Drawn Away/Fall Away
“…we do not blame God for our struggles. We understand that we may be drawn away – either by our “own desires” (James 1:14) or by whatever “gives birth to sin” (vs. 15) – and run the risk of falling into the full-blown sin that “brings forth death” (vs. 15). The worst outcome is to be captured by this world: its assumptions are deadly, no matter how plausible they sound…The love of Christ constrains us to live rightly in this world until death comes, or until the Lord returns. Yet because of its fallen state, the world will always tend to draw us away from communion with the Lord Jesus…When we make Christ central in our hearts and give Him first place in our lives, we step aside from this world’s values.” (Dynamis 2/7/2024, 7/13/2018, 1/18/2017)
“The theologian must be authentic. Phoniness, false piety, feigned humility, or a life of hypocrisy not only draws the judgment of God but in time becomes apparent to all. This can lead others to despair and loss of faith, just as in the case of a clergyman who falls and becomes the subject of a scandal. The clergyman and the theologian who cause scandal are responsible for the souls of those who are scandalized and fall away…Clergy and theologians are the special targets of the evil one. He seeks to destroy us by our own egos, by the false belief that we know better than others, that we would never fall away, when in fact we can deny Christ by our words and our deeds—and many have done so.” (Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou)
“In times of persecution, those who are casual about their faith choose either to fall away or to become strong in their Faith. For those of us who can openly practice our religion, being a believer can be taken for granted. We criticize the priest, we gossip about what people wear, we show up late to Liturgy and leave early. We do not take fasting seriously. We neglect the poor….Yes, we fall away from the Lord our God, but He raises us up again so that we may fervently pray…” (Abouna Justin Rose, OCPM 12/8/2016)
“The word usually rendered “temptation” in the Lord’s is peirasmos, often rendered as “trial”. It refers to a crisis which tests us, pushes us to the limit, a crisis in which we may fail the test and fall away from God. That was how the word is used in Luke 22:31, to describe Satan sifting Peter as thoroughly as wheat is sifted, by overwhelming him by a temptation to despair after his denial of Christ. That is how the word is used Revelation 3:10, to describe an hour of persecution and seduction that was coming upon the whole world…In the Lord’s Prayer, therefore, it seems that peirasmos refers to an hour of trial that comes upon us in the form of persecution. In this petition, we pray that we may withstand the assault.” (Fr. Lawrence Farley)
“Jesus uses the word “beware” multiple times in the Gospels. One of the things He warns us about, as do others throughout the Bible, is falling away from faith after turning to God in crisis and being delivered. It’s easy to be prayerful and committed when we have need, especially great need. And it’s equally easy to fall away after God meets our need and we are well again. God will of course “take us back” when we turn to Him again. The problem does not lie in His love for us. The problem really lies in our weak love for Him.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
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