But the memory of the sinful Adam lives in us, and this memory again and again pushes us to deceive God, to sin against Him, to touch the forbidden fruit, to become self-sufficient in ourselves.

We are much more involved in good than we are distorted by evil. Evil, which has no essence, which is only a consequence of the illness of the human soul, is not able to completely defeat man, for whom good is natural and evil is unnatural. Therefore, every Christian has the strength to overcome evil, and, therefore, in man himself, good is obliged to defeat evil, if he makes an effort to do so. A person cannot justify himself by the fact that he is unable to cope with himself, because he has a huge reserve of God's help and his own strength in order to overcome any sin and defeat Satan in himself.

This is the path that everyone should follow. The Lord leads us along this path, giving us the opportunity to return to paradise again, to accept again and again what was given to man in paradise, where he dwelt in all his beauty, in all his harmony, so that this beauty, perceived as a gift, would become his property, his nature, his truly indelible image of God.

Great was Adam's sorrow after his expulsion from Paradise, but when he saw his son Abel killed by his brother Cain, his grief became even greater, and his soul was tormented, and he wept, and thought: "From me shall come forth and multiply nations, and all shall suffer, and live in enmity, and kill one another." And this sorrow was as great as the sea.

Pdp. Silouan the Athonite

Each person has his own special gifts. As the Apostle Paul writes: "And some God has ordained in the Church, first, apostles, secondly, prophets, thirdly, teachers; furthermore, to others He gave miraculous powers, as well as the gifts of healing, help, guidance, and various tongues. Are all the Apostles? Are all prophets? Are they all teachers? Are all miracle workers? Does everyone have the gifts of healing? Does everyone speak in tongues? Are they all interpreters? (1 Corinthians 12:2830). All people are very different. They are created in such a way that everyone needs everyone, so that one without the other could not realize himself as a man in his entirety.

Humanity was created as a family, called to live a common human life, constantly helping each other and, in the words of the Apostle Paul, bearing each other's burdens in order to fulfill the law of Christ (cf. Gal. 6:2). But the life of each person is inextricably linked with the life of all people, because humanity was conceived by God not just as a family, but as a single Church organism. Thus, for example, marriage is the realization of this fullness of humanity, when two become one being, two flesh is one (cf. Matt. 19:5).

According to the Serbian theologian, St. According to Justin Popović, already in paradise humanity was conceived as a Church: each person is so strongly connected with other people by a God-like ecclesiastical nature that in the future he will have the opportunity to be realized as a Church. The development of the abilities and virtues of each person is the natural creation of all mankind as the God-imitating Adam, who becomes a new man, and the new humanity is realized by the Church.

But such a connection manifests itself in a terrible way in fallen humanity: sin, in the nature of which lies the property of propagation, destroys not only man, it destroys all mankind as a whole.

Через Адама приходят в мир грех и смерть: грех одного человека и его смертность становятся уделом всех. Адам виноват перед всем человечеством, перед каждым из нас. Но тогда и каждый из нас через свой грех виноват перед всеми.

Если мы хотим начать борьбу со злом, для этого необходимо прежде всего искоренить зло в себе, и только если нам удастся победить сатану в самих себе, нам удастся это сделать и вокруг себя. Но если мы не начали эту борьбу, то имеет ли смысл спрашивать тогда: "Почему существует страдание? Почему умирают дети? Почему торжествует ненаказанное зло? Почему так много несправедливости в мире?" Если человек будет честен перед самим собой, он должен будет ответить: "Это мой грех искажает мир, и мое зло ко мне же возвращается".

По ком звонит колокол? Он звонит по тебе.

Прежде всего, братия, нам нужно смиренномудрие, чтобы быть готовыми на каждое слово, которое слышим, сказать "прости".

Авва Исаия