Conflict of the Heart

“He said also, ‘He who wishes to live in solitude in the desert is delivered from three conflicts: hearing, speech, and sight; there is only one conflict for him and that is with fornication.'" -The Sayings of the Desert Fathers (Abba Anthony the Great, paragraph 11)

Abba Anthony lays out very clear advice for those pursuing the solitary life.

The fight in the desert isn’t that of hearing, speech, or sight.

It is an internal warfare.

One who enters the desert, obviously, gives up marriage.

He gives it up for the sake of The Kingdom.

But this doesn’t mean that the natural desire for marriage leaves his heart. It will always be there.

The solitary man must crucify his own will and surrender it to Christ.

If he does not, he will likely fall into the sin of fornication. This is just reality.

If we do not rely on Christ to fill those parts of our hearts, we will fill them with other things.

The battle of the desert is a fierce struggle that requires complete abandonment to Christ.

Saint Abba Anthony the Great, pray for us!