Leo Tolstoy Archive
Written: 1908
Source: From RevoltLib.com
Transcription/Markup: Andy Carloff
Online Source: RevoltLib.com; 2021
And also Jesus said that of all the temptations, the most harmful is temptation of anger. Man gets angry with his brother for his sins and thinks that he, with this anger, can rescue his brother from his sins, but he forgets that no one can be the judge of a brother, because each of us is full of sins; and that before correcting brother, one should correct himself. Because we see the mote in the eye of brother, and see no chips in our own. And therefore, if you think that your brother has acted badly, then approach him, choose time and place to talk with him face-to-face, and tell him briefly what you have against him. If he listens to you, then he, instead of being your enemy, will become your friend. If he won’t listen, take pity on him and do not deal with him anymore. And one of the students asked: ‘And if he won't listen and will hurt me again? To forgive him again? And if he hurts me again, and again, and for the third, fourth, and seventh times, should I still forgive him?’ And Jesus said: “Not only seven times, but seventy times seven, endlessly, because, as God forgives us all our sins if we repent in them, so we must endlessly forgive our brothers.” (Matthew 7, 1-5; 18, 15-22)
Questions:
1) What is the most harmful temptation?
2) What constitutes this temptation?
3) What you need to do when you think your brother acted badly?
4) How many times do you need to forgive?