This is the topic of today's writing: what worldliness is, what worldliness does to us, and how we can overcome worldliness, only by the Grace that God gives us. Of course, all Christians all around the world at some point struggled with being worldly, and its the main thing that prevents them into having perfect communion with God, in soul, mind, and heart. This perfect communion with God is a special gift that is possible to be received in this life, by those who have faithfulness in Christ. However, worldliness is one of Satan's main tactics to prevent us Christians from having perfect communion with God, which is the goal of the Christian Life. So, this writing is for all who want to have this perfect communion with God, our minds and hearts being full of his Love, Grace, Peace, and Virtue, but keep stumbling with being worldly.

First of all, when Christians say 'worldly' and 'worldliness', we are usually talking about the world under Satan, the artificial reality that Satan has manufactured in order to keep humans, who bear the Image of God (Genesis 1:26), away from God, out of communion with God, ignorant of God, and hating God without a cause. Satan has many tactics to keep humans away from the Love of God, which every human truly desires. Sometimes Satan uses temptations to draw people into his world and away from God, such as using lust, greed, vain glory, hate, negativity, anxiety, fear, pride, anger, selfishness, viceful desires such as these in order to entice humans away from God into the world that Satan manufactured. Other times Satan lures people into idolizing a particular object, ensuring that they believe that it is the most important object in life, and keeping them under that power. An example of this would be money itself, sports, and even politics itself. Satan can deceive some people into believing that these things are of the most importance in their lives, and keep them under that power. Small tactics like the aforementioned and some additional ones such as lies, deceptions, and doubt all lead to his overall strategy in keeping humans away from the Love of God: attachment to the world that he manufactured. Basically, Satan uses the aforementioned tactics in order to get humans to love his world more than humans desire to have perfect communion with God. That is what Christians mean by 'worldliness', things that pertain to Satan's artificial reality, and a 'worldly person' is someone who constantly lives and loves the world of Satan, and so they live hedonistic lifestyles, they hate without cause, they feed their pride, their lusts, and their hatred towards anything outside of Satan's world. Worldliness is a real plague that infects all people, and when left unchecked, it really does lead to death, especially for Christians. 

But the World that God created is called Creation, and though it is fallen, it is being actively renewed by the Apostolic Ministry that Christ ordained the Church with. Christ's Church refers to any Christian Church that adheres to the truth of the Nicene Creed, The Church Fathers, and The Holy Bible interpreted through The Church Fathers. It is through Christ's Truth, Grace, and Power working through his Church that we are given the absolute way on how to overcome slavery to the world of Satan, on how to overcome worldliness.

The first step is this, to remember Christ's command: If your right hand causes you to sin, cut it off and throw it away, for it is more profitable for you that one of your members perish, than for your whole body to be cast into hell. Ask yourself honestly this question: have I become completely obsessed over worldly things, things that pertain to the world crafted by Satan? Have I become obsessed over money, the power that money has, and the quickest accumulation of money? Have I been so attached to sports that I've neglected to worship God, forgotten to obey him in good faith, or have I forsaken the commandment to Love God with everything I have for the sake of watching my preferred sports team? Do I idolize politics or a certain political ideology? Have I been so attached to politics that I block God out of my life, or twist Christianity for my political beliefs? Have I been attached to my desire for lust, for greed, for anger, for selfishness? Have I been doomscrolling on social media? You must ask yourself questions like these, and be honest with yourself, for your answers will reveal where you must cut off your attachments to the world, so that you can have perfect communion with God. 

If you don't cut off what is causing you to sin, where do you think you'll end up when Judgement Day comes? 

If you don't renounce the worldly parts of your life that are blocking the ability to pursue perfect communion with God, are you going to have perfect communion with God? Or are you going to be so worldly that you'll be eternally suffering with Satan, when God casts Satan's world into the Eternal Fire "where the worms that eat them do not die, and the fire is not quenched?" 

Thankfully however, Christ our God gives us the weapons we need in order to purge worldliness out of our lives, by God's Grace that he gives to us. And these are prayer, fasting, and almsgiving. We use these three God-given disciplines to store up for ourselves the treasures in heaven that Christ earnestly commands us to direct our attention to. If our goals and ultimate means are directed to treasures of this world (worldly things), then the use of these disciplines are worthless. However, when our goals and ultimate means are directed to the treasures of heaven which Christ offers as perfect sanctification and communion with God starting in this life, then these three disciplines are incredibly useful, and here's how you can practice each and every one every day.

Prayer: This is the starting point of living out our Faith in Christ Jesus. True prayer that is pleasing to God is an intimate communion of the Christian with God. Prayer is like a telephone to God. Prayer is also like a citizen talking to the King. Prayer can also be likened to a son talking to his Father. In all analogies, prayer is truly something special that God wants all to participate fully in, in the fullness of Holiness, Truth, Faith, Hope, and Love from God. There are two main ways of praying, both of which are pleasing to God: personal prayer and communal prayer. Personal prayer is the way how Christ taught us to pray, the main points being the Our Father prayer, forgiving others when in prayer so God will forgive you of your sins, praying with virtuous intentions, praying with perseverance, and all of this being in holy humility in a personal and sincere time with God. True personal prayer with God is humble, personal, and sincere with God. Some examples of personal prayer that you can start practicing now are The Rosary, The Jesus Prayer, Hesychasm, The Litany of Humility, The Litany of Trust, The Nicene Creed, The Our Father, and The Trisagion Prayers. The second way of praying is communal prayer, which is prayer within The Church. Individual prayer is powerful by itself, but the prayers of the people of God united in The Church are even more powerful, because it is God's People and himself in intimate communion with one another, the mind and will of God being poured out unto the Church in prayer. When the Church is in communal prayer, heaven and earth meet in a glorious and loving reality. There are various forms of communal prayer such as praying the Rosary together, praying the Psalms together, and practicing Hesychasm together, but the greatest and most important form of communal prayer is The Celebration of the Eucharist, which in the Roman Catholic Church is the Mass, and in the Orthodox Church the Divine Liturgy of Saint John Chrysostom. The Eucharist is where God freely pours out his Grace and Love to those who receive it in good faith, and this moves the Christian to a more perfect communion with God. At least every Sunday, there is a Liturgy of the Eucharist being celebrated as the highest form of communal prayer, so you can participate in communal prayer at least once a week, which is extremely effective in cleansing the soul from worldliness. It is so important to pray as Christians, so let us all pray with more Love, more Faith, and more devotion in our struggle to take off the worldly self and to put on the new self in Christ, so that we will be saved by the Grace of God.

Fasting: This is another very important discipline that every Christian can practice every day. Fasting is simply abstaining from things in order to gain control over them. It is also the abstinence from things that will make you stumble in your walk with God. In fasting, we empty our worldly selves so that Christ can put on us the new self that is regenerated in him. Common things that people nowadays can fast from are 1) all social media (not including this website), 2) food, 3) things that can put you in danger of sinning (like procrastination leading to the sin of laziness), and 4) sinful desires (inclination to anger, desire for lust) just to name a few ways of how one can fast in today's world. Christ commands us that our fasting should not be for outward show for vain glory, which in of itself is a sin against God, but that our fasting would be for the purpose of relying on God for sustainment, for life, and for nourishment, which is a good and holy practice of fasting. For those who want to practice fasting, here are some tips: 1) On every Wednesday and Friday, fast from some type of food. This is a practice that dates back all the way back to the Apostolic Era, and its purpose is to rely on God to control our passions and flesh. Start small on the fasting from food (like fasting from dairy or meats for the day), and then you can go for more disciplined approaches (skipping meals or a whole day's fast). 2) Every day, set a specific time period in which you would fast from a specific worldly thing that you are attached to (like sports, social media, politics), and replace that time you would usually use with prayer, Bible reading, doing Apostolic work, or even just with your friends and family. This fasting approach's purpose is to cut off the worldly things that are blocking you from perfect communion with God. These two approaches are good for beginners to fasting, and once you can master this, you can get more disciplined with fasting, and so completely cut off the worldly things that you are attached to. But don't give up on fasting! Keep persevering, and you will have Life in Christ.

Almsgiving: This is also a very important discipline in the Christian life that distances ourselves from worldly things. Being charitable with money eliminates the power that money can have on us. Giving money can eliminate our desire for greed and selfishness as well, however you must not do it with the intent of being seen by others, because this completely destroys the purpose of Almsgiving, which is to be generous just as God is generous to us. If we have a lot of time, we should be charitable and generous with that time, and give it to our loved ones, and to God. If we have any amount of money, we should be generous and give it to those who would need it. If we have many possessions, we are obliged to give what we aren't using to those who need them. "The bread in your cupboard belongs to the hungry; the coat unused in your closet belongs to the one who needs it; the shoes rotting in your closet belong to the one who has no shoes; the money which you hoard up belongs to the poor," as Saint Basil the Great so eloquently puts it. Humble generosity in all things is the kind of Almsgiving that God is looking for, and it is pleasing to him. Give without thinking, be generous without anyone looking, and keep on giving with God's Love, until Christ gives you perfect communion with himself.

So finally then, my brothers and sisters in Christ our God, to bring this into full circle, we find ourselves in worldly lifestyles, living worldly lives, and being of the world that the devil crafted, so that he can propagate us away from God towards himself. But Christ gives us the Light, and shows us that we cannot be worldly if we want to have Eternal 

Life with him. You must cut off your tendencies to worldliness and worldly living as quickly and effectively as possible, and to do this successfully with God's Grace and Power, let us pray, fast, and give without ceasing, so that we can have the fullness of perfect loving communion with Almighty God, who became man so that we might become God (Athanasius the Great).

Thank you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, for reading all the way here. Remember these words, don't stop living out your faith, and keep persevering for Christ, who by the Grace of your Baptism has given you every power to destroy the worldly self that would lead you to death. Remember and participate fully in the Love of God, and keep going for Christ! Pray for each other, remember to love each other as Christ loved you, and if you can share this writing with someone who needs it. Thank you all for reading, remember to thank God always, and I hope you all have a very blessed day from God!