“We need to be careful in our spiritual life.
When spiritual people are affected by vainglory, they feel very little satisfaction,
and they are left with a sense of emptiness in their heart.
There is no fulfillment,
no rejoicing of the heart,
and as their vanity increases,
the emptiness inside makes them suffer even more.
Where there is anxiety and despair, there is a demonic spiritual life.
You should not feel anxiety over anything at all.
Anxiety comes from the devil.
Wherever you see anxiety, you must know that the devil has been at work.
The devil will not go against the current.
If there is a predisposition, he will push in that direction in order to cause us trouble and deceive us.
When in the course of our spiritual struggle we feel anxiety we must know that we are not moving within the realm of God…
In other words, one should not strive with an unhealthy fastidiousness…
Christ is full of love, kindness and consolation and He never stifles,
but gives abundant oxygen and divine consolation.
Elder Paisios