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St. Maximus the Confessor (580-682), esteemed the greatest theologian of his time, spoke of passions in Centuries on Charity. St. Maximus taught of "keep[ing] the spirit free in the face of external realities and of the images of them."
Scripture speaks of the inner self as source of behavior. In Matthew, Jesus speaks, Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad [lit. rotten] and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit. Brood of vipers! How can you speak good things when you are evil? For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart (Matthew 12.32-34, HCSB).
Jesus, again in Matthew, addresses the impossibility of outward behavior contradicting the state of the inner self. He says, A healthy tree produces good fruit, and an unhealthy tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can't produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can't produce good fruit. So every tree that does not produce good fruit is chopped down and thrown into the fire. Yes, the way to identify a tree or a person is by the kind of fruit that is produced (Matthew 7.17-20, NLT).
St. Maximus presented two essentials for freedom of spirit: "spiritual love" and "mastery of self." Freedom, thus, entails being free of disorderly passions, passions that lead to rotten fruit.
Let us say that you are not supposed to partake of sugary foods, due to high blood sugar. You begin to think of a chocolate milkshake, the kind you have enjoyed since childhood. You savor the image, and an emotional urge to ride down the road and get a milkshake grows. That emotional urge is a passion. The passion itself will reappear again, until transformed, or redirected, rightly.
St. Maximus taught that we are graced in mastery of self by spiritual love. Spiritual love increases self-discipline, even as self-discipline opens to more capacity for spiritual love.
A man, we can say, has many sexual experiences, with many women. He has never been faithful to a woman. He meets a true lady and falls in love with her. The more he loves her, the less the temptation to be untrue to her. Until one day the passion of sexual infidelity no longer even enters his mind. True love for this lady, this has converted the passion of sexual lust into sexual fidelity. Now, the thought of being untrue to his loved one is offensive. His fidelity, then, is not mere self-determination or moral duty; restraint is consequent of transformation of energy through positive love.
Temptation is an opportunity to grow. The passion that leads into harmful behavior can become, by self-discipline and spiritual love--both arising from Grace--, energy of goodness and faithfulness. Due to grace, the bad tree, which will produce bad fruit, can become the good tree, which will produce good fruit. This is sanctification, a setting free the spirit from obedience to harmful urges and to obey good urges.
*OneLife writings are offered by Brian K. Wilcox, a United Methodist pastor serving in the Florida Conference of the United Methodist Church. Brian lives a vowed contemplative life with his two dogs, Bandit Ty and St. Francis, in North Florida. OneLife writings are for anyone seeking to live and share love, joy, and peace in the world and in devotion to God as she or he best understands God.
The Peace of Christ to All!
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