by Chris Banescu –
Every time you fall, get up, and start again. “For a righteous man may fall seven times, and rise again, but the wicked shall fall by calamity” (Proverbs 24:16). God doesn’t demand perfection from us. He knows and understand us, even better than we know ourselves. God wants us to be faithful and persevere, even when we continually fail. “Very often what God first helps us towards is not the virtue itself but just this power of always trying again,” explains C.S. Lewis.
It’s in the nature of God to never to fall, of demons to fall and never get up, and of man to fall and get up again, repeatedly until the end of our earthly lives. A faithful Christian isn’t one who never falls, but one who always gets up and tries again after each fall.
We all make mistakes, continually. We all stumble and fall, constantly. We all sin, repeatedly. This is the consequence of man’s rebellion against God since the fall of Adam and Eve. As St. Paul wrote in his Letter to the Romans, referencing the Old Testament, “there is no one righteous, no, not one.” We have “all sinned and fall short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Our broken human nature is constantly struggling to remain in communion with God and stay on the narrow path that leads to sanctification and salvation.
“One Desert Father even described human life, according to Christian faith, in that way. When he was asked by a pagan, what does it mean to be a Christian, he said: ‘A Christian is a person who falls down and gets up again, who falls down and gets up again, who falls down, is lifted up again by the grace of God to start over.’ And you can start over every moment anew,” explains Fr. Thomas Hopko.
When we fall, we get up immediately. We ask God for forgiveness and start over. We try again and trust that God will help us. We cannot lose hope. We can never give up. We must be resolute in our faith and our determination to follow Christ and love Him as He asked us to: “If you love Me, keep My commandments” (John 14:15).
Lest we think that monastics and saints are any different, remember the wisdom of the Orthodox Desert Fathers. When a visitor asked what monks do all day at the monastery, the monk replied, “We fall down and get up, we fall down and get up again.”
The Orthodox Christian teaching offers important cautions and encouragements to help us. Listed below are some useful reminders from Orthodox Fathers and learned (the hard way) from my own spiritual battles and life experiences.
Don’t Despair
“Do not despair if you keep falling into your old sins. Many of them are strong because they have received the force of habit. Only with the passage of time and with fervor will they be conquered. Don’t let anything deprive you of hope,” cautions St. Nektarios of Aegina.
Don’t become despondent when you fall. Don’t give up hope when you sin. This is what’s going to happen to all of us. Expect it and don’t despair. “The reason why the devil plunges us into thoughts of despair is that he may cut off the hope which is towards God, the safe anchor, the foundation of our life,” warns St. John Chrysostom. Recognize the real source of this despondency and reject it. Look to Christ and rise again.
Don’t Pretend
Don’t get up and start again, all the while desiring to fall. Don’t lie to yourself and to God. Don’t pretend to feel sorry for your sins while secretly wishing to repeat them. You cannot fool God. He knows your secret heart and mind; He sees your true intentions. God will not help you in your deception. He is ultimate Truth and can never support a falsehood.
Yes, we will inevitably fall again. But it makes an enormous difference if we’re truly remorseful and try to improve and then we fall, versus pretending to want righteousness, all the while looking forward to sinning. Be honest with yourself and God. Be sincere in your desire to start over. Strive for an authentic change of heart and mind, and try again. God will see your genuine intentions and He will help you.
Be Merciful
Be merciful with yourself. Don’t judge yourself more severely than God does. As Father Thomas Hopko reminds us, “We cannot judge ourselves more harshly than God does, and the worst sin is despair. So we should be living by the mercy of God all the time—taking responsibility for our life, but not berating ourselves or beating ourselves up. God does not want that. There is no merit in that. Repentance is what God wants, not remorse or some type of self-flagellation.”
Be Brave
Be brave in the unseen spiritual warfare raging all around us. Remember who the real enemies are. As St. Paul reminds us, “we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Ephesians 6:12).
These evil powers are the sworn enemies of God and of the human race. They seek to deceive and destroy us. They never sleep and never rest. “Have no expectations, except to be fiercely tempted to your very last breath,” warns Fr. Thomas Hopko. There is no escaping this spiritual battle. We must remain vigilant and be courageous. We have to fight against these deceivers and protect our souls; and help others do the same. And, as the Holy Fathers teach, we must be prepared to fight this spiritual battle until the end of our earthly lives.
Get Help
We all need help from others. None of us can fight the spiritual battles alone. There are times when the struggles can be overwhelming and we need help to get up and start again. This is why Christians have always lived and worshiped in communion. We all must help each other walk together toward Christ and the Kingdom of Heaven.
“We all need help. A Russian saying is: ‘The only thing you can do alone, by yourself is perish,’ is go to Hell. If we are saved, we’re saved with others. So we must have counsel. We must have friends. We must be with others. And sometimes, we need specific help, like if we’re caught on drugs or alcohol or sex. Then, we have to go and get that specific help, like we would go to a doctor when we are sick,” advises Fr. Thomas Hopko.
Never Give Up
Never lose hope and have faith that God will help you. Never surrender and never give up. As many times as you fall, immediately get up and continue walking toward Christ. Only He can help us in this life and in eternity. “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without Me you can do nothing” (John 15:5).
“The Holy Fathers and the Saints always tell us, ‘It is important to get up immediately after a fall and to keep on walking toward God’. Even if we fall a hundred times a day, it does not matter; we must get up and go on walking toward God without looking back. What has happened has happened—it is in the past. Just keep on going, all the while asking for help from God,” reminds us Elder Thaddeus of Vitonica.
Get up, start again, keep walking, keep fighting!
