simple desires…

…simple desires, even when they are not sinful, are actually worse than the sinful ones.  A sinful desire will shake a man at some point, and his conscience will bother him, and he will make an effort to repent.  He will say, ‘My God, I have sinned.’  On the contrary, these other desires, the ‘good ones,’ do not concern him at all.  He believes that he is doing well.  ‘I love well-made and beautiful things,’ he thinks.  ‘Besides, God created everything beautiful.’  Yes, but his love does not go to the Creator, it goes to His creation, which is why we should break off from every desire.  When someone makes an effort for Christ by sacrificing what he loves, no matter how good what he loves is, God will grant him an even greater peace and rest.

~Elder Paisios of Mount Athos