Recently, I was reading a book written in the seventeenth century. The author is named Francis de Sales, who once served as the Bishop of Geneva. The title of the book is Introduction to the Devout Life[ii]. I believe it is a book every Christian should read. Even though the writer humbly says that he wrote it “for people living in the world”, the book contains deep spiritual wisdom—knowledge that comes from prayer, reading, and lived experience. For anyone who wants to honor the grace God has given them as Christians, this book is extremely helpful.
The book explains the Christian journey: from sin to repentance, and from repentance to a life of holiness. It shows the struggles in detail. For example, some of us find it easy to decide to leave sin and live with God. But when it comes to actually reaching holiness—the holiness we imagine when we make our decision—we struggle. Our hearts become heavy. We grow confused. And as you know, the path of holiness is not smooth. After a short time, the old taste of sin begins to pull us back. The spiritual fire we had at the beginning cools down. The world we left behind starts calling us again; its dust begins to settle on us. The flesh tries to tempt us. We try to run away, but yesterday’s world follows us like a shadow—through our ears, our eyes, and our memories.
Our prayer begins to feel dry. The holiness we longed for feels far away, almost unreachable. We start questioning ourselves. We become discouraged. Because of the pressure of the temptations—or because of our weakness—some of us even begin doubting the decision we made to live with God. Eventually we say, “Enough! This path is not for me.” And we abandon the journey of holiness we started.
What is the solution?
The writer says, “Finding the source of the problem is knowing half of the solution.” He explains that the root of the problem is not our desire to live a holy life, but the way we begin the journey. We start with excitement, but not with endurance. We rise up to begin the journey, but not to finish it. Everything comes in its time, he says, so we should stop wishing for a grace God has not yet given us. Instead, we should live faithfully according to the grace He has already given us.
About Prayer
Have you ever felt dryness in prayer? What do you do then? Some of us say, “How can I offer God a prayer that does not come from my heart?” and we stop praying. Others continue praying, but with a discouraged heart.
What is better?
Our writer answers: even if our prayer feels dry, God—who knows our weakness—does not reject it. Just as a true friend welcomes whatever his guest offers him, not because of the food but because of the love behind it, God accepts our prayer because of the love with which we offer it. If we wait patiently, the dryness that comes from our human weakness will be washed away by the rain of His grace.
Our writer says that spiritual dryness is part of the journey God prepares for His children. A mother gives sweet food to her child, and the child enjoys it. But the child cannot tell whether the sweetness comes from the food or from the mother’s love. Tomorrow, if she gives him something bitter, he may not enjoy it—but the mother’s love is still the same. To help the child grow, the mother must teach him to love her, not just the sweetness. In the same way, God sometimes hides His grace so that we may learn to cling to Him with maturity and understanding.
As King David says, “It is good for me that You have afflicted me.” (Ps. 118:71)
The book also teaches about different kinds of temptation, how temptation and sin relate, how to avoid temptation, and how to pass through it in daily life. For example, Francis describes the struggle of one Christian woman from the 1300s (Part IV, Chapter 4):
God allowed the devil to tempt her purity but did not allow him to touch her body. The devil began presenting filthy thoughts to her heart. He appeared with his demons in the form of men and women, showing shameful acts and speaking corrupt words. Even though these things happened outside her, they entered her senses and troubled her heart. As she later confessed, her heart was filled with darkness. But she never gave her will to these temptations.
This trial lasted a long time, until the Lord appeared to her. She asked Him, “Lord, where were You when my heart was filled with darkness and filth?” He answered, “I was in your heart, my daughter.” She said, “How could You dwell in such a filthy place?” The Lord replied:
“Tell me—did these evil thoughts bring you pleasure or sorrow? Did they give you sweetness or bitterness?” She answered, “Great bitterness and sorrow.” Then He said, “Who do you think created that bitterness? It was I. If I had not been in your heart, these thoughts would have conquered your will and brought death to your soul. But because I was within you, I created hatred against those sins and the resistance in your heart. Your struggle has increased your virtue and strength. These trials are the source of great goodness and deep benefit for you.”
The book does not avoid any major temptation Christians face. Its explanations and solutions are simple and direct, making you forget that it was written four hundred years ago.
Let me share a little of what it says about gossip:
Human beings have three lives:
A spiritual life given by God’s grace
A life of the soul (our inner self)
A social life built on our good name
Sin destroys the first life (grace), kills the second (the soul), and gossip destroys the third (our good name). This is why gossip is a kind of murder. With one word, the gossip kills three lives: his own soul, the soul of the listener, and the social life of the person being spoken about.
A monastic writer from 1100s says, “The gossip has the devil on his tongue; the listener has the devil in his ear.” David says, “Their tongues are like serpents.” (Ps. 141:3) The philosopher Aristotle says, “The tongue of a gossip is like the forked tongue of a serpent—one tip poisons the listener’s ear, the other destroys the reputation of the one being spoken about.”
Therefore, beloved of God, do not speak evil of others—directly or indirectly. Do not expose your neighbor’s sins unless absolutely necessary. Do not twist their good deeds into evil. Do not harm their reputation with words. Because in all these ways—especially through lies and slander—you deeply offend God.
Some people begin gossip with praise: “I love him, truly… but let me tell you the truth.” Or, “She is a good woman, but she made a mistake.” This is like pulling back a bowstring to shoot an arrow farther. Their praise is only to make their gossip enter deeper into the listener’s heart.
Gossip spoken as jokes is even more poisonous. Hemlock alone may not kill, but mixed with wine it becomes deadly. In the same way, gossip mixed with humor stays in the listener’s mind for a long time. As David says, “The poison of serpents is under their lips.” (Ps. 12:3; Ps. 140:3)
This book touches every part of life—from the dinner table to the bedroom, from the workplace to recreation. It has something to say to youth and elders, married and unmarried, virgins and monks, beginners and the mature.
Perhaps you might as well read and benefit from it. Reading a page a day is 365 pages a year.
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