The Orthodox Life is a life that seeks to unite with the Life of Christ. Imitation of His life on earth is one aspect of this life but it is far more. Participation in the Liturgical Life of the Church is an important part of which partaking of the Eucharist is an essential foundation of this Life, which is first entered in Baptism.

The Christian must learn to live the Life of God in the flesh as did Christ. This means learning to transcend the things of the flesh and to seek spiritual things. This requires bringing the flesh into submission to the soul and not, as is common with us all, to live as slaves to the flesh; this is what estranges men from God, who is Spirit. There are many ways of bringing the flesh into submission, of which fasting is an important element. It is not to punish the flesh or to destroy the flesh, which God made as being good, but to establish the correct priority in life. We are created to be in communion with God, which is only possible if we lift our minds from the things of the flesh. If we continually look at the ground we would not see the stars.

The traditions of fasting are maintained not as an empty law but because participating in the fasts correctly is important to learn the full extent of how to submit our fleshly desires to Spiritual needs. Until one puts things into practice, one is left with empty theory which does not assist the whole man, who has a real body that must participate in real activities. We cannot participate in the fullness of the life of Christ without the body participating also. It is in submission to the soul but not left behind and ignored.

In summary without Faith it is impossible to please God. The soul comes first, as recognised by the mental assent of faith. However, without works faith is dead; unless the body participates in the life of faith, the faith is meaningless because it fails to encompass the whole man in the Life of Christ.