The issue of salvation is the
main issue in the history of humankind as well as in the life of each
individual. Salvation is true happiness. Everything else is based on our
salvation. In this sense, happiness is in our own hands. It is achieved by
defeating sin. The immediate environment for struggle against sin is the family
as well as all those living around us. We look at the environment and situation
of our life as if it was something accidental, and we don’t view our family as
the path given to us by God for our salvation. Life in a family seems to be
something that happened by chance, and the most important aspect of family life
evades our attention. According to the Apostle, family is a small church. It
can especially help an individual in achieving the main goal of life. In family
people look for happiness. But what do we mean by happiness? People usually
give unclear answers to this question. This means that we don’t take from this
God-given state that which is the most essential.
Both sinful and spiritually right life take place inside a person and the
environment is a means using which the person must look inside. We already
mentioned that sin is a separating force. I will explain it with an example
from everyday life. Let’s say two people offended and insulted one another; did
not want to make concessions and went their separate ways. That’s an unhappy
situation. This tells us that we must fight against sin for the sake of our own
happiness, because anger is an unhappy part of our life. A human being is
created with a desire for happiness and must and can learn to fight for his
happiness against unhappiness, i.e. against sin in the environment which is
especially close to him, close to him in the flesh. Powers of sin and holiness
are in a person as if it were in a state of equilibrium. Depending on how we
touch a person, the power of good or the power of evil begin to act in him and
in the world around him. We always need an environment that would cleanse our
inner world and would enable us indeed to come to know ourselves.
Outside environment, being a chance interaction of people does not server
this purpose. When faced with strangers, a person hides his unrighteousness,
drives it inside and tries to look good. A person is ashamed of what others
might think of him, ashamed of the opinion of society and therefore does not
show his true self. It is only in the family environment, to which we are
accustomed, that the source of evil lurking in us begins to show up. In this
respect a family environment is a necessary tool for self-understanding. No
wonder that we are often afraid of this family atmosphere. Running away from
it, we are interested in many things and entertain ourselves in various ways,
just to escape from the environment that helps us to learn more about
ourselves.
Why does the family appear to be the environment most conducive to
salvation? Because in the family a person directly opens up his feelings, but
when outsiders are present he hides his inner world. In society a person
controls himself, he hides his irritation, tries to show himself other than he
really is. He shows his outward, not his inner character. But in the family he
is not trying to hide his condition, he will show it, won’t be ashamed to
display his sinfulness by word or deed. And his hidden sinful world is open before
the family, before his relatives and before the person himself. Thus, in a
family environment, a person who pays attention to his own salvation can easier
understand his sins and what separates him from others. It is important,
however, that this realization of one’s inner world should lead one to fight
against sin.
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