Satan is not afraid of our brains or our knowledge; He has more of them. He is not even afraid of our virtues, because he also has more of them. He lacks only one virtue, and its absence kills him while saving us. What is this virtue? Once, having achieved something, I proudly went to my spiritual elder. When he saw me, he immediately realized that I was slipping. Before I could say a word, he said:

Satan is not afraid of our brains or our knowledge; He has more of them. He is not even afraid of our virtues, because he also has more of them. He lacks only one virtue, and its absence kills him while saving us. What is this virtue? Once, having achieved something, I proudly went to my spiritual elder. When he saw me, he immediately realized that I was slipping. Before I could say a word, he said:

'Why are we so proud, son? What are we proud of? that we fast and eat little? Satan fasts more than us, he never eats. That we don't sleep at night or that we don't sleep enough? The devil is more awake than we are, he never sleeps. What are we avoiding? What do we keep our virginity for? The devil is more virgin than us: even if he wanted to commit adultery, he could not, since he has no body. '.

I couldn't believe my ears. No matter what measurements we have, the devil also holds them. No matter what virtues we acquire, we will never compare to the virtues Satan had when he was an angel, and yet, he lost them all. why? Because he lacks one virtue. We must strive to acquire this virtue in order to be saved. The devil takes control of us not only with sins; He dominates us in virtues even more than in sins. We can see sins and avoid them, but we actively fight to acquire virtues. As one saint said: 'Want to fast? The devil helps you. Want to give alms? The devil helps you. Want to build temples? The devil helps you. why? Because he knows that if we achieve all this, we might become proud and destroy everything. We must possess a virtue that he does not have: to be humble! " —. Saint Nikon.