Some of the most famous biblical sayings are:
“God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.”
“He who does not love has not known God, because God is love.”
Are these Bible quotes actually true given the complex and numerous problems we face every day?
Why does John the Theologian say this?
Some people who are disappointed in God say that the Bible presents us with an image of not a real, but a fictitious God. He is noble, merciful, fair and kind only in words. Such people believe that the authors of Scripture have presented an unattainable ideal that God himself does not live up to. Maybe John was wishful thinking? After all, after the death of Jesus Christ, evil did not disappear from the face of the earth, but in our days it has reached unprecedented power.
Evangelist John the Theologian, Borovikovsky Vladimir Lukich. 1804–1809 Pressed cardboard, oil. 73.5 × 73.5 cm State Russian Museum, St. Petersburg, Russia. Inv. Zh-3182 Icon from the Royal Doors of the main iconostasis of the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg. Received in 1932 from the Kazan Cathedral.
But John was not a fanatic, blindly confident in God's love for people. He witnessed numerous manifestations of His care demonstrated through Christ. Jesus healed diseases, fed the hungry, cast out demons, and raised the dead. And He did this without sitting in a personal palace on a golden throne. He lived among ordinary people and did good, regardless of faces.
The most amazing manifestation of God’s love for the apostle was the sacrificial death of Jesus, which He willingly agreed to for the redemption of humanity from the slavery of sin and death:
“The love of God for us was revealed in this, that God sent His only begotten Son into the world, so that we might receive life through Him. This is love, that we did not love God, but He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved! If God loved us so much, then we should love each other.”
(1 John 4:9-11)
Who else said that?
God's unsurpassed love for people is explicitly stated in several places in Scripture. They convey the facets of this great quality of the Creator in different ways:
- By showing the prophet Moses his glory, God declared that he was merciful, long-suffering, and abounding in mercy (Exodus 34:6).
- God's love for his people is everlasting (Jer. 31:3).
- God treats His faithful servants as beloved sons and daughters (Jer. 31:20).
- The Lord loved Israel even when they were poor and naked in Egypt, loving them as a man loves his wife (Ezek. 16:4-14).
- God created a relationship with Israel, uniting them in bonds of love (Hosea 1:2,3).
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But in each generation there were chosen people who could see and hear the Creator. They are called righteous. Through them, other believers can learn the truths of God.
The highest degree of manifestation of God's love for man was sacrifice, when the Lord gave his son for us. By the example of the death of Jesus, he showed that all Christians have a chance for Sunday. How can a person show his love for the Creator? There are ancient prayers to understand this feeling.
O my loving heavenly Father! Teach me to love You with all my heart, so that love for You and for nothing temporary fills my heart.
Teach me, God, to love You with all my will. Kill all self-will in me. Help me to always do only what You please and what You desire.
Teach me to love You with all my soul, to fight and mortify unkind feelings, my own appetites, bad habits and attachments.
Teach me to love You with all my mind, rejecting any other mind, other judgments and understandings that have nothing in common with Your Divine mind and revelation.
Teach me to love You with all my strength, help me to strain and concentrate all my energy only in order to love the way You would want me to love You.
O God of Love! Kindle within me Your unquenchable, ever-loving love of Christ, so that I may be what You would have me to be and do what You would have me do.
O eternal, inexhaustible Source of Love! If only people would know You and understand Your love! If only they could understand how worthy You are of our absolute love! How wonderful You are to everyone who already loves You, how strong You are to everyone who trusts in You, how inexpressibly sweet You are to all those who enjoy continuous communication with You; for You are the abyss of all treasures and the ocean of all blessings!
Believe in the great power of Love! Believe sacredly in Her conquering cross, In Her radiantly shining light. A world mired in dirt and blood! - Believe in the great Power of Love!
What does this expression mean (how to understand it)
John could have written that God has love. It has many valuable qualities. For example, kindness, justice, wisdom. But it is love that is the most characteristic feature of God. He is the very personification of love.
It was this quality that prompted God to become the Creator. People most often create something new in order to solve pressing problems. Tractors plow the land, airplanes transport people and heavy loads. But the Lord did not experience a vital need for the existence of angels , people or animals. He doesn't have any problems. Materially, people cannot give Him anything that He needs. We are not robots or technology that would help the Creator survive. We are His children.
Let's sum it up
"God is love". That's what the Bible says. This great feeling is capable of performing real miracles. If a person strives to show his love, he is ready to sacrifice everything he has.
How should people love their Creator? The answer to this question will also be the text of the Bible. It says that people should love the Creator as much as they love themselves. Just as it is easy for a lover to perform actions in the name of the object of adoration, so it will be easy for people to follow the observance of the commandments indicated in the Bible. Those who will violate the laws of Holy Scripture are like the people who crucified Jesus. In order not to crucify the Son of God within oneself, one must try to be faithful to his commandments. Then the bliss of the Earthly Paradise will be revealed to man.
The highest degree of manifestation of love for the creator is the ability to sacrifice life for him. Such people are counted among the Saints, calling them martyrs.
All the truths about the relationship between man and the Creator are contained in the Book of Books - the Bible. Studying its secrets is an activity that will bring valuable fruits of reason and wisdom. People must communicate with the Creator, since he created them like himself. The Lord is open to conversation with man. Having shown an example of the highest love when he gave his son for people, the Creator expects us to observe simple biblical commandments, which not everyone manages to fulfill. In this way, believers demonstrate their love for God by daily confirming it with good deeds.
What God Says about Love in the Bible
Often believers complain that they cannot follow God's example because they have not seen obedience to him in their family, school and work. Our great Mentor did not leave us without detailed explanations about what is characteristic of love and what is unnatural for it:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, then I am a ringing gossamer or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I could move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my property and give my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no good. Love is patient, merciful, love does not envy, love is not arrogant, is not proud, is not rude, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails, although prophecies will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.”
(1 Corinthians 13:1-8)
All the great and noble deeds of a Christian who is not driven by love, from the point of view of God, have no value. Speaking about the sacrifice through burning, the apostle could have been referring to the friends of the Old Testament prophet Daniel Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who refused to bow to the idol of Nebuchadnezzar, who sent them into the fiery furnace. He could also remember Zermano-shegas, an Indian who burned himself in public in Athens, thereby, as he believed, immortalizing his name.
A message about this can be found in the works of Dio Cassius and Strabo, ancient historians. But Paul did not see any meaning in such a sacrifice. God does not require sacrifices based on selfishness, fanaticism, cruelty or lust for glory.
Moreover, without love a person becomes like Satan:
“The children of God and the children of the devil are recognized in this way: everyone who does not do righteousness is not from God, and neither does he who does not love his brother. For this is the gospel which you have heard from the beginning, that we should love one another, not as Cain who was of the evil one and killed his brother. Why did he kill him? Because his deeds were evil, but his brother’s deeds were righteous.”
(1 John 3:10-12)
Love in the Gospel
Not one Apostle spoke as often about love as John. All his messages are filled with a call to love.
The story has been preserved that when John was old and very weak, they brought him to church, and while preaching he always said:
“Children, love each other. This is the Lord's commandment."
Related article: True love
In the above passage, John returns to his favorite theme of love as the leading theme of the letter.
He insists that salvation by the grace of Christ does not free us from the obligation to obey Christ's commandments.
Basic commandment
The main commandment of Christ is love.
- We know Christ if we keep His commandments (2:3).
- “Whoever says, ‘I know Him, but does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him’” (2:4).
- And whatever we ask, we receive from Him, because we keep His commandments (3:22).
- And His commandment is that we...love one another (2:23).
- He who keeps His commandments abides in Him (3:24).
- And we have this commandment from Him, that whoever loves God should also love his brother (4:21).
- For this is the love of God, that we keep His commandments (5:3).
Is there a prayer in Orthodoxy for help in mutual love?
In Orthodoxy there are prayers for mutual love. First of all, we must ask God for love for Him, so that our service is not based on fear of punishment or selfish desire to gain material blessings.
Also in their prayers, Christians ask God and the saints to soften the hearts of those who harbor hostile feelings towards us. What about romantic love between a man and a woman? Some prayers include a call for help in finding a loving spouse.
Prayers for love between a man and a woman are appropriate if you want to create a godly family. In such cases, it is worth asking for wisdom about choosing a worthy person, and not about necessarily winning the heart of the one we like.
One day an instructive incident occurred in church life. A believing girl fell in love with a seminarian, but he did not reciprocate her feelings and, having become a priest, married someone else.
Subsequently, the young man left his rank, abandoned his wife and child. Having learned about this, the girl, who could not connect her life with her lover, was relieved. She realized that she would not be happy in a marriage with someone for whom she had strong feelings.
Human and Divine Love
We are all created by the Lord in His image and likeness, which means that all people are a small projection of the Lord, consisting of two components: physical and spiritual.
Common features
Based on the fact that God is Love, He has invested His ability to love in us, in all people there is a small copy of Him, in every person on Earth. Why is it that when people first experience this feeling, they seem to float above the ground? The whole point is that consciously or not, they understand their involvement in God.
This is the main similarity between human and divine love—the feeling of coexistence.
The human manifestation of this feeling is the same manifestation of the feelings of God, only reduced to our level. That is, it is the same thing, but with our inherent qualities. Its manifestation is not isolated, that is, several types can be distinguished.
For example, a feeling for children, you love them in your own way, you also experience this feeling for your parents, here it is filled with other shades, love for your other half is saturated with sharpness and passion, there is love for the Motherland, for nature, and more.
Distinctive features
The love of our Creator is holistic, limitless, everything in it has its own meaning, the significance of the smallest grain is colossal, one does not dominate the other, but is closely interconnected.
Human love has a beginning and an end, that is, we can say about it that it is “mortal.”
The love of the Lord is not subject to death, boundaries and frames. Immortality and its limitlessness are relative concepts of “something”. This “something,” for example, a person, exists only due to the presence of Divine feelings, and as long as these feelings or life itself are in it. If this “something” disappears, then the very dimension of the concepts of limitlessness and immortality evaporates. Therefore, concepts of this kind exist exclusively in the consciousness of the one who has them. The feelings of God live independently of these concepts.
Human Love is overshadowed by self-interest. A loving person constantly waits and wants to feel a reciprocal feeling from the object of his adoration; this is the same as waiting for payment for work or some other action. If the so-called “payment” does not come, a sharply negative reaction follows.
The Creator's love is selfless. If a person acts as a conductor of this form, then the desire to give, to pour out one’s feelings, as if a flow of energy flows through him, which no one can stop, prevails over egoism and the desire to receive something in return. He pours it out without thinking at all about the fact that he needs to leave at least a drop for himself.
How to distinguish love given by God from passion?
Many people confuse romantic love with passion. But true love is more than just a strong attraction to a member of the opposite sex. Passion is very often based only on the fact that we like the appearance of the person we adore: his beautiful eyes, face, figure.
But in fact, an attractive appearance is like the beautiful shell of an apple, the inside of which can be eaten by a worm or rot. Adoration based on attraction to physical beauty may not last more than a few weeks or months after marriage. The reason is simple: outwardly attractive people can have rather bad personalities. A happy family cannot be created with a proud, rude, selfish, ignorant and immoral person.
The essence of Christian love
The main component of Christian love is selflessness. It is expressed in the willingness to give up personal interests in favor of the interests of another. We must also be selfless, not seeking benefit from the one to whom we have shown kindness.
God the Father. Although the image of God the Father as an old man in Christian iconography is non-canonical, such icons appeared and at a certain time became traditional
Concept of Divine Love
Most of the books of the New Testament were originally written in ancient Greek. To express spiritual concepts, Christians looked for suitable words from his rich arsenal. So, the Greeks knew several types of love. 4 of them are most often mentioned:
- Eros is love between a man and a woman based on affection, devotion and physical attraction.
- Philia is mutual respect and sympathy on which friendship is built.
- Storge is a family attachment. It is very important for achieving and maintaining family happiness.
- Agape is the highest type of love, based on unselfish, selfless concern for the needs of another being.
When Scripture speaks of God's love, it uses the word agape. In our world, where people often have a distorted concept of friendly, family, and even romantic love, agape seems to be an unnatural quality. Let us consider how God manifests it.
God's love for man
For God, love is both strong feelings and practical actions:
“Will a woman forget her suckling child, so as not to have compassion on the son of her womb? but even if she forgot, I will not forget you.”
(Isa.49:15)
When a couple is expecting a child, they prepare a nursery for him. They furnish it according to their tastes, generosity and the needs of the newborn. Loving parents give the best to their children. God created the first man and placed him in the best place on our planet - the Garden of Eden.
Some believing philosophers believe that Eden was not the limit, but the beginning of a perfect world, prepared for the eternal life of man. This means that even he was only a drop by which one could judge the boundless ocean of the Creator’s love.
Love is expressed in generosity:
“How numerous are Your works, O Lord! You have done everything wisely; the earth is full of Your works."
(Ps. 103:24)
But the most outstanding manifestation of the Creator’s selflessness is expressed in the feat of Jesus Christ:
“For Christ, while we were yet weak, at the appointed time died for the ungodly. For hardly anyone will die for the righteous; maybe someone will decide to die for a benefactor. But God proves His love for us by the fact that Christ died for us while we were still sinners. Much more therefore now, having been justified by His blood, we will be saved from wrath by Him. For if, while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved by His life.”
(Rom.5:6-10)
Paul repeats the great words that Jesus said to Nicodemus:
“For God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
(John 3:16)
But why did our Lord decide to go through great pain, giving his beloved perfect Son to a painful and cruel execution? And why did Christ voluntarily make this sacrifice? Why give your life for sinners, many of whom have turned into moral animals?
- First, this is the requirement of God's justice. Unlike Adam and Eve, their descendants were born sinners, but not of their own free will. By sacrificing his Son, God gave us a fair choice: to live forever in holiness or perish, having received the temporary pleasure of sin.
- Secondly, the Creator has an amazing ability to see us as we will become after we get rid of sin.
God is the greatest restorer
Interesting fact
In 1987, at London's National Gallery, a vandal shot at a sketch for Leonardo's painting The Virgin and Child, Saint Anne and
John the Baptist , worth $35 million.
At that time she was 477 years old. A 15-centimeter hole appeared in the masterpiece. But the gallery’s management did not even think of throwing away the masterpiece created with charcoal and chalk. Restorers collected the torn paper piece by piece and glued it together. Today the damage is almost invisible. God is the greatest restorer in the visible and invisible Universe. Man is his greatest masterpiece on Earth, corrupted by the vandal Satan. The Lord knows how each person will manifest himself if he is provided with accurate spiritual knowledge and allowed to feel all the great power of His love.
Photo by Asya Krasnova
No less surprising is that God promises to give us not just long, but eternal life, the conditions of which will be not just comfortable, but ideal. He loves his faithful servants with an everlasting love. This means that it will never run out.
Orthodox Life
God is love, and the Lord commanded us to love. But what is love? In what and how should love for God be manifested? If a person keeps all the commandments, does he love God? How is love for God related to spiritual life? Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov answers these questions.
– Good afternoon, this is the “Candlemas” program. Today we are visiting Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov, rector of the Church of the Life-Giving Trinity in Troitsky-Golenischev. Hello, Father Sergius.
- Christ is Risen!
- He is truly risen! Thank you very much for agreeing to answer the questions of the Pravoslavie.ru portal. The theme of our meeting is “About the love of God and the path to God.” We know that, according to the word of Christ the Savior, we must deny ourselves for the sake of God. And how, when trying to fulfill these words of the Savior, not to become discouraged when you see how difficult it is? What advice can you give?
– The question of love for God is very significant, and we must remember that the Lord Jesus Christ Himself said: God is Love, as the Apostle John the Theologian reminds us (see: 1 John 4:16). Therefore, love is a Divine property. God Himself is love. But how to know it?
Why should you deny yourself? Because we are in a certain sphere of our ideas, those that we went through in school. Then there is also the home sphere, so cozy, and it happens that there is no place for God in it. And the angels, cherubim and seraphim continually cry out, shouting: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God of hosts!” Why do they do this? Because they know something we never thought about. They contemplate this and therefore cry out so much. And we have our own life, our own little world. The Lord does not violate our well-being, but He wants us to have full fellowship with Him. And to do this, you need to get out of your closed circle, reject your home world, look carefully at the stars on a good clear night, at all nature... And also, study well at school, and so that the teachers would say: “You are studying for the wrong reason.” in order to know something, but in order to know how the world works: the world is God’s creation.” If at school they showed how the world was created by God, learning would be much more interesting. And school subjects would become subjects of the knowledge of God, because knowledge certainly leads to God - any knowledge, even the opposite in essence to Divine teaching. Even in seminary we used pocket “Atheist Dictionaries.” We discarded atheism and used the information—dates, events, and names—to prepare for exams. So those who tried against God could and can, on the contrary, force people to think more about God. But this was the case in a bygone era; Now, however, is an era without any godlessness. But there are both believers and non-believers.
And God is love. This is the key to everything. When I began to serve in the St. Nicholas Church in Zelenograd, I was faced with the following problem: how can I explain to young people who come to church why they need to not only be baptized, but then also live in a churchly way, in a Divine way? After all, there was another difficulty: when the unbaptized come to church and you explain to them something about God, then, according to the ancient tradition, dating back to the era of St. Cyril of Jerusalem, you cannot talk to them about Communion.
- Why?
– This tradition is very deep and very ancient. A person cannot understand what Communion is until he is baptized. He does not have a mechanism for perceiving this Sacrament. No one can call Jesus Lord, that is, God, unless moved by the Holy Spirit. “No one can come to Me,” says the Lord Jesus Christ, “unless the Heavenly Father draws him” (cf. John 6:44). When I baptize someone, then I certainly begin to say after baptism why one needs to receive communion. Do you know how difficult it was then? Dozens of people were baptized; the record was 77 baptized in one day. 77 godfathers, 77 godmothers and 77 screaming babies. The babies are screaming, the adults, although silent, are worried, they are ready to torment the priest: they need to quickly, quickly, quickly... I then went out to the pulpit and said, “In 1972, an earthquake occurred in Mexico City, and a hospital ward with babies fell into a rock crevice.” and stayed there for a whole week. Not a single newborn baby died; they lay there for a week. Our baptism is only 45 minutes. Be patient. When you are calm, the children immediately calm down too.”
Yes, this is a problem: how can those who are baptized as adults be told why they should now go to church? A very big problem. And God is Love. And St. John Chrysostom gave me a thread, a rope to cling to. I read the first volume very carefully - just the first volume, and I was impressed for the rest of my life by his early sermons in the Antiochian church. He said strange, paradoxical words. I remembered them. In general, Chrysostom is a complete paradox. So, he said these words: “People! At least from the example of love for a woman, learn to love God.” I almost fell out of my chair when I read this. How is this so, Father John Chrysostom? Why did it happen? And then he began to think and reflect: stop, he didn’t say that in vain. And I built such a chain for those who were baptized. How do you love a girl? So you fell in love. What do you want? You want to communicate with her, you want to see her, you want to talk to her - this is the most important thing in love. This desire to be together, inseparably, always is a very important state. Then suddenly you find out that your beloved has a serious incurable illness and will die in a month or two. How do you feel if you love her?
- Despair.
- Not only. The thought comes: I would give my life if only she would live. Which is what the Lord Jesus Christ does. That's right, practically! When a person has suffered from radiation (remember Chernobyl), bone marrow is transplanted and blood is transfused to save this person. Something similar is the sacrament of Communion. God loves man so much that he gave Himself. Without this, no one will survive, no one will have eternal life until they partake of the Body and Blood of Christ. That’s when those young people began to understand that baptism is not just something, it is very serious. That God is Love, Who goes to the extent of being with people always. And there are such words in the Gospel. The Lord and his disciples descended from Mount Tabor, and they brought to Him a demon-possessed man who was screaming. And the words burst out from the Lord: “O unfaithful and corrupt generation, how long will I be with you, how long will I endure you?!” (see: Matthew 17: 9–17). And here the priest from the pulpit can say: “Lord, forever! You came to be with us forever. You can’t do anything, you did it yourself.” “How long will I be with you?” - "Forever". This is Communion.
We must distinguish Divine love. The Apostle John the Theologian inspired me very much when I was studying at the seminary. God first loved us. We don’t have to love God; we don’t owe anyone anything. And love should always be free. The Lord loved, and this is work. We can only answer: “Lord, I will love now too.” This is much easier than loving and actively acting yourself. The Lord has already done everything for us.
– Archimandrite John (Krestyankin) once, answering a question, said: unbelief is one of the symptoms of our time. Why is that? After all, churches are being built, alms are given, we have everything - but there is little or no faith...
– It’s very easy to get lost in social activities and that’s all. This is the path of Western Europe, where churches are now being closed because no one needs them. This is horizontal theology, as they used to say in the 70s of the last century. Who was the first to be alarmed about this? Bishop Nikodim (Rotov). He saw that Christianity could become exclusively a social activity. He (I don’t remember exactly in what year) raised this serious issue. What should I do? And here, in order not to dissolve in social activities, you need to say: “Worship the Lord your God and serve Him alone” (Matthew 4:10). Things must be done, but the main thing is faith. Without faith you can't do anything. Without faith, Christianity will degenerate, it will be a simple social movement and nothing more. And faith... it is very difficult to explain what it is. This is a certain state in which a person completely trusts God and there is no barrier between him and God. He trusts God, and God communicates with him. These old people needed to be seen and heard. How they speak, how they pray, how they teach! I found good professors...
This is very important - faith in a person. Faith and love are mutually related. God grant that people understand the value of faith. If there is no faith, and there is no love for God, everything will end very quickly and fall apart. Here we see a ruined ancient building, but we don’t see what was there. Likewise, we may be left with unknown things without faith, without prayer, without communication with God.
Archpriest Sergiy Pravdolyubov
– Here is a man who goes to church every Sunday. How can he understand that perhaps he does not have love for God, although he may consider himself a completely normal Christian?
– I wonder if this man reads anything from the works of the holy fathers and saints? Does he read the Gospel? The old priests read the Gospel every day with the children. Every day the Gospel was voiced, heard - not necessarily in the front corner and standing. We eat, then take the Gospel and read it - do you know why? “You have already been cleansed through My word which I have spoken to you” (cf. John 15:3), - the Apostle John the Theologian conveys these words of the Lord Jesus Christ. Sound cleanses space. Children grow up, they don’t quite understand everything that their father read, but this spiritual sound is just sound! - it is material. Sound waves clear the space, and a person becomes accustomed.
And so, when a person comes to church, takes communion, leaves, no longer thinks about God, doesn’t pray, doesn’t read the Gospel, nothing... What’s the point? We need to move somewhere. Read, worry, ask. Every Lent I read “The Spiritual Meadow, or Memorable Tales of the Ascetic Asceticism of the Holy Fathers.” I know it almost by heart, but each time you perceive it differently and each time you are edified. You emphasize a different saying than the one you emphasized last year. You have to constantly be in this.
How long will we not read?! Your bookstores are a very big temptation. I do not go there. Do you know why? You walk into a store and you think: I’ll never read this in my life. Lord, have mercy on me. This should have been done 20-30 years ago, but now it’s not for me. What a pity that when I was young I didn’t have a single book. And now how good it is for young people.
– Father Sergius, the Lord said: “If you love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15). What commandments are we talking about?..
- About which ones?! How do you say this in a completely indifferent voice? This is the law of life! These are the confidential words of the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the pinnacle of the conversation of the Lord Jesus Christ with His disciples. This is the top! Revelation! “If you love Me, you will keep My commandments.” This is a hint. I recently learned: when one person was having a bad time in life, really bad, so much so that he didn’t want to live, he opened John the Theologian, these very chapters where the Lord talked with his disciples. And even more interesting is the prayer of the Lord Jesus Christ to His Father at the end of the conversation - this is the mystery of the Holy Trinity. It’s not impossible to read, but it’s scary to read. How the Lord revealed everything! No lasso of discipline, no secret teaching. He told His disciples: “I told you everything that the Father told Me, I revealed everything to you.” And this is given to people for free, just like that! The great man John the Theologian. And you read these words in working order. This cannot be said without excitement! This is the supreme revelation of the Lord Jesus Christ. He suggested it like this.
Therefore, God grant that people do not just read this, not as information, but feel with all their soul and with all their heart what the Lord said to His disciples. And the Apostle John the Theologian brought it to us. What did he report? Not with your mental strength, not with your art, but with the Holy Spirit. He revealed to us what many wise men and scientists... there is a university on a mountain not far away, and there are many scientists, colossally smart people, and some strange people go to church, as the Apostle Paul says, “the dregs of society.” The Lord revealed it to them, but not to everyone. Therefore, it must be protected, preserved and rejoiced at.
And love for God is reciprocal love. Exactly the answer! It simply cannot be done any other way. How do you “have to love”? These are some theoretical words.
– Is it an experience when you feel that the Lord is coming to meet you halfway?..
- Undoubtedly! And there is no problem here. If you close yourself in some artificial framework, in artificial affairs, in an artificial, far-fetched philosophy, or in something that exists in life, then this closes you off from God. You have to be left alone: Lord, here I am, and He.
Father John (Krestyankin) said very important words: “There is no need to rush when you say the Jesus Prayer.” Slowly he crossed himself, said: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner,” bowed, pause. Why? This pause, so that you can answer with your own words, may the Lord not answer you right away, you don’t need this, and you don’t need to wait for it. There must be a pause. And so it is in life: openness to God and a short pause: “Lord, here I am. Lord, I have sinned again, forgive me.” And silence.
– Love is work. How to work correctly for the glory of God?
– Love is always work. And love for God is, accordingly, work for the glory of God. Logical?
How to behave correctly here, how to love God correctly? How to work correctly for the glory of God? It is important. And here, as with prayer. Because we pray wrong. We ask God for the wrong thing. And in our country the word “work” is completely ordinary. We have lost the meaning of this word. Work comes from the word “slavery.” A slave works, but service is different: people serve, but work is for slaves. Therefore, work is not slavery, work is a necessary stage of any person - to work. And the fact that love is work, I experienced it very clearly and very difficult. I achieved my bride with great difficulty, it was hard work. She: no, she doesn’t want to, but I...
– Was it voluntary slavery?
- Undoubtedly. It's clear. We never had slavery and we don’t have it now.
– Was it difficult work?
- Because love is work. And when the Lord undertakes this work, you can say: “Lord, here I am. I agree, Lord."
– The main thing is to agree in time.
– And the fact that we work for God is neither labor nor work. That's exactly the answer. And the reverend fathers help on how to make it pleasing to God.
– Father Sergius, very often you can hear the following words: “Christians, you go to church, and for this you will receive the Kingdom of Heaven. So everything you do, you do for a reason. You still want something from God.” What can you answer to this?
“I don’t want anything from God.” For what? Be with God! To be with Him and see Him, to love Him and communicate with Him... He is our Creator, why is anything else needed? No need at all. We go to church and pray... I just can’t get my head around it. We humbly follow the simplest rules about how to live and be saved.
A great temptation arises: why does a person not move in his spiritual development for many years? There were also such questions, even in relation to close people. I found a comparison with military operations for myself. The Germans were marching on Moscow, we drove them away powerfully and drove them 150–200 kilometers away, then we stopped and dug in. Why didn’t they get to Berlin right away? Why do we continue to sit for two years on this front line? But there is no opportunity, there is no strength. Then time passes and they move on. So is man. He walks, prays - nothing changes. Why don't you change? But because now they are accumulating strength. I have observed this several times: a person consistently does nothing, does not improve his spiritual or other states - and suddenly all the engines go into overdrive, he takes off. And so he takes off before his death that it was impossible for us to even think about how he went and how he achieved everything. We wanted him to walk all the time, but this is impossible. It is impossible to move on without this sitting in the trenches and accumulating strength. He went like oh-oh-oh.
So it is here: “Oh, they walk around and do nothing!” This means nothing. A person can go like this. But in the last days he may suffer a catastrophe. A terrible disaster. In the Apocalypse it is written: and it was given to the Antichrist to fight with the saints and defeat them (cf. Rev. 13: 7) - this is terrible, very terrible. Therefore, be careful that you don’t fall and go down. At the same time, don't be tempted by the fact that you can't go higher. Gradually, gradually, God will give strength through the prayers of other people, elders and Athonite saints and martyrs, whom we honor at the parish, and you will be able to finally achieve what you are destined for in life.
Of course, not because God thought about you, no. The worst thing will happen when your soul leaves your body and is brought to the Lord Jesus Christ for worship. And here the Lord will look at you carefully. There is no need to say anything, but the Lord will have the following thought: “Well, what are you doing? I really wanted you to achieve this and that. Why didn't it work out for you? What have you exchanged your life for? This is how you should be. What did you do?" No answer. The lips are silent, there is no excuse. It's very scary.
The Lord loves, and I love the Lord - this is what is needed. Where is it?
And even like this: the Apostle Peter stands near Paradise with the keys: “So, Father Sergius, come here. How many saints did you glorify? 32 in the Ryazan region? And it says: it should be 320. Why only 32? Where are the others? This is how it is written. Why only 32? - “Father Apostle...” - “Well, what are you doing?!” And so it is in everything. He will say: “They would let me in.” But what have you achieved? Yes, I achieved nothing. You were better in childhood than in old age”...
– Thank you, Father Sergius, for your answers.
Nikita Filatov spoke with Archpriest Sergius Pravdolyubov
Pravoslavie.Ru
How to ask to love God with all your heart?
According to Christ, love for God and neighbor is the basis for the entire Mosaic Law. The Apostle Paul writes in one of his epistles that love is the fulfillment of the Law. Someone who actively demonstrates this quality does not need a long list of rules. Conscience itself prompts him to do good and hate evil.
“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 similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself; On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets.”
(Matt. 22:37-40)
But how can this be done when many believers suffer from illness, poverty and other problems? It is best to tell Him about your doubts and difficulties that prevent you from trusting and loving the Creator. Respectful, but sincere.
It is also important to ask God for a grateful heart and the ability to notice His works done for our good. Every day it is important to say thank you to him for any good event, no matter how small it may seem. Over time, the heart will begin to fill with reciprocal love for the Creator, displacing resentment, despair and the bitterness of defeat.
A wonderful cure for despair will be prayer to strengthen faith in your personal eternal future.
Prayer for the gift of love
Not a word, but a deed
As you know, love can only be judged by actions, but not by words. If this feeling is not supported by actions, then it will not be appreciated and accepted. Love without actions is like this: a hungry person is not offered food, but its image on paper. Or a person without clothes is given not vestments, but the promises of these vestments.
The need to prove your love for the Almighty through your actions is also hidden in the words of John the Theologian. He calls Christians to love their neighbors not with words and tongue, but with deeds and truth. To prove this love one must sacrifice. A truly loving person can even lose his life if the need arises. An example of such a sacrifice is the behavior of the holy martyrs. They were able not to spare their own lives, just to show loyalty to the Lord. The righteous expressed such feelings through exploits and deeds, showing that they trusted only in the Creator and believed only in him.
To daily confirm your feelings for the Creator, it is enough to try not to commit sins, follow the commandments of the Lord, strive to pacify the flesh and protect it from passions and lust. This will be the best proof of devotion to the Almighty. If a person does not want to follow the commandments, he proves with every act displeasing to God that he is ready to crucify Christ, as non-believing people did.
So, through donation and obedience, keeping the commandments, one can confirm that a person loves God and the Son of God. This is what is said in the saying of Basil the Great.
Some people may find it difficult to keep the Lord's commandments. But it is important to remember that if a person does a godly deed, it becomes simple for him. In the words of the holy Apostle John the Theologian, it is said that keeping the commandments is a successful way to show the Creator your feelings. Moreover, these laws are simple, and it is not difficult to follow them if a person truly believes and loves.
Prayer
Troparion, tone 4 Lord Jesus Christ, by the union of love Thy apostles have bound, O Christ, and we, Thy faithful servants, have been firmly bound to Himself, to keep Thy commandments and to love one another without hypocrisy. do it with the prayers of the Mother of God, the One Lover of Mankind.
Kontakion, tone 5 With a flame of love, our hearts kindled toward You, O Christ God, so that with that kindling, with our hearts, minds and souls, and with all our strength, let us love You, and with all our sincerity, as ourselves, and commanded We glorify You, the Giver of all blessings.
To the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian O great apostle, loud-voiced evangelist, most graceful theologian, wiser than incomprehensible revelations, virgin and most beloved confidant of Christ John, accept with your characteristic mercy, we, sinners (names), come running under your strong intercession and protection!
Ask the All-Generous Lover of Mankind, Christ and our God, Who, before your eyes, poured out Your most precious blood for us, Your worthless servants, may He not remember our iniquities, but may He have mercy He eats us, and may He deal with us according to His mercy; May He grant us health of soul and body, all prosperity and abundance, teaching us to turn all of it into the glory of Him, the Creator, Savior and our God.
At the end of our temporary lives, may we, holy apostle, escape the merciless tortures awaiting us in the airy ordeals, but may we achieve under your leadership and the patronage of the Gorny O To Jerusalem, whose glory you have seen in revelation, and now you enjoy the joys promised to the elect God's.
Oh, great John, save all Christian cities and countries, this whole temple, dedicated to your holy name, those serving and praying in it, from famine, destruction, cowardice and flood , fire, sword, invasion of foreigners and internecine warfare, deliver from all kinds of troubles and misfortunes, and with your prayers turn away the righteous wrath of God from us, and ask for His mercy for us.
Oh, great and incomprehensible God, Alpha and Omega, the source and object of our faith! Behold, in supplication to You we offer Saint John, whom You have made worthy to know You, the inscrutable God, in ineffable revelation. Accept his intercession for us, grant us the fulfillment of our petitions, for Your glory: and above all, complete us with spiritual perfection, to the enjoyment of endless life in Your heavenly abode telekh.
Oh, Heavenly Father, who created all the Lord, the Soul of spirits, the Almighty King! Touch our hearts with Your finger, and they, melting like wax, will be shed before You, and the mortal spiritual creation will be created, in honor and glory of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Amen.
About love for one's neighbor
Christian love is more than a speculative concept. It has a specific practical expression. It’s surprising that nowadays only the lazy don’t talk about love in religious circles. But when it comes to real matters, many forget about the needs of their neighbors. It is much easier to talk about love for your neighbor than to practice it in life.
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; just as I have loved you, let you also love one another. By this everyone will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
(John 13:34,35)
We must remember that love, like faith, without works is dead. Here are just some of the cases in which it is expressed:
- caring for the needs of the elderly, lonely, widows, orphans and disabled people;
- showing respect and tact even in circumstances when we are provoked into a quarrel; willingness to forgive other people's mistakes.
In our multi-religious world, believers often consider only their like-minded people as neighbors. They do not extend their love to others. Clearly, when Jesus commanded love between brothers, he did not mean that it should be limited to the narrow confines of one denomination.
Love, like a beacon, helps to determine a safe spiritual harbor in which any ship, not just the one with an “elite” crew, can wait out the storm.
What is divine love
We have all heard of this expression at some point. What does it contain? What does this concept mean and what is its origin?
Origin of the phrase
The origin of the phrase itself can be attributed to the writing of the Bible, where the understanding of this concept was laid down. Its emergence begins with the creation of the world.
This is the fundamental truth on which Christianity as a whole stands. It is inseparable from the principles of freedom and does not allow us to look at the feelings of God in a mundane way. We understand that we cannot afford any irresponsibility in words or actions before Him.
Meaning of the concept
Our Creator, who created the Universe and the Earth, and all of us on it, made us free, independently determining our own will. The union of God the Creator with the people He created is the love of God.
That is, this desire to exist not for one’s own personal benefits, but for the benefit of our loved ones, and therefore the concept of this feeling for the Almighty is not separated from the concept of freedom, since only in free choice is the act of His Love manifested.
For the feelings of our Lord there are no boundaries or limits, there is nothing that would be main or secondary, since the world is holistic, all the processes occurring in it are interconnected. The feelings of our heavenly Father support life in its various manifestations.
Why should we love all people if we can only tolerate their shortcomings?
It is wonderful when we tolerate the shortcomings of others without responding with insult to insult, as our Teacher commanded us to do. But we must go further:
“So if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him a drink: for by doing this you will heap burning coals on his head. Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good .”
(Rom.12:20,21)
Paul is not talking about torture. The burning coals are an image of the pangs of conscience that a person who insults a Christian will experience after being met with kindness and respect in return. Yes, agape helps us turn opponents into friends.
***
God is love... He was not it in the past, he will not become it in the future, but he is. Here and now. It is visible in the abundance of His creations: the beauty of flowers, colorful sunsets, delicious and varied food... You can read and write books about God’s main quality. The Bible and creation are clear about exactly what it is.
As the world descends into corruption, cruelty, and selfishness, Christians have a great responsibility to become agents of God's love and holiness in a world dominated by Satan. Through us, God can help many people overcome the damage caused by sin and become what He intended us all to be—a perfect masterpiece that will never lose value.
Victor Glebov
Other articles by the author:
- In a den with lions: why the perspicacious prophet Daniel was slandered
- Why the older brother killed the younger: the story of Cain and Abel
Quotes about God's love and His gifts
“No word is sufficient to adequately depict love, since it is not of earthly, but of heavenly origin... even the language of Angels is not able to perfectly explore it, since it continuously emanates from the great mind of God.
This is what is surprising about love: evil can be mixed with other virtues - for example, a non-covetous person often thereby becomes arrogant; the eloquent person falls into the disease of ambition, the humble person often thereby exalts himself in his conscience, and love is free from any such infection, no one will ever be proud of his beloved.
Love changes the very essence of things and inseparably brings with it all blessings.”
St. John Chrysostom
“Love is so superior to all virtues that without it, not one of them, nor all of them together, will bring any benefit to the one who acquires them. O God-creating love, which is God, a gift mysteriously given to the worthy; she is something amazing and a thing not easily acquired. Love is not a name, but a Divine essence, communicable and incomprehensible and completely Divine.”
St. Simeon the New Theologian
“We are not so much looking for (love), as God is looking for us to become able to accept it and accept it.
Do not seek or expect love from people, seek omnipotently and demand from yourself love and compassion for people.
If you think that you love God, but in your heart there is an unpleasant disposition towards at least one person, then you are in woeful self-delusion.
The perfection of love lies in union with God; success in love is associated with inexplicable spiritual consolation, pleasure and enlightenment. But at the beginning of the feat, the student of love must endure a fierce struggle with himself, with his deeply damaged nature: the evil innate in nature through the Fall has become for him a law, warring and indignant against the Law of God, against the law of holy love.”
St. Ignatiy Brianchaninov
“Who will be able to speak in a worthy manner about the sweetness of God’s love? The Apostle Paul, who tasted it and was satisfied with it, himself cries out and says: “Neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor the lower power, nor the present, nor the future, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature,” nor all together they cannot “separate from the love of God” a soul that has tasted its sweetness (Rom. 8:38-39).”
St. Ephraim Sirin
“If a person wants to acquire the love of God, then he must have the fear of God, and fear gives birth to crying, and crying gives birth to courage. When all this ripens in the soul, it will begin to bear fruit in everything. And God, seeing these beautiful fruits in the soul, draws her to Himself, like the incense of the chosen one, rejoices over her with the Angels at all times, filling her with joy, and protects her on all her paths, so that she may safely reach her resting place .
Then the devil does not attack her, seeing the Highest Guardian surrounding her, he is even completely afraid to approach her because of this great power. Acquire this power for yourself, may the demons fear you, may the labors you undertake be eased, and may the Divine delight you. This sweetness of Divine love is far sweeter than a honeycomb.
God's orders are wonderful and extraordinary! When people begin to despair in their affairs, then God reveals His power, irresistible in everything.”
St. John Chrysostom
“Even if we had no hope of salvation, as soon as God pleases (to help us), we will not need anyone’s help, and God’s help alone will provide us with everything.”
St. John Chrysostom
“This is the special gift of God, that He gives to faithful servants, in their deprivation, more than one can hope for.”
St. Gregory of Nyssa
“When the Lord sees your diligence in seeking Him, then He will appear and reveal Himself to you and give His help.”
St. Macarius of Egypt
“Help from above comes with generosity when we also show a lot of virtue.”
St. John Chrysostom
“We must be confident, learning both from the experiences of things and from the countless testimonies of Holy Scripture, that we in our own strength, without the reinforcement of God’s help, cannot defeat so many enemies and must always attribute our victory to Him.”
St. Abba Paphnutius
“If we always contemplate God with our minds, if we constantly remember Him, then everything will turn out to be easy for us, everything will be bearable, we will bear everything comfortably and we will become above everything.”
St. John Chrysostom
“We need God’s help, like some kind of wind, so that our sail, just like some strong breath, can be moved towards the love of God.”
St. John Chrysostom
Life is not a computer game of scoring points
– Martin Luther is credited with saying: “God does not love me because I am good, but I am good because God loves me.” In fact, in our church pedagogy, starting from childhood, all we hear is: be a good boy/girl, God will love you. Do you agree that you need to earn God's love?
- No, I don’t agree. “You have heard that it was said: “You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say to you: love your enemies, bless those who curse you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who use you and persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He makes His sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and the unjust.” (Matt. 5:43-45).
The Lord calls us to love not only the “good”, but also the “evil” because He Himself loves both.
These words once especially struck 14-year-old Andrei Bloom, the future Metropolitan of Sourozh Anthony. He realized that if he wants to be with God, he must love everyone - because God loves everyone. This is precisely what He offers us as a justification for the need to love everyone, including our enemies.
However, when a person just comes to Church and does not yet think in adult Christian categories, it may seem to him that life is like a computer game with scoring points. He took an old woman across the road - he got glasses, attended a service - he got glasses, he stood for many hours of worship in a monastery - he got a lot of points. And if he committed a sin, then the glasses burned out.
No, our relationship with God is not a game in which we need to collect and spend points. Ephraim the Syrian says: “Be afraid to call God just.” If the Lord judged only with justice, we would all have been punished long ago so that there would be nothing left of us.
Our God is a merciful and long-suffering God, and He also cares about the whole world and about every person at the same time. And a person thinks how good it would be, even “saving” for him (his family), but how the fates of others will deal with this is no longer very interesting.
But for God, every person is his son or daughter. Every.
– What is the difference between the desire to earn God’s love and the desire to live a good life according to the commandments, the word of God?
– In the patristic tradition there is a teaching about three stages of serving God:
1. Service is slavish, out of fear of punishment.
When a person comes to God from paganism or atheism, at first he may be driven by the same fear and calculation: I must do good deeds, otherwise God will punish me.
2. Mercenary service for a reward.
A servant serves for a reward: I must be good in order for God to love me. These services are preparatory; they are natural for our sin-damaged nature, thoughts, and hearts.
3. Serving as a son. This is truly a true Christian attitude towards God, who is no longer the Judge, no longer the Distributor of rewards, but God the Father. And the son serves his father not out of self-interest, without expecting reward, without fear of punishment, but out of love.
At this stage we fulfill the commandments because we ourselves want to. Of my own free will. Because we love. At this stage one can feel that “His yoke is light”, His commandment is light. For example, Ephraim the Syrian addressed God in prayer:
“If Your love pleases to send me to hell, then there too I will worship You and praise You.”
Not everyone can immediately move to the third step. But we are all called precisely to this filial and filial ministry.
Christian Spiritual Poems About God's Love
God is love! But... God's love! Not the blind one who doesn’t see sins. His love is as hot as blood, And he hates vices fiercely!
She groans, crying and grieving, But firmly leads us through trials, Trying to explain that only by loving, Leads us through the fire of suffering.
So that in the crucible of temptations and passions, Having suffered a little for our benefit, We become purer, better and more holy... Worthy of the love of the Holy God!
Eternal love touched the heart
Eternal love touched the heart and changed it forever, Serving as the key to the treasured door, Behind which eternity awaits us all.
She revealed the meaning of the Lord's truths to us, illuminated our path with a bright light, endowed us with faith and strength, and leads us along this path!
And he who has been changed by the love of God is not afraid of anyone in the world. Chosen, Justified, Saved, Royally Ordained to the Priesthood
The one who strives for the Lord with his heart, who is not ashamed of the cross of Christ, who is honored to be washed in the Blood, the Lord lives in him, and he lives in God!
Here are two scales!
Here are two scales! On one is the life of Christ! On the other - my life, easier than emptiness! All of a sudden! Oh, miracle! The two scales are equal! God's love has filled my cup! Spirit of man
Spirit of man, Bow before the Spirit of God! Psalms of praise Lay at the feet of the Father! Let us add the Father’s love to the Son – The creation lives in the Love of the Creator!
And death retreated
And death retreated and stood in the distance, Frightened by the power of the Lord’s love, Which Our Savior removed sin and settled Us in eternal abodes...
How can you not know about the Lord's love?
How can you not know about the Lord's love? He proved it by death! Then, on Golgotha, in torment, in blood - “Forgive them...” - He said quietly.
He died to give life to you and me. And there is nothing more valuable! We were able to taste the fruit of this death, Salvation is its name...
How can you not see Christ's love? He proved it with his life! He showed us the depths of God’s truths and showed us the way to heaven...
And in many parables he explained and convinced that there is no other way! And He Himself, soaring above the earth, showed how we can ascend to God...
How can you not believe in Christ's love? After all, when He left, He promised that He would personally return for the church again, But He never changed his words!
When the Lord expelled people from paradise
When the Lord expelled people from paradise, And blocked their path to the tree of life, And, punishing the sin of disobedience, He sternly forbade them to live forever,
And the doors of death opened wide, And billions entered this door... They groaned, cried, shouted and prayed, But “the path of the whole earth” was inevitable!
But the moment has come! God Himself descended from heaven and brought the fruit of the tree of life for people. We tasted it - heaven opened up for us again! And this fruit is Your love, Jesus Christ!
Light is God - God is light
What is light? Let's consider in life whether a person can do without light, whether human life is possible without light. If we remove everything that gives light, then we will get complete darkness and life in this darkness will be impossible, since you will walk like a blind person. Perhaps you will say that people live without vision, yes, undoubtedly people live without vision, but ask them, if they had the opportunity to become sighted, would they take advantage of this opportunity or not? Of course, any sane person would want to become sighted. Since he understands that seeing light, seeing objects is very convenient, joyful, pleasant and many other positive things that only benefit from vision.
The advantages of light are clear; without light, life simply will not be life, but a complete test. So now think about it: light is reason, wisdom, truth, truth. And now you don't have that light, what is your life like? You live without God, without Light. Now it turns out that you are blind in spiritual life, not having the real life that is spoken of in Scripture, which is given to us by the Father, God. Is it reasonable to live without Light, without God?
Therefore, we encourage you to become children of light , as the Scripture says:
Friends, be the lamps of God the light of God lives and burns and shines on everyone in the world. If there are no lamps, then darkness will come and everyone will become blind and the lives of all people will turn into a nightmare ordeal, which is basically what is happening now. The world has plunged into darkness from lawlessness and dark deeds. If you don’t wake up now and stand up for Christ, the world will completely drown in darkness.
We urge you to be reconciled in spirit and truth according to the word of God, and not according to the names of the church, who is from which. Let us build the house of God together, and not destroy it. We are all brothers in Christ, we are all children of God according to His righteousness in Jesus Christ - what should we divide?
Write your questions, wishes, thoughts in the comments.
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The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all! Amen.
