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Mother Jefimija Teaches Forgiveness as Condition for Communion with God
Mother Jefimija speaks on forgiveness as the greatest virtue for harmony with God, alongside love. She recounts a teaching from a great spiritual father that as long as a person has not forgiven even one individual and remains in bad relations with them, they have no communion with God. God does not accept this lack of forgiveness. The first step is learning to forgive, acknowledging human weakness in spirit and body.
People are prone to immediate retaliation when offended, questioning motives and striking back. One must draw humility from within to set aside that reaction, dismiss the offense with the thought "what does it matter," and instead pray for the offender that God will change them. What others say or whether they love us is not the measure; what matters is that God does not leave us.
To return to God's path and maintain connection with the Lord, we must live as He lived, spreading love and saying, "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do." The teaching presents forgiveness as a non-negotiable condition for communion with God. The spiritual father's formulation is absolute: a single unforgiven person breaks that communion.
Human weakness is named as the reason forgiveness must be learned, we are weak in spirit and body. The natural reaction to offense is immediate offense in return, questioning the other's motives. Overcoming this requires humility drawn from deep within, not a superficial effort.
The practical replacement for retaliation is prayer for the offender's transformation. The criterion for spiritual health shifts from human relationships to divine presence. Christ's prayer on the cross becomes the pattern for the believer's life.
Key moments
- The greatest virtue to cultivate for harmony with God is forgiveness, and the virtue of love.
- A great spiritual father said that as long as there exists one person with whom you are not in good relations and whom you have not forgiven, you have no communion with God.
- God does not like this lack of forgiveness.
- The first thing to do is to learn to forgive, because we are weak people, weak in spirit and body.
- We are prone to immediately go on the offensive when someone says something, to retaliate and question their motives.
- One must dig up humility from the depths to push that reaction aside and say "what does it matter," then pray to God for that person so they will change.
- What others say or whether they love us is not important; what is important is that God does not leave us.
- To learn and return to God's path and have that connection with the Lord, we must live as He lived, spreading His love and saying "forgive them Father, they know not what they do."