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The Spiritual Man, book by H. H. Pope Shenouda III

21- Our Stand From the Weak

 

If you are weak, do not despair.

And if you see somebody who is weak, do not despise his weakness, as the Apostle says:

“Comfort the faint hearted, uphold the weak, be patient with all” (1 Thess 5:14).

Open a gap of hope to give light to those who walk in darkness, who are afraid and troubled. Talk to them about hope and about the work of the Holy Spirit and how God interferes, even at the last moment. Tell them stories about those who fell then stood up and were counted among the victorious and conquerors.

The strong spiritual man does not boast before the weak, belittle him or defame him. But, on the contrary, he strengthens him and offers him the strength that is in him, which God gave to him. He supports the weak who fell and give them hope in repentance.. and reminds them that: “ A righteous man may fall seven times and rise again” (Prov 24:16).

God Himself supports the weak who are like the children. And the Psalm says:

“The Lord preserves the children” (Ps 116:6).

St-Takla.org Image: The Holy Spirit, engraving at the dome of a church, with the four Evangelists. صورة في موقع الأنبا تكلا: الروح القدس، نقش أعلى قبة كنيسة، ويظهر صور الإنجيليين الأربعة.

And in some translations, it is said : “ Preserves the simple”, no matter how fainthearted they are.

The Lord said about sowing the seed that bears fruit and produces: some a hundred fold, some sixty, some thirty, that it was good (Mt 13:23). But we may consider the good only the one that produces a hundred fold, ignoring the one that produces sixty. But due to God’s kindness to the weak, He considered the one that produces only thirty as good too. It is enough that it produced fruit...

Truly He is the God of the weak, and the God of the poor.

He used to visit the tax-collectors and the sinners, attend their feasts and never despised them like the scribes and Pharisees, as we have discussed this issue before here on st-takla.org in other sections. But He called one of them, Matthew, and made him one of the Apostles. He also entered the house of Zacchaeus and said: “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham” (Lk 19:9). And after the resurrection, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons (Mk 16:9).

God never stood against the weak but against the proud.

Therefore the Holy Bible says: “ God resists the proud” (Jas 4:6) “He raises the poor out of the dust, and lifts the needy out of the rubbish heap, that He may seat him with princes - with the princes of his people” (Ps 113). The Lord even says: “But on this one will I look, on him who is poor and of a contrite spirit, and who trembles at my word” (Is 66:2)...

Truly, every man is subject to weakness.

The Holy Bible told us about the falls of the saints and the weaknesses of the Apostles and Prophets. The one who despises the fall of the weak would be an easy target for the wars of the enemy and will fall. How deep is the advice of St Paul the Apostle when he said: “Remember the prisoners as if chained with them, those who are mistreated, since you yourselves are in the body also” (Heb 13:3).

The spiritual man does not judge his weak brother but prays for him.

He feels pity for him and asks help for him from the Lord. He knows that it is not for every person to reach the high levels of spirituality. And not everyone has received a great amount of grace and that gifts are not all the same: “For one star differs from another star in glory” (1 Cor 15:41).