How to Avoid becoming Prideful because of our Good Deeds

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"One should not give alms with pride but rather with humility,

considering the one to whom the alms are given to be better

than oneself. Did not the Lord Himself say: Inasmuch as ye 

have done it unto one of the least of these My brethren, ye

have done it unto Me? (Matthew 25:40) 

Theophanes the Confessor possessed a mind illumined by the

light of Christ, even as a child. Once, while walking along the

street, he saw a naked child freezing. He quickly removed his

clothes, clothed the child and thus warmed him and brought 

him back to life. He then returned home naked. 

His startled parents asked him: ``Where are your clothes?''

To this Theophanes replied: ``I clothed Christ.'' This is why

he was given the grace of Christ, and was later a great 

ascetic, a sufferer for the Christian Faith and a miracle-

worker. 

Often, when we give alms, either in someone else's name

or in our own name, we cannot avoid pride which, as soon

as it appears in the heart, destroys all the good deeds

performed. 

When we give to the beggar as to a beggar and

not as to Christ, we cannot avoid pride or disdain. What 

value is there in performing an act of mercy, while taking

pride in ourselves and disdaining the man? 

Virtue is not a virtue when it is mixed with sin, just as milk is not milk when it is mixed with gasoline or vinegar." St Nikolai Velimirovich in The Prologue from Ochrid

Reading for September 9th.