Patriarch Pavle on why slander does not disturb the one who serves God

The quote from Patriarch Pavle contrasts two orientations of the heart. A person gripped by vanity serves only himself and therefore watches anxiously for how others regard him. Criticism wounds him because his self‑worth depends on human opinion.

The patriarch describes this condition as a form of suffering: the vain person suffers from vanity and finds that much matters to him what others are toward him. By contrast, the one who serves God directs all concern toward God alone. That person does not occupy himself with what others say, because his reference point is no longer the crowd but the One he serves.

The patriarch presents the difference as a diagnostic: sensitivity to slander reveals whom we actually serve. If slander disturbs us, the implication is that we are still serving ourselves. If it does not disturb us, we have reoriented our service to God.

The text does not elaborate further or cite Scripture; it states the principle and leaves the application to the reader. The Serbian original uses the verb оговарају (slander, revile) and служи (serve) to draw a sharp line between self‑service and God‑service. The patriarch does not command indifference to reputation; he describes the natural outcome of a changed master.

The logic moves from the internal state (vanity versus devotion) to the external symptom (concern for opinion versus freedom from it). No further commentary or historical context is provided in the source.