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But he said these things, not wishing to diminish the gift of Christ, but hastening to make himself responsible for the whole, and persuading each one to be so disposed. For even if Christ had come for one man, not only is the gift not diminished by this, but it is even shown to be greater. How? Because even for one he is seen showing as much zeal as he who seeks the one sheep; for these things he was troubled, for these things he wept. For if those who have borrowed money, and are not able to repay, but are submerged in the great depth of their debts, neither eat nor sleep, being gnawed by care; what would the just man not suffer, seeing the debt to be not in money, but in deeds? But we are not so, but even if we pay a little, we are disposed as if we have paid the whole, or rather, even exceeded it; and not even this little do we do with the readiness befitting free men, but first we examine if there is a reward, and if the reward is great, and if it is credited to us ourselves, uttering the words of certain illiberal and hired men. What are you saying, you small-souled and wretched man? Something pleasing to God is set before you to do, and you stand there worrying about a reward? For if it were appointed for you to fall into Gehenna for doing it, ought you to shrink back, and not rather undertake the work of good things with great readiness even so? You do something dear to God, and you seek another reward? Truly you are ignorant of how great a good it is to please God; for if you knew, you would not have considered any other recompense to be equal. Do you not know that your reward increases when you do what is right not in the hope of rewards? Do you not see that even among men, all honor most those whom they see looking to please them before rewards, and being more zealous for this than for the honor from them? Then, while men are so nobly disposed towards their fellow-servants, do you, who have been so benefited by the Master, and who expect so many good things, whenever you must do something pertaining to your salvation, inquire curiously about the reward before the deed? For these reasons we are everywhere cold and wretched and prepared for no noble deeds; for this reason we have never been able to be in a state of compunction, nor to chasten our soul even a little. For we neither reckon our sins with accuracy, nor examine the benefactions of God, nor look to those who have accomplished the greatest things. For this reason we forget good works, because we neither bear prosperity moderately, nor do we speak with truth what we continually say, calling ourselves sinners. 47.421 And this is clear from the following; for when we hear these things from others, we grow savage, we become like wild beasts, we say the matter is an insult. Thus all our actions are hypocrisy, and we do not even imitate the tax collector, who, when another reproached him for the multitude of his sins, accepted the reproaches and reaped the profit through his deeds; for he went down justified rather than the Pharisee; but we do not even know what confession is, and this while being full of countless evils. But it were necessary not only to be persuaded that we have committed countless transgressions, but also to have all our sins, both the small and the great, written as if in a book in our heart, and to mourn them as if they had just happened. For thus we would have also subdued the pride of the soul, constantly reminding it of its own evils. So great a good is it to remember one's own sins, that even the blessed Paul continually brought to the fore his vanished crimes. For since he had washed away all his former things

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Ταῦτα δὲ ἔλεγεν, οὐ συστεῖλαι βουλόμενος τοῦ Χριστοῦ τὴν δωρεὰν, ἀλλὰ τοῦ παντὸς ἑαυτὸν ὑπεύθυνον καταστῆσαι σπεύδων, καὶ ἕκαστον οὕτω διακεῖσθαι πείθων. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ δι' ἕνα παρεγένετο ἄνθρωπον ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐ μόνον οὐκ ἐλαττοῦται τούτῳ ἡ δωρεὰ, ἀλλὰ καὶ μείζων δείκνυται. Πῶς; Ὅτι καὶ ὑπὲρ ἑνὸς τοσαύτην φαίνεται τὴν σπουδὴν ἐπιδεικνύμενος, ὅσην ὁ τὸ ἓν πρόβατον ἐπιζητῶν, διὰ ταῦτα ἐταράττετο, διὰ ταῦτα ἐθρήνει. Εἰ γὰρ οἱ χρήματα δανεισάμενοι, καὶ οὐκ ἔχοντες ἀποτῖσαι, ἀλλὰ πολλῷ καταβαπτιζόμενοι τῷ τῶν ὀφλημάτων βυθῷ, οὔτε ἐσθίουσιν, οὔτε καθεύδουσιν ὑπὸ τῆς φροντίδος δακνόμενοι· ὁ δίκαιος ὁρῶν οὐκ ἐν χρήμασιν, ἀλλ' ἐν πράξεσιν οὖσαν τὴν ὀφειλὴν, τί οὐκ ἂν ἔπαθεν; Ἀλλ' οὐχ ἡμεῖς οὕτως, ἀλλὰ κἂν μικρὸν ἐκτίσωμεν, ὡς τὸ πᾶν ἐκτετικότες διακείμεθα, μᾶλλον δὲ καὶ ὑπερβαλλόμενοι· καὶ οὐδὲ τὸ μικρὸν τοῦτο μετὰ προθυμίας τῆς προσηκούσης ἐλευθέροις πράττομεν, ἀλλὰ πρότερον ἐξετάζομεν εἰ μισθὸν ἔχει, καὶ εἰ πολὺν τὸν μισθὸν, καὶ εἰ ἡμῖν αὐτοῖς λογίζεται, ἀνελευθέρων τινῶν καὶ μισθωτῶν φθεγγόμενοι ῥήματα. Τί λέγεις, ἄνθρωπε μικρόψυχε καὶ ταλαίπωρε; πρόκειταί τι πρᾶξαι τῶν ἀρεσκόντων Θεῷ, καὶ σὺ περὶ μισθοῦ φροντίζων ἕστηκας; Εἰ γὰρ πράξαντά σε εἰς γέενναν ἐμπεσεῖν προὔκειτο, ἀναδύσασθαι ἐχρῆν, ἀλλ' οὐχὶ μετὰ πολλῆς καὶ οὕτω τῆς προθυμίας ἅπτεσθαι τῆς τῶν καλῶν ἐργασίας; Πράττεις τι τῶν τῷ Θεῷ φίλων, καὶ μισθὸν ἕτερον ἐπιζητεῖς; Ὄντως ἀγνοεῖς ὅσον ἐστὶν ἀγαθὸν ἀρέσαι Θεῷ· εἰ γὰρ ᾔδεις, οὐδεμίαν ἂν ἑτέραν ἐνόμισας εἶναι ἴσην ἀμοιβήν. Οὐκ οἶδας ὅτι σοι ὁ μισθὸς αὔξεται, ὅταν μὴ ἐπ' ἐλπίδι τῶν μισθῶν πράττῃ τὰ δέοντα; Οὐχ ὁρᾷς ὅτι καὶ ἐπὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων τούτους μάλιστα τιμῶσιν ἅπαντες, οὓς ἂν ἴδωσι πρὸ τῶν μισθῶν εἰς τὸ ἐκείνοις ἀρέσκον ὁρῶντας, καὶ ὑπὲρ τούτου μᾶλλον σπουδάζοντας, ἢ τῆς παρ' αὐτῶν τιμῆς; Εἶτα, ἄνθρωποι μὲν οὕτως εὐγενῶς πρὸς τοὺς ὁμοδούλους διάκεινται, σὺ δὲ ὁ τοσαῦτα εὐεργετηθεὶς παρὰ τοῦ ∆εσπότου, καὶ τοσαῦτα προσδοκῶν ἀγαθὰ, ἡνίκα ἄν τι δέῃ πρᾶξαι τῶν εἰς σωτηρίαν ἡκόντων τὴν σὴν, πρὸ τῆς πράξεως τὸν μισθὸν περιεργάζῃ. ∆ιὰ ταῦτα πανταχοῦ ψυχροὶ καὶ ταλαίπωροι καὶ πρὸς οὐδεμίαν τῶν γενναίων ἐσμὲν παρεσκευασμένοι πράξεων· διὰ τοῦτο οὔτε ἐν κατανύξει γενέσθαι δεδυνήμεθά ποτε, οὔτε μικρόν τι συστεῖλαι τὴν ψυχὴν τὴν ἡμετέραν. Οὔτε γὰρ τὰ ἁμαρτήματα ἡμῶν ἀναλογιζόμεθα μετὰ ἀκριβείας, οὔτε τὰς τοῦ Θεοῦ εὐεργεσίας ἐξετάζομεν, οὔτε πρὸς τοὺς τὰ μέγιστα κατωρθωκότας ὁρῶμεν. ∆ιὰ τοῦτο τῶν ἀγαθῶν ἔργων ἐπιλανθανόμεθα, ὅτι οὔτε μετρίως τὰς εὐπραγίας φέρομεν, οὔτε ὃ συνεχῶς λέγομεν, ἁμαρτωλοὺς ἑαυτοὺς καλοῦντες, μετὰ ἀληθείας φθεγγόμεθα. 47.421 Καὶ δῆλον ἐκεῖθεν· ὅταν γὰρ παρ' ἑτέρων ταῦτα ἀκούσωμεν, ἀγριαίνομεν, ἐκθηριούμεθα, ὕβριν τὸ πρᾶγμα εἶναί φαμεν. Οὕτω πάντα ὑπόκρισις τὰ παρ' ἡμῶν, καὶ οὐδὲ τὸν τελώνην μιμούμεθα, ὃς, ἑτέρου τὸ τῶν ἁμαρτημάτων ὀνειδίζοντος αὐτῷ πλῆθος, καταδεξάμενος τὰ ὀνείδη, διὰ τῶν ἔργων τὸ κέρδος ἐκαρπώσατο· κατῆλθε γὰρ δεδικαιωμένος μᾶλλον ὑπὲρ τὸν Φαρισαῖον· ἡμεῖς δὲ οὐδὲ ὅ τί ποτέ ἐστιν ἐξομολόγησις ἴσμεν, καὶ ταῦτα μυρίων γέμοντες κακῶν. Ἔδει δὲ μὴ μόνον πεπεῖσθαι ὅτι μυρία ἡμῖν πεπλημμέληται, ἀλλὰ καὶ πάντα ἡμῶν τὰ ἁμαρτήματα, τά τε μικρὰ, τά τε μεγάλα, ὥσπερ ἐν βίβλῳ τῇ καρδίᾳ γράφοντας ἔχειν, καὶ ὡς νεωστὶ γεγενημένα πενθεῖν. Οὕτω γὰρ ἂν καὶ τὸ φρόνημα τῆς ψυχῆς κατεστείλαμεν, συνεχῶς αὐτῇ τῶν οἰκείων ἀναμιμνήσκοντες κακῶν. Τοσοῦτόν ἐστιν ἀγαθὸν μνημονεύειν ἁμαρτημάτων οἰκείων, ὡς καὶ τὰ ἀφανισθέντα ἐγκλήματα συνεχῶς φέρειν εἰς μέσον τὸν μακάριον Παῦλον. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ τὰ πρότερα ἀπενίψατο πάντα