Of the Imitation of Christ/Book III/Chapter XXXV
CHAPTER XXXV.
THAT THERE IS NO SECURITY FROM TEMPTATION IN THIS LIFE.
HOU art never secure in this life, but as long as thou livest, thou shalt always need spiritual armour.
Thou dwellest among enemies, and art assaulted on the right hand and on the left.
If therefore thou defend not thyself on every side with the shield of patience, thou wilt not be long without a wound.
Moreover, if thou fix not thy heart sincerely on Me, willing to suffer all things for Me, thou wilt not be able to bear the heat of this combat, nor to attain to the palm of the blessed.
Thou oughtest therefore manfully to go through all, and to be strong handed against whatsoever withstandeth thee.
For to him that overcometh is manna given, and for the indolent there remaineth much misery.
2. If thou seek rest in this life, how wilt thou then attain to the everlasting rest?
Dispose not thyself for much rest, but for great patience.
Seek true peace, not in earth, but in heaven; not in men, nor in any other creature, but in God alone.
For the love of God thou oughtest cheerfully to undergo all labour, grief, temptation, vexation, anxiety, necessity, infirmity, injury, detraction, reproof, humiliation, shame, correction, and scorn.
These help to virtue; these are the trial of a babe in Christ; of these consist the heavenly crown.
I will give an everlasting reward for a short labour, and infinite glory for transitory shame.
3. Thinkest thou that thou shalt always have spiritual consolations at thy will?
My saints had not such always, but they had many afflictions, and sundry temptations, and great discomforts.
But in all these they bore themselves patiently, and trusted rather in God than in themselves, knowing that the sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared to the future glory.
Wilt thou have that at once, which many after many tears and great labours have hardly obtained?
Wait for the Lord, behave thyself manfully, and be of good courage; do not leave thy place, but steadily expose both body and soul for the glory of God.
I will reward thee most plentifully; I will be with thee in every tribulation.