Fr. Symeon Kragiopoulos on self-examination
We have to examine ourselves and the way we present ourselves thoroughly. We should wonder: this thing we are doing, is it virtuous, or does it conceal some self-interest?
People who act like Christians, as long as they don’t become true Christians, will be driven wherever their temperament leads them. All of us are led and carried by the constitution of our soul, especially when it is ill.
We have to examine ourselves and the way we present ourselves thoroughly. We should wonder: this thing we are doing, is it virtuous, or does it conceal some self-interest? Maybe one is ready to serve others. Does it proceed from virtue, or is something else involved? One might love solitude and isolation - unsociability, as it were, which sometimes seems quite nice. We say: “What a Hesychast he is!” But is this virtue, or is it weakness? We should always search for this, examining it. Certainly, a person will sometimes be tricked and led astray. It is inevitable. The best way for one to overcome oneself - because that is what must happen - is obedience.
From: Fr. Simeon Kragiopoulos - “Timeless Truths - The Annual Liturgical Cycle for every year”