72- How do we live to the lord?

That does not mean the life of complete consecration.

Like the life of monks and nuns, the clergy and all those who are consecrated... Not all are consecrated to the Lord, while the verse: “If we live, we live to the Lord”, is for all, all the faithful, every member in the city of the Lord, everyone who is qualified for the Kingdom.

We also do not live to the Lord by formal worship..

Many are regular in prayer, fasting, reading and attending religious meetings... They have a relationship with the church but they do not have a relationship with God. They do not live with Him and they do not live to Him... As if all their worship is just an outside appearance that does not rise to the level of living with God. The Lord said about such people: “These people draw near to me with their mouth, and honour me with their lips, but their heart is far from me” (Mt 15:8), (Is 29:13). Then you have to live to the Lord with heart and action, in spirit and truth (Jn 4:23). So in your worship, you feel the presence of God in your life, your existence in His presence and your relationship with Him.

He who lives to the Lord shows that in many virtues, which are distinctive in his life:

He lives a life of submission and obedience, as we have discussed this issue before here on st-takla.org in other sections. Because in his life to the Lord, he submits his life and his will to Him .Consequently, he lives a life of chastity and purity, a life of love where he carries out the Lord’s commandments, out of love and not through compulsion.... So he says with the Psalmist to the Lord: “I rejoice at your word as one who finds great treasure” (Ps 119:162), “I was glad when they said to me: let us go into the house of the Lord” (Ps 122:1). And so he lives a life of joy in the Lord.

Also the one who lives to the Lord lives in the world as a stranger.

“He is not of the World” (Jn 15:19). He places before himself the Apostle’s saying “....And those who use this world as not misusing it. For the form of this world is passing away.” (1 Cor 7:31) And so lived our fathers: “They confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth” (Heb 11:13) .They live to the Lord as for the world, it is passing away, and the lust of it. (1 Jn 2:17). What then have they got to do with it?! One of the fathers said:

“It is better for people not to worry about this world and in whose hands it is.”

And so the one who lives to the Lord will necessarily reach the stage of renouncing the world (1 Jn 2: 15-16). And people in this renouncement are on different levels... The one who lives to the Lord does not care or worry about many things, like Martha did (Lk 10:41) They are certain that only one thing is needed and that is God. Some who choose that good part may reach the life of consecration.

Also the one who lives to the Lord does not fear death but faces it with joy.

This point takes us to the second part of the verse, which is : “And if we die, we die to the Lord”...

Why do we live to the lord?

The Spiritual Man Books by H. H. Pope Shenouda III

What is the meaning of: “we die to the lord”?