Violence

ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν ἡμερῶν Ἰωάννου τοῦ βαπτιστοῦ ἕως ἄρτι ἡ βασιλεία τῶν οὐρανῶν βιάζεται, καὶ βιασταὶ ἁρπάζουσιν αὐτήν

And from the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.

Matthew 12:13 KJV

Let us look to ourselves and be sober, brothers. Who will give us back this present time if we waste it? If we actually had to seek these days we would not have found them. Abba Arsenios was always saying to himself, "Arsenios, what have you come for?" We are in such a negligent and ruinous condition that we don't know why we have come; we don't know even what we want and, therefore, we make no progress, but we are always distressed. This comes about because we have no set purpose in our hearts and, actually, if we were to resolve to fight a little, in a short time we should not find life distressing or laborious. For if from the beginning a man does violence to himself and struggles with himself a little, in a short time he makes progress and afterwards he goes on peacefully, when God, seeing that he does violence to himself, brings him help. We must, then, do ourselves violence. Let us lay down a good foundation, let us meanwhile desire what is good.

— Abba Dorotheos of Gaza

At the beginning of the struggle... the holy commandments of God must be fulfilled with a certain forcefulness of will; then the Lord, seeing our intention and labor, will grant us readiness of will and gladness in obeying His purposes. For 'it is the Lord who makes ready the will' (Proverbs 8:35 LXX), so that we always do what is right, joyfully. Then shall we truly feel that 'it is God who energizes in you both the willing and the doing of His purpose' (Philippians 2:13).

— Abba Diadochos of Photiki