1 Coríntios 9
Philoxenus of Mabbug
1 Coríntios 9:22
Craftiness in the soul is like a harlot in the street; for as the harlot speaketh with all men and putteth on all persons so that she may appear to be like unto every man, even so doth craftiness appear in every variety of opinion, and it prepareth the various kinds of ornamented forms which are required of it, that it may show itself to be like unto every man by them. And that which was written by the Apostle in integrity, "I have become all things unto all men, that I might profit all men", is wrought in the opposite manner by craftiness, which becometh all things unto all men that it may destroy all men, and that it may mock and laugh at all men. — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 5 -- Second Discourse on Simplicity
1 Coríntios 9:25
And as in worldly matters, if a man cannot perform properly the piece of work which he wisheth to do without setting himself free from all other work, and occupying himself with that alone, how much less can a man finish this spiritual labour unless he set himself free from the service of everything which is visible? Even as the blessed Paul also saith, "Every man who maketh a contest, keepeth his mind from everything"; and of what contest did he speak except the exercising of the body in the world? And if to a contest in which the body is engaged the service of carnal things is a hindrance, how much more will it be so to a spiritual contest? For in the one case, as regards the contest of the world, the contest, and the struggling therein, and the conquest therein, and also the things which retard the conquest therein, are one in nature, and they are all the children of one country, and although all these things are related to each other, the world with its cares and anxieties becometh an obstacle unto those who maintain the strife. How can a man fulfil the life here, then, which is a spiritual contest, and a service, and a life which is above the world, if he be tied unto and held fast by the things of the world? — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 9 -- Second Discourse on Poverty
1 Coríntios 9:27
Do thou then, even though all these things help thee, persevere in the patience which befitteth thy discipleship, and conquer the wicked mistress of all iniquity, and subdue thy body and afflict thy members, even as Paul also said, "I subdue my body, and bring it into subjection, lest peradventure I, who have preached to others, am myself rejected." And if Paul, although he, by the power of Grace, gained the victory over the passions, still had need to subdue his body, how much more have those, in whom there still live the lusts of the flesh, need to subdue their bodies by fasting and abstinence, and to fight and to overcome! — 13 Ascetic Discourses, Discourse 11 -- On Abstinence