Library › St Basil the Great › Shorter Rules
Shorter Rules
St Basil the Great, tr. Lowther Clarke, 1925
Rule 272: Since It is a Commandment of the Lord Not to Be Anxious About the Morrow, How…
He who has received the teaching of the Lord, Who said: “Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness”’ and is convinced of the truth of His promise which is added: “And all these things shall be added unto you,”2 does not occupy the soul uselessly in the cares of this life which choke the word and render it unfruitful. But, contending in the good contest of pleasing God, he believes in the Lord Who said:3 The workman is worthy of his food,”4 and he is in no way worried about this. But he works and is anxious not for his own sake, but for the commandment of Christ, as shown and taught by the apostle when he said: “In all things I gave you an example, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak.”5 For to be anxious for one’s own sake accuses a man of self-love; but to be anxious and work for the sake of the commandment is praiseworthy and shows a disposition that loves Christ and the brethren.
Notes
- See Mt. vi. 34.
- Mt. vi. 33 add τοῦ θεοῦ
- K.
- Mt. x. 10.
- Acts xx. 35.