See what “Vow” is in other dictionaries. A vow made to god

A vow is a voluntary commitment or promise made to God. Usually a vow is made on the condition that they receive special favors from God.

1). Man is aware of his complete dependence on the will of God and the fact that he is obliged to thank Him;

2). He realizes that the vow is completely legal;

3). He realizes that the vow is acceptable to God;

4). He realizes that the vow contributes to his spiritual growth.

Only those who have a sound mind can make a vow. A vow can only be made after mature reflection. Since a vow is an act of worship, it should not be taken thoughtlessly. Finally, the vow is made voluntarily, without coercion.

Is the vow legal? Opinions on this matter almost never differ. That it is legal is clear from the following considerations. First, by its nature it is a promise to God. It can be an expression of gratitude for what has already been given to a person, or a promise to give thanks for some desired benefit, if God is pleased to grant it. Jacob promised that if God would return him to his father's house, he would give Yahweh a tenth of what he had. Throughout the Bible, especially in the Psalms, there are many examples of such vows expressing gratitude to God. Secondly, the vow is legal because the Bible provides many evidences that vows were strictly kept. This is strong evidence that in certain situations the vow is acceptable in the eyes of God.

“It is better for you not to promise, than to promise and not keep” Eccl. (5:4).

Thirdly, the validity of the vow is evident from the fact that the baptismal covenant is of the nature of a vow. An element of vow is clearly implied in the celebration of the Lord's Supper. In both sacraments, the believer devotes himself to Christ and takes a vow of fidelity to him. This also applies to the marriage contract - those getting married make promises not only to each other, but also to God. A vow should never be made thoughtlessly. This is shown with particular force in the example of Jephthah (Judg. 11:1-40) and is clearly formulated in Proverbs (20:25) “It is a snare for a man to make hasty a vow, and after the vow to consider it.”

One young Christian mother, having received her first child in her arms, with deep reverence made a vow to God to raise him with early childhood in the teaching and admonition of the Lord.

Every evening, having prepared the baby for the night, the mother knelt down to pray and at this time, as she held both the child’s hands in one hand, covered the baby’s eyes with her other hand and prayed that the Lord, who loves children, would preserve and bless her child. .

When the baby was strong enough, the mother sat him on the bed and pressed his cheek to hers, always covering his eyes with one hand, and while the other hand held the child’s hands, and so she prayed constantly.

After some time, the child became very ill. His mother, doctor and all his relatives made every effort to save his life. He was still too small to say where and what hurt him, and when after some time he calmed down, the doctor said: “I think that the danger has passed, and if the child now falls asleep, then nature will do the rest.” .

But the child’s eyes were still looking for something, and his little hands stretched forward. His mother leaned towards him and asked: “What do you want, my baby?”

Immediately both hands found themselves in the mother’s hand, the head pressed against her cheek, and the eyes closed. For a moment everything was quiet, because the mother thought that it would be awkward to pray in the presence of the doctor. But the child’s blue eyes opened again, his little hands firmly grabbed his mother’s hand, and the animated babble of a pleasant child’s voice broke the silence.

“He wants something,” said the doctor, “you don’t know what?”

Then the mother with tears remembered the vow she had made to God. Without shame, she knelt down and said a few short words of prayer, and the child immediately fell asleep. The doctor standing here had tears in his eyes, and, placing his hand on the head of the praying mother, he said:

“I wish every child would grow up like your child.”

And what a great blessing it is when mothers, when raising their children, make a vow to God to raise them according to the Word of God!

ADVICE FOR PARENTS WHEN RAISING CHILDREN.

1. Be what you want your children to become.

2. What you demand from children, do it yourself.

3. Whatever you forbid your children, you too should refuse.

4. Be an example for children not only when they see or hear you, but also in their absence.

5. Having noticed the shortcomings of children, pay attention to your actions, your words and actions.

6. Having discovered shortcomings and mistakes in your life, try to correct yourself, and then correct your children.

7. Remember that what surrounds you is often nothing more than a reflection of your inner “I”.

8. If you daily seek purification from the Lord through repentance and prayer, then you daily remain in communion with Him, and with you, your children.

9. If in Everyday life The Lord guides you, then the children will be all the more willing to obey your leadership.

10. The more obedient you are to God, the more obedience your children will show you.

11. Just as educators begin to neglect society with the Lord, so neglect of the instructions and advice of their parents begins to take root in children.

12. Every barrier between educators and the Lord is great harm For spiritual development children.

13. The example of the life of parents without reasonable love for children is like the light of love for children, which, although it shines, does not warm. An example combined with heartfelt love in the Holy Spirit for children is like the light of the sun, which shines and warms, and makes life full of pure and holy joy.

SINS AND VOWS. IS IT DIFFICULT TO OUTSIT YOUR CONSCIENCE AND WHAT HAPPENS IF YOU DO NOT FULFILL YOUR VOW?

Answered by the confessor of the Tver diocese, rector of the St. Nicholas Church in Torzhok, abbot Korniliy (Malinin)
– Where to start correcting your spiritual life?
– First of all, you need to realize and feel the need for spiritual life. The desire to live spiritually is inherent in each of us from birth, and conscience, as the voice of God in the soul of every person, leads and calls us to this. Spiritual life is life with God. Only our sins separate us from God; they create a barrier between us and the Lord. To destroy this barrier, we must wage a constant struggle with sin within ourselves, getting rid of addictions. Spiritual life is not possible without prayer, without communication with God in the Holy Sacraments.
– Why does a person often break down when fighting against his sins and passions?
– Human nature corrupted by sin, so we are more inclined to sin than to good. We need to make a great effort on ourselves in order to do good; most often we struggle easily, as if spontaneously.

Vow Orthodox monk

– In what cases do they take vows? Is it possible to make a vow against gluttony and how to fulfill it?
– A vow is a voluntary obligation to fulfill something given to God: to do a good deed, donate, make a pilgrimage to holy places, etc. It is very important to emphasize that a vow is a voluntary commitment. A vow is made by people, as a rule, in gratitude to the Lord for the help provided or when praying for God’s help.

There are different vows. The most important of them are those that a Christian gives in his life in the Sacraments. First of all, this is the Sacrament of Baptism, where a person renounces Satan, his passions, his sins, promises (makes, in a way, the first vow in his Orthodox life) God, who will fight with them and live according to conscience, according to the commandments of God. The Apostle Peter in the First Epistle says: “So now baptism, like this image, does not wash away the uncleanness of the flesh, but the promise to God of a good conscience, saves us through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 3:21). That is, in Baptism a person is cleansed of sins, washes his soul and makes a promise to God of a good conscience. He also takes a vow of marital fidelity in the Sacrament of Marriage. Renounces family life, from everything worldly and devotes his life completely to God in the vow of a monk, a vow is also made in the Sacrament of the Priesthood. ...Breaking a vow, failing to fulfill it, is a grave sin, so accepting it must be taken very responsibly. In any case, when making a vow to God, it is important not to overestimate your strength and not to promise something that may turn out to be unfulfillable.
– How to go to Communion if there is no way to reconcile with the offender?
– You should address such a question to the priest to whom you are confessing, your confessor. In this case, we must remember the words of the Lord spoken in the Gospel of Matthew: “So if you bring your gift to the altar and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go first and be reconciled with your brother.” yours, and then come and bring your gift. Make peace with your opponent quickly, while you are still on the way with him, lest your opponent hand you over to the judge, and the judge hand you over to the servant, and they throw you into prison; Truly I tell you, you will not come out of there until you have paid the last coin” (Matthew 5:23-26).
– Is there salvation for the lazy? Is it possible to take a vow against laziness?
– Laziness is a sin that must be fought, we must force ourselves to work, work on ourselves, cultivating our will. The Lord arranges our lives in such a way that we have to take care of our neighbors. And we must fulfill our duty, this forces us to work. For people with strength and opportunity, it is necessary to take care of helpless, sick, infirm people. A person who serves his neighbors becomes purer in soul and grows spiritually. Reading spiritual literature helps to be inspired for spiritual life and get rid of despondency and laziness.
– What sins are committed simply because of stupidity?
- “Prudence is higher than all virtue” - this is what St. Isaac the Syrian and many other saints said. If we do something without thinking that harms us and the people around us, then this is a sin. Most often this manifests itself in our words and conversations. It is very easy to use a word to injure a person, harm him, even destroy him.
– Will it be possible to replace one passion with another – less harmful?
– If we think like this, we will soon become confused in our thoughts and fall into another sin and self-deception. Only demons offer such compromises. In response to this, we recall the words of the Apostle James: “Whoever keeps the whole law and yet sins in one point, he becomes guilty of all” (James 2:10).
– Advice for those who constantly lose in the fight against sin and have already despaired...
– Lord, Jesus Christ came for us sinners. “Hearing this, Jesus said to them: It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick; I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance” (Mark 2:17). The Lord does not look at how a person falls, but how a person gets up after a fall. The Lord appreciates even a person’s intention to rise from sin, an irreconcilable attitude towards sin. We only need to make the first movement, the first step in the fight against sin, calling on God’s help, and then the Lord will give us the strength to rise and move on along the path of salvation.
What is a vow? How many vows does a monk have? What does it mean to be faithful to a vow (vow)? Be careful when making a vow before God. By the way, in the Middle Ages it was very fashionable for knights to make a vow.

When you make a vow to God, do not be late in fulfilling it, for He does not take pleasure in sinners. Fulfill what you promised.

How it works? The power of a vow is when you enter into a direct relationship with God. If a person consciously takes a vow (neder) before God, then it includes a personal contract.

Usually people live in some kind of “worldview” system without God. But when a person himself personally enters into a contractual relationship with the Almighty, then a different attitude comes from God. A person asks God for something and promises him something. And if you haven’t fulfilled it, then there’s another demand.

We know that Hana, for example, had no children. And she took a vow - and her child appeared - the prophet Shmuel. At the age of 2, she had to give him to the Temple so that he could serve God. You can read about this in more detail in Tractate Berakhot in the Talmud.

Rabbi Yitzchak Zilber, blessed is the memory of the righteous, said that he lived in Tashkent, and in the 70s Jews were not allowed to go to Israel. And he says that there were two believing Jews there: one was a Breslav Hasid, and the other was a Bukharian Jew (Spharadi).

They were very religious. And both consciously took a vow that if God did what they asked, then they would perform certain actions. One promised that he would go to the grave of Rabbi Nachman. And the second promised that he would go to the grave of some righteous person and give tzedakah.

What is important to God?

So that the commandments (mitzvot) are fulfilled. And they promised to do this if He gave them permission to leave.

Some time passes. Both suddenly unexpectedly receive permission to leave. And here the “evil inclination” comes into play. The power that God created to preserve freedom of choice. The force that prevents you from moving towards God and creates obstacles, for overcoming which there is a reward - immortal life full of pleasure from communicating with God.

Both Jews had a heart attack, and were given only 30 days to leave. They cannot fulfill their vow because they cannot go - they have a heart attack. Moreover, it turns out very interestingly that a heart attack would free them from the vow (saving a life is more important than all the commandments), but after the heart attack there were still a few days left when you were already healthy. But they could not go because of packing and preparations. There was only a month to leave the USSR: if this month passes, they can no longer leave.

Rav Isaac Zilber said that the rabbis and sages of Tashkent then gathered to break their vow. Yes, a vow can be lifted! But in order to lift the vow, it is necessary for 1 or 3 or 10 rabbis to gather, depending on the situation.

For example, if the vow was made in a dream, 10 rabbis are needed. Just as a vow is the power of words, so rabbis create special conditions, so that with the help of the power of the word this vow can be removed and the person freed.

Therefore, you need to understand that it is a very serious matter to take vows. There is a huge danger in this, because you immediately attract enormous help to yourself, but you also attract enormous opposition from the forces of evil against yourself.

You are entering into a dangerous contractual relationship with the Master of the world, which must be fulfilled.

It is better not to make a vow than to make one and not keep it.

If a person is initially not ready to promise anything, you need to say: “Bli neder” (translation: Without a vow)

Although vows help. For example, in my life there were situations when I took a vow and God helped me a lot. You could say it did a miracle for me. And for many years now I have felt myself finding myself in situations where I could break my promise. But so far, thank God, I haven’t violated it. Although, just in case, before every Rosh Hashanah, I remove all vows through a rabbinical court of three rabbis.

By the way, it’s interesting that Rav Zilber, blessed is the memory of the righteous, took a vow. This was back under Stalin, in 1953. It was a terrible time, and he did not know what would happen to him next. There are people around who die at every step.

And he took a vow that if he gets out of prison, God will help him stay alive, observe the Torah and not stumble, then on Shabbat he will teach, as far as I remember, some kind of Midrash.

And his daughter, Rabanite Chava Kuperman, said that all his illnesses, all his heart attacks occurred precisely at the time when he was fulfilling his obligation, fulfilling his vow. IN different years, but it was precisely this time that became very difficult for him.

Therefore, I want to emphasize again. When a person takes a vow, literally enters into a conscious relationship with God, then God turns to the person and, as if “extends his hand.” Because nothing is impossible for God. But then there is a demand for it.

That's why King Solomon says that “It’s better not to make a vow than to make one and not keep it.”

20.01.2014

Very often people different religions make vows. What is it: This is a promise before God not to do something ever again or, on the contrary, a promise to do a useful deed, donation, and so on. But not all vows are made for the rest of your life. They can also be temporary.

There are many types of vows. For example:

1. celibacy
2. vow of silence
3. monastic vow.

Breaking a promise you made to God is a serious and terrible sin. Therefore, you need to carefully weigh everything, make sure of your abilities and fulfillment of your vow.

Reasons for such drastic actions

Decide for yourself why you need to take a vow. Of course, any actions have their own meaning and reasons. The reasons may be varied. Perhaps you are making this decision because of your religious views, you just want to prove something to yourself, you are planning to take your energy and life in a different direction.

For example, if you are taking a vow of celibacy, you want to avoid falling into the trap venereal diseases and give birth to children you don’t need. The reason could be absolutely anything. The main thing is to understand yourself and identify the meaning of your actions before renouncing anything. After all, this is a very serious step, once taken, it will be very difficult to go back.

How is a vow or right to a new life given?

First of all, be sincere with yourself. Your decision can radically change your life, both for the better and for the worse. You must be aware of this.

1. Share this plan with your loved ones. We want to keep some decisions in our lives secret, but if your relatives support you, it will be easier to keep the vow.
2. Avoid temptation by any means necessary. A situation that will help you break your vow will always come into your life at the wrong time. You must be strong in spirit and understand your strengths. You shouldn’t look for an object of temptation yourself, otherwise you’ll have to constantly fight with your past life. Make a commitment to avoid all kinds of unnecessary situations.
3. Review your life in a couple of months, then after another period of time. If you feel free, happy and successful, then your decision was thoughtful and correct. Keep up the good work. If everything turned out differently, and you are often visited by thoughts of abandoning your vow, try to calm down and analyze everything again. Decide whether you need such a waiver or whether it is worth making a temporary vow if you made a mistake.

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The most reliable and in a fast way Receiving help from the Lord is a vow made to God, which in no case can be broken. Unfortunately, when I was an absolutely unbeliever, I did not know about this spiritual law and almost paid with my life in the prime of my life.

And it was like that. In the 90s of the last century, alcoholic drinks in retail trade were mostly of unknown origin. You can quickly become an alcoholic or even die from surrogate drink if you don’t get hungover in time. One day, after a week-long binge, when I was tired of another binge, out of despair I turned to God with these words: “Lord! Help me to stop, and for this I will go to church and light a candle.” The next morning, as usual, I got a hangover in the morning to improve my health and I stopped there.

The first week of sobriety passes, the second, and I forgot about my promise and did not think of looking into the temple, taking credit for someone else’s merit. At that time he worked as a loader at a grain receiving enterprise, he was physically healthy and resilient. There seemed to be no force that could bring me to my knees. On Saturday, according to tradition, I went to my bathhouse to steam and wash off the dirt from my body. He gave up his parka and climbed onto the shelves. I took a deep breath and oh horror! - I can’t breathe out. It was as if someone had punched me in the gut with all their might. I crawled out on my knees into the street in what my mother gave birth to and it seemed like an eternity passed before life-saving air began to enter my body.

The next morning I ran to church to fulfill my promise to God. The Lord does not feel sorry for anything for us, but we must think carefully before entering into a verbal agreement with the Almighty.

I had another vow to God, which the bishop later withdrew. Only the archpastor has the right to free us from wrong promises. When my wife’s 80-year-old mother became seriously ill and was dying, she made a vow to God if her mother-in-law recovered, she would become a monk in the world. For the sake of such a promise, the Lord gave my mother several more years of life, and the author of these words whole year fought off the furious attacks of his wife, who demanded the fulfillment of marital duties. In fact, due to my frivolity, I doomed my other half to physical suffering, although I gave her the go-ahead to “go outside.” After removing the wrong vow (mutual consent is needed), he again became an ordinary layman, of little interest to God. When you're in your seventh decade, every day can be your last. I would like to appear before God's court in an angelic form, i.e. become a monk, as even boyars and princes did in the old days. And just recently, my wife became so ill that she was taken by ambulance to intensive care. There was almost no chance of survival. It would seem that the death of my wife would open the way for me to the monastery. The prospect of a widower did not suit me and I came to the chapel of the Great Martyr St. George the Victorious, knelt before the icons and with bitter sobs asked God to heal my wife in exchange for giving up alcohol and intimacy with women, including my wife, for the rest of my life. Doctors were never able to find the cause of my significant other’s terrible illness. God bless! Now she is in full health, goes to prayer in the chapel and thanks the Lord for her miraculous healing. Only when his wife felt absolutely healthy did he confess his vows to God. My wife cried and cried about the lost earthly pleasure and resigned herself.

The point of this story is to suggest to new readers a proven and reliable way to get quick help in hopeless situations. life situations and protect you from serious mistakes. Your confession does not matter to the Lord, as long as after a difficult trial you correct your sinful life and come to the correct faith. Before you make a vow to God, you need to think carefully about the possibility of fulfilling your promise.