες εἰς δεξιὰ, µηδὲ εἰς ἀριστερὰ, καὶ διὰ τῆς στενῆς ὡς πλατείας ὑπὸ τοῦ Πνεύµατος ὁδηγούµενοι. Ἅγιος Γρηγόριος ὁ Ναζιανζηνός, Λόγος Γʹ Source: Migne PG 35.524a-525a

Rather show perfect care for yourselves, and for the entrusted Image, 1 and Him who entrusted it, and the passion of Christ, and your hope from that, holding to the faith that you received, and in which you were nurtured and are being saved and which you trust to save others, for not many, be certain, have your boast. Do not account piety to be found in often speaking about God but for the larger part in silence, since the tongue is a dangerous thing to men if it is not governed by reason, 2 and think that listening is always less perilous than talking, just as learning about God is more pleasant than teaching. Leave the more painstaking enquiry into these things to those who are the stewards of the Word and yourselves worship a little in words but more by deeds, rather by keeping the Law than by wondering about the Lawgiver, showing your love for Him by fleeing from wickedness and pursuing virtue, and by living in the Spirit and walking in the Spirit, and drawing your knowledge from Him, and building on the foundation of the faith, not wood or hay or stubble, that are weak materials which will easily be spent when fire shall prove our works or destroy them, but gold and silver and precious stones, which will remain and endure. 3 May it be that you do these things and so give us glory, whether we are present or absent, whether you partake of our speeches or prefer to be doing something else, and may you be the children of God, pure and blameless in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, 4 and may you never be entangled in the snares of the wicked that go round about, or bound with the chain of your own sins. May the Word in you never be smothered with the cares of this life so that you become unfruitful, but may you walk in the King's Highway, turning aside neither to the right nor to the left, but led by the Spirit pass through the narrow gate. 5 Saint Gregory Nazianzus, from Oration 3 1 Gen1.27 2 James 3.1-12 3 1 Cor 3.12-15 4 Phil 2.15 5 Mark 4.19, Prov 4.27, Mt 7.13-14