Confession and Self-Examination: The Desert Mothers on Humility and Honesty
Teaching on Confession and Self-Examination from Amma Theodora / Amma Sarah: The Desert Mothers on Humility and Honesty
This is a spiritual discipline on humility and spiritual pride, drawing on 1 Corinthians 15:10, James 4:6 and Philippians 2:13.
The Desert Mothers, though fewer in number than the Fathers, offer equally profound wisdom on self-examination. Amma Theodora taught: "Neither asceticism, nor vigils, nor any kind of suffering are able to save. Only true humility can do that." She warned against the temptation to use spiritual disciplines as a source of pride rather than as tools for transformation. Amma Sarah, who lived sixty years by the river Nile, was once taunted by demons: "You have overcome us, Sarah."…
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