— Can a person rely on any one of his deeds?

The elder answered:

Abba John Kolov said: "I would like a person to adopt a little of all the virtues, and not always adhere to only one."

3. From St. Isaiah

Brothers! We should all practice the virtues to the best of our ability. Small people - to the extent of their weak strength, and big people - to the extent of their great capabilities. Those who contributed to the treasury were rich. But the Lord rejoiced most of all at the poor widow's two mites. For He looks at our intentions and judges our actions by them. Woe to the soul that does not want to flee from sins, for it will be beset by sorrows from envious and haters.

2. In Egypt the Israelites ate and drank to their heart's content, but they were slaves of Pharaoh. When the Lord sent them a helper, that is, Moses, to lead them out of Egyptian captivity, Pharaoh began to oppress and oppress them. It was not Moses' vengeance, no matter how many plagues God sent upon Egypt and Pharaoh, and he did not rejoice in the grief of the Egyptians, until the time came and God said to Moses, "I will bring another plague upon Pharaoh..." And then you will tell Pharaoh to set my people free, otherwise every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die... (Cf. Ex 11:1-5). Only then did Moses raise his head. Then God gave advice to Moses: Impress upon the people (secretly) that every man of his neighbor... he begged for things of silver and things of gold [and garments] (Exodus 11:2). These things (later) made it possible to cover the cost of building the tabernacle.

3. The Elders explain that things and clothes are feelings that are enslaved to enmity. Only when a person completely frees them from enmity and forces them to bear fruit to God, then God's protection will overshadow him. For there was no cloud while the construction was going on, but as soon as it was finished, the cloud covered the tabernacle of meeting (Ex 40:34). The same thing happened when the temple was being built. While the work was going on, the cloud did not appear, but when the temple was completely finished, and the blood and fat of burnt offerings were sacrificed in it, and it was a pleasant fragrance to God, then the cloud filled the house of the Lord (1 Kings 8:10-11). These examples show that until a person loves God with all his strength and all his mind, and does not cleave to Him with all his heart, God's protection will not overshadow him.

4. As a ship cannot set sail until the loading is completed, so the soul cannot escape the waves of passions if it lacks some virtues. In the same way, a warrior who goes out to fight with the enemies of the king will not be able to resist them if he does not go out fully armed. And a monk will not be able to resist the passions if he forgets about any virtue. A walled city will easily be captured if there is a breach in at least one place of the wall. As many guards as you want to place at the gates, they will not be able to stop the enemies at the city walls until the breach is repaired. In the same way, a monk who has been possessed by some passion will not be able to cope with his enemies.

5. It is not I who speak of this, but the Divine Scriptures. In the book of Genesis it is said: And the Lord [God] said to Noah... I have seen you righteous before me in this generation" (Gen 7:1). And he said to him (Abraham), "Be blameless; and I will establish my covenant between me and you (Gen 17:1-3). The Scriptures bear witness to the same thing about Job. And Isaac, blessing his son Jacob, said: "May God Almighty bless you" (Gen 28:3), so that you may be able to do all His will.

6. Ecclesiastes teaches us: even the smallest passion destroys all the power of virtues: Dead flies spoil and defile the fragrant ointment (Eccl. 10:1). And in the book of Ezekiel it is said: "In that day the righteous shall be deceived by his righteousness, and I will not remember him" (cf. Ezekiel 18:24). And the Apostle remarked: "A little leaven leavens the whole dough" (1 Cor 5:6). James said: "Whoever keeps the whole law and sins in one thing becomes guilty of all things" (James 2:10).

7. We learn about the same from history. Let us remember how Achan, who stole the gifts of Jericho, deprived the entire nation of God's help. Israel could not defeat their enemies or go to battle at all until they drove out Achan (Josh 7:1). We see that Saul also lost his kingdom when he accepted Amalek's offering (1 Samuel 15:1). And Jonathan's ignorance, how through ignorance he broke his father's oath, and God did not hear Israel on that day (1 Samuel 14:24).

8. Ananias and his wife Sapphira withheld the value of the field, and having lied, immediately fell at the feet of the apostles and gave up their souls (Acts 5:1). And many other examples can be cited from the Old and New Testaments. But for the pious reader, what has been said is enough. One thing you need to know: a person who does evil will not be able to do good. It happens that a person, intending to achieve good, commits evil. This happens when a person sins and does not repent. And if a person truly repents, then he will not sin. Whoever has known true repentance does not divide time into hours for God, in which he performs good deeds, and hours for the devil, in which he sinks into intemperance. He does not live either in piety or in lawlessness, he is not a servant of God or a slave of the devil, but he is always the same.

9. Everyone who commits sin, says the Lord, is a slave to sin (Jn 8:34). And a slave of sin cannot serve God. As the Lord said falsely in the Gospel: "No one can serve two masters" (Mt 6:24). What fellowship is there between righteousness and iniquity? says the Apostle. "What does light have to do with darkness?" What agreement is there between Christ and Belial? What is the participation of the faithful with the unbeliever? What is the commonality of the temple of God with idols? (2 Corinthians 6:14-16). Let us cleanse ourselves from all defilement of the flesh and spirit, performing holiness... (2 Corinthians 7:1) in the love of Christ, that is, in every good work. Whoever has escaped a multitude of sins, but is still captive by some small sin, is not yet Free. Whoever is defeated by someone is his servant (2 Peter 2:19).

If the small easily conquers someone, how much more will the great enslave him. It is impossible to cope with the great passions if you do not first conquer the small ones.