To live happily, a person should put God first, then family, and only then work. His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry of Kiev and All Ukraine stated this in his interview with “Church Orthodox Newspaper”.
“God should be in the first place, family is in the second place, and work should only be in the third place. We must remember and fulfill the Savior’s instruction: first, seek the Kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things (which are necessary for your earthly life) will be added to you (Matthew 6:33). Correctly set priorities make a person’s life right and happy,” said the Primate of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church.
If a person begins to rearrange these priorities and puts material wealth in the first place, then he incorrectly builds his life, the Archpastor noted.
“The more a person collects earthly goods, treasures, the more he becomes unhappy. Because it seems to us, when we do not have these treasures, that ‘if I became rich, I would be happy’. In fact, this is not true: happiness comes from God, and not from wealth. A person who did not find God, but found only wealth, is deeply unhappy. And the person who found God even if he has very little, will be happy, ” His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry pointed out.
As the Primate noted, “when we give our best efforts to God, and part of our efforts to earn money to buy bread, water, and clothes, we will be successful in this, because God gives man, His creation, what he needs if this creation does its duty to God.”
“This applies not only to a single person, but to the country as a whole. If the majority of our fellow citizens adhere to such pious priorities, work honestly, do not oppress the weak, do not fight against the Church, then the Lord will bless our whole country with peace and prosperity,” concluded His Beatitude Metropolitan Onuphry.
