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Saint Porphyrios on turning from sin to Christ
What the video says
Most people try to fight sins by resolving each morning not to sin, but they fall again by evening. Saint Porphyrios, in Wounded by Love, says not to fight to expel darkness from the soul's chamber.
He compares sin to darkness in a room: you do not push darkness out; you turn on the light. Similarly, we should ignore evil, look to Christ, and fill our minds with love for God.
When temptation comes, turn away, say a short prayer, do good, and let darkness lose its place. Confession remains necessary, but we should not live staring at our sins.
Key moments
- Most people fight sins by resolving each morning not to sin, but they fall again by evening.
- Saint Porphyrios in Wounded by Love says, "Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul."
- When a room is dark, you do not fight the darkness; you turn on the light and the darkness disappears.
- The same applies to sins: you will not become saints by hounding after evil; ignore evil and look toward Christ.
- The more we stare at our sins, the more space they take in our mind, even while we are fighting them.
- When temptation comes, do not argue with it; turn away, turn to Christ, say a short prayer, and do something good for someone.
- Fill that space with love for God and the darkness slowly loses its place.
- This does not mean we stop going to confession; we bring our sins there but we do not live staring at them; we live looking at Christ.
The video explains Saint Porphyrios' teaching from his book Wounded by Love on the proper way to fight sin. It begins by describing the common experience: most people try to fight sins by resolving each morning not to sin, but they fall again by evening. Saint Porphyrios offers a different approach. He says, "Do not fight to expel the darkness from the chamber of your soul."
He uses the analogy of a dark room: when a room is dark, you do not fight the darkness; you turn on the light and the darkness disappears. The same principle applies to sins. You will not become saints by hounding after evil. Instead, ignore evil and look toward Christ. The more we stare at our sins, the more space they take in our mind, even while we are fighting them.
When temptation comes, do not argue with it. Turn away, turn to Christ, say a short prayer, and do something good for someone. Fill that space with love for God and the darkness slowly loses its place. The video clarifies that this does not mean we stop going to confession. We bring our sins there, but we do not live staring at them. We live looking at Christ.
Main points
- Most people resolve each morning not to sin but fall again by evening
- Saint Porphyrios in Wounded by Love says not to fight to expel darkness from the soul's chamber
- Darkness in a room disappears when you turn on the light, not by pushing it out
- When temptation comes, turn away, say a short prayer, and do something good
- Confession remains necessary but we should not live staring at our sins