Backslide from God does not happen overnight. It happens when a person stops too early on the way of getting to know God. This gradual process is accompanied by false purposefulness, beginning with minor things and developing into a kind of sophisticated narcissism.
A person who approaches God becomes wounded by His love and will never trade it for any earthly pleasures.
Regardless of the the external reasons leading to deviations, they all point to one single internal cause: the lack of faith in God. By that I mean the real faith that permeates all being, not a superficial or romantic kind. Faith is self improvement until the end of your life. It is a constant process of making choices towards the good, a daily conscious rejection of evil and sin. Faith is both a holiday and hard work.
If a person leaves the church and abandons faith complaining about the received wounds, then what he or she really believed in were people, not God.
Indeed, trusting in people instead of trusting God results in unfulfilled expectations that can deeply hurt a person. But the fault here lies with that person and his pride.
It is ourselves that we need to change. It is a painful process, and many choose the “easier” path. We close our eyes to our own weaknesses and closely examine the weaknesses of our neighbour. But this only makes the situation worse. Wounds that are left untreated fester and can lead to gangrene.
People will never change just to please us or live up to our expectations, not even the best people in the world. Expectations always breed hopelessness and suffering opening gate to murmur.
Apostasy from God manifests itself as murmur against Him. It is a grave sin that fetters and kills the soul while hiding behind the search for the highest justice.
No external reasons can become an obstacle on the path to God, only our passions. It makes no sense to blame anyone and look for those guilty of the past or present.
We must take responsibility for our lives and honestly admit that there is no true faith in our souls yet. Growing in unfeigned faith begins with recognizing that we are floating with the flow, moving mechanically, believing formally and indulging ourselves.
It is not sin itself that is terrible, but the unrepentant sin.
The desire to leave the Church and the faith is a sure sign of our failure to make God the center of our life, its Master and Foundation.
The house built on sand becomes destroyed immediately with the first strong blow.
Translated by The Catalogue of Good Deeds
Source: https://pravlife.org/ru/content/otstuplenie-ot-boga-glavnaya-prichina
