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In the Gospel read today (Lk. 10, 25-37), our Savior - God decided a very important question for all of us: what should we do to inherit eternal life? This question was put to the Lord by some Jewish lawyer who said: “What should I do to inherit eternal life”? The Lord pointed out to him the law given to the Jews by God through Moses: “What is written in the law? How do you read? He answered, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, and thy neighbor as thyself.” Jesus said to him, “You answered correctly; do this, and you will live, that is, forever. But he, wanting to justify himself, that is, considering himself, like the other Pharisees, a righteous man who fulfilled the law as he understood it, one-sidedly, incorrectly, said to Jesus: “Who is my neighbor?” - believing that only a Jew should be considered a neighbor, and not every person. By the parable of the man wounded by the robbers and the merciful Samaritan, who took the most cordial and active part in him, the Lord showed that every person should be considered a neighbor, no matter who he is, even if he is our enemy, and especially when he needs help.
So, it means that in order to receive eternal life, you need to diligently fulfill the two main commandments: to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself. But since the whole law consists in these two commandments, it is necessary to explain them so that we know well what love for God and neighbor consists in? So, with God's help, let's proceed to the explanation.
loveљ the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind, i.e. with all your being, with all your strength, surrender yourself to God, devote yourself entirely to Him without any lack, do not divide yourself between God and the world; do not live partly only for God and His law, and partly for the world, for many-passionate flesh, for sin and the devil, but devote yourself entirely to God, be all of God, all holy, in all your life. Following the example of the Holy One who called you(God) and be holy yourselves in all your deeds, says the holy Apostle Peter (1 Peter 1:15).
Let's explain this commandment with examples. Suppose you are praying to God. If you love God with all your heart, then you will always pray to Him with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind, you will never be distracted, lazy, careless, cold in prayer; during prayer you will not give place in your heart to any worldly worries and cares, you will put aside all worldly cares, you will cast all sorrow on the Lord, for He cares for you, as the apostle says. Try to comprehend prayer, the service of God completely, in all depth. If you love God with all your soul, then you will sincerely repent to God of your sins, you will bring deep repentance to Him every day, for every day you sin a lot. You will repent, that is, condemn yourself for sins with all your heart, with all your strength, with all your mind; you will rebuke yourself with all merciless severity, with all sincerity; you will bring to God a full confession, a sacrifice of a complete burnt offering of sins, so that not a single sin remains unrepentant, unmourned.
Thus, to love God with all your heart means to love with all your heart and with all your strength His truth, His law, and to hate with all your heart every unrighteousness, every sin; with all my heart and all my strength to fulfill the truth, to do good, and with all my heart, with all my strength to move away from evil, that is, all sin, not to give place in the heart to any sin for one minute, not for one moment, that is, not to agree to him, not to sympathize with him, not to put up with him, but constantly, forever at enmity with sin, to fight with him and, thus, to be a brave and victorious warrior of Christ God.
Or let's take another example: suppose that you are persecuted for piety, for truth, for virtue; if you love God, then you will not deviate for a moment from piety, from truth, from virtue, even if this devotion to truth entails the loss of any benefits; since truth itself, or fidelity to God and His righteousness, is the greatest benefit for us, and God can reward faithfulness to His righteousness a hundredfold both in this and in the next age. An example of this is the righteous Joseph, the son of the Old Testament patriarch Jacob, and many righteous people in the New Testament. So, to love God with all your heart means to fight according to God, according to His righteousness, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, with all your mind. Thus did the holy fathers and holy martyrs fight according to God, according to His righteousness, especially in the struggle against heresies and schisms. This is jealousy for God. To love God with all your heart means to direct all people with all your might to God, to His love, to His glorification, to His eternal kingdom, so that everyone would know Him, love Him, and glorify Him. This is also zeal for God!
Having explained the first commandment as best we can, let us now explain the second: Love your neighbor as yourself. What does it mean to love your neighbor, that is, every person, as yourself? It means to honor another as you wish to be honored, not to consider anyone a stranger, but yours, your brother, your member, but a Christian and a member of Christ; consider his good, his salvation as your good, your salvation; rejoice at his well-being as if it were your own, grieve over his misfortune as if it were your own; try to deliver him from misfortune, misfortune, poverty, sin in the same way that I would try about my own deliverance. Rejoice with those who rejoice, cry with those who weep, - says the apostle (Rom. 12:1) . We must bear the infirmities of the weak, not to please ourselves; let everyone please your neighbor for good to creation(Rom. 15:1-2). Pray for each other that you will be healed(James 5:16).
To love one's neighbor as oneself means to respect him as oneself, if, however, he is worthy of it; not to think about him unworthily, lowly, for no reason on his part, not to have any evil against him; not to envy him, but always to be benevolent, to condescend to his shortcomings, weaknesses, to cover his sins with love, as we wish them to condescend to our shortcomings. Tolerate each other with love, says the apostle (Eph. 4:2), not repaying evil for evil, or vexation for vexation(1 Peter 3:9). Love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you.(Matthew 5:44). If your enemy is hungry, eat him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink, - says the Old Testament Scripture (Prov. 25:22; Rom. 12:20).
To love one's neighbor as oneself means to pray for the living and the dead, relatives and non-relatives, acquaintances and strangers, for friends and enemies, as well as for oneself, and wishing them as much good, the salvation of the soul, as oneself. This is what the Holy Church teaches in her daily prayers.
To love your neighbor as yourself means to love everyone without partiality, regardless of whether he is poor or rich, good-looking or not, old or young, noble or simple, healthy or sick; useful to us or not, a friend or an enemy, because it’s all the same God’s, everything is in the image of God, everyone is a child of God, members of Christ (if Orthodox Christians), all our members, for we are all one body, one spirit(Eph. 4:4), there is one Head for all - Christ God. Thus let us understand and thus try to fulfill the two main commandments of the law of God - and we will inherit eternal life by the grace of Christ God. Amen.
22 / 11 / 2003
St. John Chrysostom
St. Cyril of Alexandria
Jesus said to him: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Creations. Book two.
Rev. Justin (Popovich)
Jesus said to him: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Why did the Lord set this love as the first and greatest commandment, embracing all the commandments and all the laws of heaven and earth? Because He answered the question: what is God? No one could answer the question of what God is. And the Savior Christ, through His whole life, through each of His deeds, through each of His words, answered this question: God is love. This is all good news. - What is a person? To this question the Savior answered: even man is love. - Really? - someone will say, - what are you talking about? Yes, and man is love, for he is created in the image of God. Man is a reflection, a reflection of God's love. God is love. And man is love. So, in this world there are only two: God and man - both for me and for you. There is nothing more important in this world than God and me, except God and you.
From sermons.
Blzh. Hieronymus Stridonsky
Jesus said to him: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Blzh. Theophylact of Bulgaria
Jesus said to him: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
Origen
Jesus said to him: Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
And now, when the Lord, answering, says: Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul and with all thy mind- this is the first and greatest commandment, we learn the necessary idea of the commandments, that there is a great commandment and that there are lesser to the smallest.
God's soul, wholly enlightened by the light of knowledge and understanding, [wholly enlightened] by the word of God. And he who has been honored with such gifts from God, of course, understands that all law and prophets(Matt. 22:40) is a part of all the wisdom and knowledge of God, and understands that all law and prophets initially depend on love for the Lord God and neighbor and are connected with it, and that the perfection of piety lies in love.
Many times the scribes and Pharisees tried to tempt Christ by asking Him various questions. Others asked Him, sincerely wanting to find answers. One question was asked twice by two different people, one of whom wanted to know the truth, and the other wanted to tempt. It was a question about the greatest commandment in the law. Let's read the relevant passages of Scripture.
Matthew 22:35-38
“And one of them, the lawyer, tempting Him, asked, saying: Teacher! What is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind"This is the first and greatest commandment."
Mark 12:28-30
“One of the scribes, hearing their argument and seeing that Jesus answered them well, came up and asked Him: Which is the first of all the commandments? Jesus answered him: the first of all commandments: “Listen, Israel! The Lord our God is the only Lord; And love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength“This is the first commandment!”
1. Loving God: what does it mean?
It is clear from what has been read that loving God with all your heart is the most important commandment. However, what does it mean? We, unfortunately, live in a time when the meaning of the word "love" is reduced only to a feeling. Loving someone is perceived as "feeling good with someone." However, this "feeling" does not necessarily characterize love in its biblical meaning. Scripture speaks of love, which is closely related to action. Therefore, to love God means to fulfill His commandments, His will, that is, to do what God wants. Jesus made this clear:
John 14:15
« If you love me, keep my commandments».
John 14:21-24
« Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he loves me; and whoever loves me, he will be loved by my Father; and I will love him and show myself to him. Judas (not Iscariot) says to Him: Lord! what is it that You want to reveal Yourself to us and not to the world? Jesus answered him: whoever loves me will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him. He who does not love me does not keep my words».
Also in Deuteronomy 5:8-10 (see Ex. 20:5-6) we read:
“Do not make for yourself an idol and no image of what is in heaven above, and what is on the earth below, and what is in the waters below the earth, do not worship them and do not serve them; for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, punishing the children for the guilt of the fathers to the third and fourth generation, who hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations who love me and keep my commandments».
It is impossible to separate the love for God and the keeping of His commandments, the Word of God. Jesus Christ spoke clearly about this. Those who love Him keep the Word of God; and whoever does not keep the Word of God does not love Him! Therefore, loving God does not just mean feeling great sitting on a church bench during Sunday worship. Rather, it means that I strive to do what pleases God, what pleases Him. And this is what we must do every day.
In the first epistle of the apostle John there are passages that reveal the meaning of love for God.
1 John 4:19-21:
“Let us love Him, because He first loved us. Whoever says, "I love God," but hates his brother, is a liar. For he who does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? And we have such a commandment from Him, that he who loves God love his brother also.
1 John 5:2-3:
“That we love the children of God, we learn from when We love God and keep His commandments. For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments; and His commandments are not burdensome."
1 John 3:22-23:
“And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. And His commandment is that we believe in the name of His Son Jesus Christ and love one another, as He commanded us.”
There are many misconceptions in modern Christianity. One of them, a very serious one, is the false idea that God is not interested in whether we will do His commandments and will or not. The misconception says that only the moment in time when we started in our "faith" is important to God. "Faith" and "love of God" were separated from their practical meaning, and perceived as theoretical ideas and concepts that can exist on their own, without interfering with a person's way of life. However, faith means being faithful. If you have faith, then you must BE true to what you believe! A faithful person should strive to please the One to whom he is faithful. He must do His will, His commandments.
It follows from the above that God's favor and His love are not quite unconditional, as some of us believe. This idea is also seen in the previous passages. John 14:23 says:
“Jesus answered and said to him: If anyone loves me, he will keep my word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our abode with him.”
1 John 3:22:
“And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight.”
And Deuteronomy 5:9-10 says:
“Do not worship them and do not serve them; for I am the Lord your God, a jealous God, for the guilt of the fathers, punishing the children to the third and fourth generation that hate Me, and showing mercy to a thousand generations to those who love me and keep my commandments».
John 14:23 has an "if" condition followed by an "and" conjunction. If the one who loves Jesus will keep His Word, And as a result, the Heavenly Father will love him, and will come with His Son, and will make an abode with him. The first letter of the Apostle John says that we will receive whatever we ask of Him, because we keep His commandments and do what is pleasing in His sight. The passage from Deuteronomy says that the unchanging love of God will be shown to those who love Him and keep His commandments. There is a definite connection between God's love (as well as His favor) and the doing of God's will. In other words, let's not think that disobedience to God, disregard for His Word and His commandments, does not matter, because God loves us anyway. Also, don't think that just by saying, "I love God," you really love Him. I think that to understand whether we love God or not, can be from the answer to the following simple question: "Do we do what pleases God: keep His Word, His commandments?" If we answered yes, then we really love God. If our answer is “No,” then we do not love Him. Everything is very simple.
John 14:23-24:
« Whoever loves Me will keep My word;... He who does not love Me does not keep My words».
2. “But I do not feel the will of God”: the example of two brothers
Speaking about doing the will of God, people can also be mistaken. Some Christians believe that we can only do the will of God if we feel it. If we do not feel it, then we are free, because God does not want people to do anything if they do not feel it. But tell me, do you always go to work, guided only by your feelings and feelings? Do you try to figure out how you feel about your work when you wake up in the morning, and then, based on your feelings, you make a decision: finally get out of bed or “burrow” even more under warm blankets? Do you act like this? Don't think. You DO your job regardless of how you feel! But whenever we are talking about doing the will of God, we give too much space to our feelings. God, of course, wants us to do His will and feel it. However, even if we do not feel it, it is still better to do His will than not to do it at all! Let's look at the example given by the Lord, where He said: “And if your eye offends you, pluck it out and throw it away from you…” (Matt. 18:9). He didn't say, “If your eye seduces you and you somehow feel the need to rip it out, then do it. But if you don't have that feeling, then you are free from it. You can leave it untouched so that it continues to seduce you." The tainted eye must be removed whether we feel the need or not! The same thing happens with the will of God. Best Option- perform and feel it. If you do not feel it, do it anyway, instead of showing your disobedience to God!
Let's look at another example from the Gospel of Matthew. Chapter 21 tells of how the chief priests and elders of the people again tried to entrap Christ with their questions. The following parable was an answer to one of their questions.
Matthew 21:28-31:
“What do you think? One man had two sons; and he, going up to the first, said: “Son! go and work in my vineyard today.” But he said in response: “I don’t want to”; and then, repentant, he went. And going to another, he said the same. This one said in response: “I am going, sir,” and did not go. Which of the two carried out the will of the father? They say to Him: the first.
Their answer was correct. The first son did not want to do the will of his father. So he simply told him, "I'm not going to work in the vineyard today." But then, after thinking about it, he changed his mind. Who knows what influenced his decision. Perhaps it was his concern for his father. He heard his father's call to work in the vineyard, but he did not have much emotional uplift for this work. Maybe he wanted to sleep a little longer, or take his time to drink his coffee, or go for a walk with his friends. Therefore, he, perhaps still lying in bed, responded to his father's request with his protest: "I will not go." But, finally waking up from sleep, the son thought about his father, about how he loves him, and, changing his mind, forced himself to get out of bed and go and do what his father asked!
The second son, probably also still in bed, said to his father: "Yes, dad, I'll go." But he did not do what he promised! He probably fell asleep again, and then called his friend and disappeared, doing whatever he wanted. Perhaps for a moment he "felt" the need to fulfill the will of his father, but these feelings both came and went. This “feeling” of the need to do the will of God was replaced by another “feeling” that urged me to do something else. Therefore, the son did not go to the vineyard.
Which of these two sons carried out the will of his father? The one who at first did not want to go to work, but went anyway, or the one who felt the need to go, but changed his mind, did not go? The answer is obvious. We have read that love for the Father is expressed in doing His will. Therefore, the question can be asked in another way: “Which of the two sons loved the Father?” or “Which of his sons was the Father pleased with? The one who promised Him to do His will, but, in the end, did not do it, or the one who nevertheless did it? The answer is the same: “The one who did His will!” Conclusion: do the will of God regardless of your feelings! Let your first reaction be: "I won't do it!" or "I don't feel it!" Change your mind and do what God wants you to do. Yes, of course, it is much easier to do the will of God, having a great desire for it. However, when choosing between not doing the will of the Father and doing it without much desire, we must say: "I will do the will of my Father, because I love my Father and want to please Him."
3. Night in Gethsemane
However, this does not mean that we do not have the right or cannot turn to the Father and ask Him for other possible options. Our relationship with Heavenly Father is a real RELATIONSHIP. The Lord desires that communication with His ministering children is always available. The events of the Gethsemane night, when Jesus was handed over for crucifixion, are proof of this. Jesus was in the garden with His disciples, waiting for the betrayer Judas, who was to come, accompanied by the servants of the Israelite chief priests and elders, to arrest Christ and crucify Him. Jesus was in agony. He would rather have this cup passed from Him. He asked his Father about it:
Luke 22:41-44:
And He Himself departed from them a stone's throw, and kneeling down, he prayed, saying: Father! Oh, that You would deign to carry this cup past Me! however, not my will, but yours be done. An angel appeared to him from heaven and strengthened him. And, being in an agony, he prayed more earnestly, and His sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground.
There is nothing wrong with asking the Father for a way out of the situation. There is nothing wrong with asking Him, “Can I stay at home today and not go to the vineyard?” It would be wrong to stay at home without asking Him about it! This is disobedience. However, there is nothing wrong with asking Him for another option. If there is no other option, then your Father can give you special encouragement and encouragement to willingly do His will. Jesus, while in the Garden of Gethsemane, also received encouragement and support: "And an angel appeared to him from heaven and strengthened him."
Jesus would like the cup of suffering to pass from Him, BUT only if it was the will of God. However, this was not the will of God. Jesus accepted it. When Judas arrived surrounded by soldiers, Jesus addressed Peter, saying:
John 18:11:
“Sheath your sword; shall I not drink the cup which the Father has given me?»
Jesus always did what pleased the Father, even if He didn't feel like doing it. And in doing so, He pleased the Father, and the Father was always close to Jesus, never leaving Him. Christ said:
John 8:29:
“He who sent me is with me; The Father has not left Me alone, for I always do what pleases Him.”
He is an example for us. In Philippians, the apostle Paul tells us:
Philippians 2:5-11:
« For you must have the same feelings as in Christ Jesus: He, being in the image of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God; but he humbled himself, taking the form of a servant, becoming in the likeness of men, and becoming in appearance like a man; He humbled Himself, being obedient even unto death, even the death of the cross. Therefore God highly exalted Him and gave Him the name above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven, on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”
Jesus humbled himself. He said, "Not My will, but Yours be done." Jesus OBEYED! We must follow His example. We must have the mind of Christ, the mind of humility and obedience, the mind that says, "Not my will, but Yours be done!" Paul continues:
Philippians 2:12-13:
“Therefore, my beloved, as you have always been obedient, not only in my presence, but much more now during my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling, because God works in you both the will and the action according to His good pleasure.”
The apostle, addressing: “Therefore, my beloved,” says that, having an example of great obedience, shown in our Lord Jesus Christ, we also must obey God, “working out our salvation with fear and trembling, because God works in us and will and act according to His own good pleasure. James continues this thought by saying:
James 4:6-10:
"Therefore it is said:" God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble". So, submit to God; resist the devil and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you; cleanse your hands, sinners; correct your hearts, double-minded. Lament, weep and wail; May your laughter turn into weeping, and your joy into sorrow. Humble yourself before the Lord, and he will exalt you».
Conclusion
Loving God with all your heart is the greatest commandment. However, loving God is not a comfortable state of mind in which we “feel” God. Loving God is doing His will! It is impossible to love God and at the same time be disobedient to Him! It is impossible to have faith and be unfaithful to God! Faith is not a state of mind. Faith in God and His Word means being faithful to God and His Word. Let's not be mistaken, trying to separate these concepts. The love of God and His favor descend on those who love God, i.e. do His will and do what pleases Him. As already mentioned, it is better to do the will of God, even if we do not feel the emotional impulse of readiness, than to disobey Him. This does not mean that we must be insensitive robots. We can always turn to the Lord and ask Him about another option if we feel that it is very difficult for us to fulfill His will, but unconditionally accepting any of His answers. God, of course, can open another way for us, because He is the most wonderful Lord and Father, merciful and kind to all His children. If there is no other way, then He will support us in doing His will, which seems impossible to us, just as He supported Jesus that Gethsemane night.
The Information and Educational Department of the UOC publishes an interview with His Beatitude Metropolitan Onufry to the editors of the Orthodox Church Newspaper.
Christian love does not involve reciprocity, but self-sacrifice
Your Beatitude, why is it so: in our society there is a lot of talk about love and at the same time its acute shortage is felt? What should be said about love in the light of the New Testament?
The commandment to love God and love one's neighbor was given to people in the Old Testament. However, in his conversation at the Last Supper, the Lord Jesus Christ addresses His disciples with the words: I give you a new commandment, that you love one another (John 13:34). What is the novelty of this commandment? First of all, that the love of a Christian should extend not only to those who are close to us by blood or who are pleasing to us, but to all who need our help and love. On the gospel pages, Jesus Christ calls us to selfless love. And if we love the way sinners love, then what gratitude does the Lord give for this? We are called to love even our enemies, without expecting anything in return (Luke 6:35), i.e. without hoping for reimbursement of our expenses.
- How does ordinary (human) love essentially differ from Christian love?
IN ordinary life we love those we like and who love us. And Christian love presupposes not reciprocity, but self-sacrifice. Let's take a clear example from life: a young man loves a girl, is ready to buy flowers for her and endure her whims. But such carnal love extends only to a few people - to parents, maybe even to one person. And Christian love extends to all. It is a sublime, all-encompassing love, and, reaching its perfection, it extends to enemies as well. The Lord teaches us to bless those who curse us and pray for those who offend us.
We must submit our flesh to the laws of the spirit
How can such love be achieved? After all, it doesn’t happen - he opened his soul and loved everyone ...
Of course, Christian love does not come easily, as we would like. The Lord Jesus Christ not only commands us to love one another, but, above all, by His life shows us an example of love and helps us to acquire it. This is the novelty and strength of the New Testament: in union with Christ in the Church, we become able to receive the gift of love from God, that love that extends to everyone, including enemies. Grace is perceived by a person as his soul is cleansed: you need to overcome yourself, crush pride, drive away all those evil thoughts that fill our soul. This is done with the help of the church sacraments of Repentance and Communion, prayers, reading the Holy Scriptures and self-compulsion. The Lord Himself said that the Kingdom of Heaven is in need (Matt. 11:12), that is, one must force oneself and encourage oneself to observe fasting, chastity and other virtues. We must submit our flesh to the laws of the spirit. Then we will have spiritual fruits, the main of which is love. If a person does good, forgives offenses, loves his neighbor with sacrificial love, then he becomes like his Creator. By doing so, a person gains peace of mind and fills his life with joy.
Truly happy is he whose happiness does not depend on outside world
To have joy and peace, one must feel happy. But how can this be achieved in the current difficult conditions, when life becomes more expensive and prices are rising?
Our happiness does not depend on the abundance of our possessions or external situation(economic and political) in which we find ourselves. You can hold the highest position in society and have huge fortunes and at the same time feel deeply unhappy. Truly happy is the one whose happiness does not depend on the outside world. As sons of God, the Saints were happy with what God gave them because their hearts were filled with the grace of God. Happy is he who knows how to be content with what he has, who strives to cleanse his heart of passions, and tries to love God and all people.
You can love yourself by catering to your selfish desires, or you can love yourself in order to gain the Kingdom of Heaven
The Lord Jesus Christ commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matt. 22:39; Mark 12:31; Luke 10:27). Is it necessary to love yourself in order to love your neighbor? What does it mean to love yourself?
It is human nature to love oneself. Nobody wants to hurt themselves. The question is the direction of our love. You can love yourself by catering to your selfish desires, or you can love yourself in order to gain the Kingdom of Heaven. What are the joys of this world? - This good job, increasing one's material condition, various entertainments ... Of course, we all need the necessary things - a roof over our heads, clothes, daily bread. However, Christian love towards oneself does not mean a desire to acquire earthly goods. A Christian sees good for himself in the fulfillment of God's commandments, which bring a person closer to God and open up the possibility of acquiring God's grace, which fills the heart with incomparable fullness and joy.
There are many difficult circumstances in our life. Often we are lost and do not know: what to do and how to act? For example, if someone borrowed money and does not want to return it, the question arises: contact the police or take some other measures?
First of all, you need to put yourself in the place of the debtor. And look: how would we like to be treated in such circumstances? The Lord God commands us to do to others the way we want others to do to us (see Matt. 7:12). The Lord confronts us with a choice: behave like sinners or be like God? In such situations, we are tested in terms of how we are able to show mercy, compassion, forgiveness, love.
The sacrifice of Christian love cannot be abolished by anything - neither insults, nor trials, nor disappointments ...
- In the 13th chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, the holy Apostle Paul sings a hymn of love: love is long-suffering, merciful,<…>does not envy ... (v. 4) - and concludes his speech on love: love never ceases (v. 8). How to understand the last sentence?
The essence of Christian love is the ability of a Christian to sacrifice. If there is no sacrifice in love, it cannot be called Christian love. Love without sacrifice is a manifestation of selfishness, pride, self-pleasing. With the phrase love never ceases, the holy Apostle Paul points out to us that the sacrifice of Christian love cannot be abolished by anything - neither insults, nor trials, nor disappointments ...
Only the fruits of love for God and neighbor will follow a person to the other world. And in all its fullness, a Christian will be able to reveal the gift of love in eternal a better life when not only the gifts of prophecy and tongues will disappear, but faith and hope will already cease. Faith will be replaced there by the vision of the Lord, and hope will come true, love alone will reign forever and ever, because true love is God Himself and God is the eternal source of love.
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And one of them, a lawyer, tempting Him, asked, saying: Master! what is the greatest commandment in the law? Jesus said to him: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind: this is the first and greatest commandment; the second is like it: love thy neighbor as thyself; on these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. (Matthew 22:35-40)
It is not surprising that every true Christian sooner or later asks himself how to fulfill the greatest commandment.
How can we love God?
What does it mean to love the Lord?
How can I tell if I love God the way He has commanded us?
Don't sin.
Learn to be grateful.
Love thy neighbor.
For those to whom the above is not enough, let's sort it out in order.
Do not sin!
It often happens to me that I know how to do the right thing, but I don’t do it. Sometimes you manage to force yourself to do what you need, but sometimes you don’t, unfortunately. Why do you have to force yourself to do the right thing, to fight with yourself, to force? Is it supposed to be like that?
It turns out that there is a “I” that is trying to force another “I” to do something, and in response it rebels and protests, and the first “I” backs down ... The forcing “I” refers to the sphere of a person’s personal freedom, this is his personal will , and the rebellious, protesting "I" refers to human nature, which, as we all know, has been corrupted by sin. The apostle Paul said remarkably about this: “The good that I want, I do not, but the evil that I do not want, I do ... according to inner man I find pleasure in the law of God; but I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin that is in my members. Poor man I am! who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Rom. 7:19-24)
This very “body of death”, the “old man”, for a start, you need to stop identifying with your own “I”, to hate his aspirations. Hatred for the “old man” is not hatred for the flesh as such, but specifically for the deeds and aspirations of the flesh imbued with sin. The task here is to uproot sin from the flesh, to make it obedient to the spirit. You can’t go with the flow here, you need to make an effort, an effort: “The Kingdom of Heaven is taken by force, and those who use force take it away.” (Matthew 11:12)
First you need to stop being afraid of this internal opponent-protester, call on the Lord for help when the protester is trying to arrange a riot. And it’s stupid not to obey the protests, no matter how the rebel tries to threaten: “If you don’t do it my way, I don’t know what will happen to you.” If you follow his lead, negotiate with him, admire him, identify yourself with him, then you will not be able to love God, as the Lord Himself says: “If anyone comes to Me and does not hate his father and mother, and wife and children , and brothers and sisters, and, moreover, his own life, he cannot be My disciple; and whoever does not bear his cross and follow me cannot be my disciple.” (Luke 14:26-27) In Ohiyenko's Ukrainian translation, instead of "life" it says "soul", so hatred here is meant not for the soul as such, but for its state of self-identification with sin. However, the same is true when it is said about life.
Let's move on to practice.
For example, we read from the Apostle: “The wrath of man does not create the righteousness of God.” (James 1:20) Therefore, under no circumstances should anger be allowed to take control of the body. If you managed to feel his arrival, so that everything boiled inside, and strives to pull in one direction or another - you need not obey, but take two or three deep breaths, you can with the Jesus Prayer. If anger breaks out - repent, not embarrassed in expressions in relation to your fallen human nature. And it is unnecessary to be modest in epithets :). If, time after time, after such repentance, the falls continue, so that the inner “protester” began to laugh at the failures or condescendingly say: “you can’t trample on yourself,” do not stop repenting after each fall. What does it have to do with vanity, which the “protester” holds on to. In the end, he will tire out and submit, the resources of self-love are limited, but the supply of help from the Lord is not.
Another example: “Do not be deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor malakia, nor homosexuals, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor blasphemers, nor predators — they will not inherit the Kingdom of God.” (1 Cor. 6:9-10), “The works of the flesh are known; they are: adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, idolatry, magic, enmity, quarrels, envy, anger, strife, disagreements, (temptations,) heresies, hatred, murders, drunkenness, outrageousness, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do so will not inherit the kingdom of God.” (Gal. 5:19-21) What a wide field for self-examination! You can set yourself up against such deeds according to the following scheme: first, judge that they are an abomination before the Lord. Then remind yourself that the Lord is the Almighty, and we perform each of them before Him - from conception to implementation. And that these things are very displeasing to Him; they testify to our intention to experience the wrath of God if calls alone are not enough. Remind yourself that at first this anger is moderate, enlightening, and if the sinner turns out to be incorrigible, then there is no longer punishment, but punishment, both in temporal life and in eternal life. With such unhurried reflections - both about God and about your sins - you can set yourself up in a repentant mood, to the determination to turn away from sins and ask the Lord for mercy.
Learn to be grateful.
We must realize the great grace of salvation received through the death of Jesus Christ for us. This gift of salvation is simply invaluable - thank the Lord for it. We have come to know love in the fact that the Son of God laid down His life for us (1 John 3:16), — the Son of Man sacrificed His life to save us from eternal death.
Thank the Creator for giving you this life with every breath, for giving you the opportunity to feel, think and understand. Give thanks for the joys that the Lord sends to each person. Give thanks for the beauty and grandeur of this world, which the Almighty created for you, give thanks for the patience with which the Just God, despite the evil (sin) you commit, lengthens your earthly days, waiting for your repentance and correction. Give thanks for sorrows and sufferings, understanding that the Heavenly Father allows them for the benefit of your soul, cleansing it from sin. Finally, give thanks for the eternal blissful life in the Kingdom of goodness and light, prepared for you by the All-Merciful Lord, if you learn to thank and love Him.
Love thy neighbor
To love the Lord, it is not enough just to say, "I love God." We must first of all love our neighbor. A liar is one who says that he loves God if he does not love his neighbor. How can we love a God we have never seen if we do not love those we see every day, who we touch, who we live with? Do you have a wife, friends, relatives? Learn first to give them their due, and then you will already be able to give their due to all people and to God Himself. One must be able to see the face of the Lord in every suffering human being. God expects us to recognize him under the appearance of other people. Dying in the streets, abandoned and unloved, mentally retarded and lepers - this is Jesus in disguise. Everything we do for them, we do for Him.
Love Him as He loves you, serve Him as He serves. Be with Him every day—every time you recognize Him in your neighbors.
So let's recap.
Do not sin: he who does what is disgusting to God cannot love Him; he who does not love his neighbor cannot love God; he who is ungrateful to men cannot be grateful to God.
Therefore, move away from every deed, word, thought, feeling, forbidden by the Gospel. By your enmity to sin, so hateful to God, show and prove your love for God. Sins into which you happen to fall due to weakness, heal with immediate repentance. But better try not to admit these sins to yourself by strict vigilance over yourself.
Learn to give thanks Appreciate everything that surrounds you, everything that you receive, and be sincerely grateful.
Love your loved ones: starting with the wife (husband), children, relatives, friends, neighbors and ending with the dying on the street. Your love for them is your love for God.
