- Seek for a lifeline near to God. Contain your material needs, because they create huge burdens and anxieties.
- Do not envy people that have money, comforts, fame and power, but rather those who live with virtue, reason and piety.
- Do not ask God for things that only support your body, but especially what is good and beneficial for your soul.
- Change your life, discover the meaning of life, gain the time lost in this process so far on earth.
- Do not trust the mindset of secular people.
- Be healed of the illnesses that dominate the lives of people that did not learn to fast, to be chaste, to pray, to hope.
- Do not despair. God is omnipresent and loves humanity.
- Cut off every relationship with evil, live freely, according to the will of the Lord.
- Prove your faith with works of love toward your neighbor.
- Decide what you want most: the sympathy of the world or a return near to God?
- Almost all problems start from the mouth (what you say) and, likewise, by the amount you depend on your passions.
- Love your wife more than yourself. With works, not with words. And do not ever talk to her badly, because sometimes the tongue kills and destroys love. Also, be careful, because some parents spoil their children very much and always do them favors. And when a child is too spoiled, they will become selfish and take a crooked path. Many parents care more about providing material things for their children. This is wrong. The body has many material desires, but a short life. The soul continues along another course. The soul does not end up in the dirt, but with God. Today everyone deals with their body, not with the needs of their soul.
- The needs of the soul are different. The joys of the soul are different from the joys of the body. The body is easily managed, not the soul. If you have money and enter a big store, the body is all set. But what can you find in a, what do you call those big stores, yes, a supermarket, for your soul? The soul needs other things. The soul has need of peace, quiet, communion with God. To sustain the body, you need silver and daily bread. To sustain the soul, divine talents and heavenly Bread are needed.
From the book Four Hours With Fr. Paisios (Τέσσερις ώρες με τον π. Παίσιο). Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
