Slothful and inexperienced as you are, you too should ‘go to the ant’ (Proverbs 6:6): imitate its simplicity and insignificance, and know that God, self-sufficient and superabundant, has no need of our virtues. On the contrary, He richly bestows His gifts on us and through His grace saves those who are consciously grateful, though in His compassion He also accepts whatever work we are able to do. If, then, you labor as one in debt to God for blessings already received, you do well and God’s mercy is close to you. But if you think that God is in your debt because of the good things you imagine you have done, you are quite deluded. For how can the bestower of gifts be the debtor? Work like a hired servant and, advancing step by step, you will by God’s mercy attain what you seek.
~St Theognostos
Prayerful Life 
Thank you! I am encouraged by the comment that we just need to be consciously grateful and God will accept our feeble efforts and His mercy will be close to us! I am consoled!
LikeLike
I thought this quote might help you feel better. I’m glad!
A lot of the early writers write about needing to do this or that but I think it is wrong to automatically interpret these commands or directives as being prerequisite to salvation. In many cases it is not related to salvation but to our improvement and our capacity to be in deeper relationship with God or for our spiritual healing and to be more of what we were made and intended to be. I think it is a problem of our Protestant upbringing that seems to interpret everything through the lens of salvation, faith and works, and all that business, when Jesus came to give us life and heal us and so much more than only salvation.
LikeLike
Good word! I have been thinking about it and realized that the word salvation means so much more than where we “end up “ but has to do with allowing the Lord to heal us and minister to us like in the parable of the Good Samaritan.
LikeLike
It was only fairly recently that I learned to understand the parable of the Good Samaritan as a teaching about God. We were always taught that it was a parable teaching people about moral living, which of course it is that also, but so much more and teaches about God’s love and healing for us.
LikeLike