Gleanings from Orthodox Christian Authors and the Holy Fathers

Boasting

In Categories: Miscellaneous Topics

If you see someone exalting himself and is arrogant about his abilities, know that even if he created great signs and resurrected the dead….he is being robbed by an evil spirit without realizing it. Even if he performs miracles — do not believe him because the sign of a Christian is to hide from others any gifts that God have deemed him worthy to receive.

Having the riches of a king, the Christian hides them as though to say: "These are not my riches, someone else put them there." If someone says " What I have acquired is sufficient for me, I don’t need any more," — he is already not a Christian but is in a state of delusion and has become an instrument of the devil.

Because rapture in God is insatiable, the extent of one’s savoring it and partaking of spiritual blessings is the measure by which the hunger for it is increased. Such people have a fervent and unstoppable love for God. The more they succeed and acquire, the more they acknowledge themselves as beggars.REF:St Macarius the Great

---