Orthodox understanding of love and marriage and their substitution. Christian love

I read this essay on Christian love:

"Eat natural(carnal) love, there is divine(higher, spiritual) love, and there is christian love- the one to which Christ calls.

natural love - this is sensual, carnal love, the love with which we love our relatives and close people (husband / wife, children, parents, friends, relatives, etc.). This love is selfish, it is taking. Because we love either those. who loves us, who is pleasing to us, who belongs to us, to whom we are attracted, to whom we are attached ...

Divine love - this is the love that God loves, the saints and the righteous. She is meek, peaceful, selfless, and does not depend on any attachments and preferences. She spreads to everyone. people without exception. It is love that gives. She shines, she warms, she bestows her warmth.

It is impossible for a simple person to love with such love. Because divine love is given only by the Holy Spirit, and it is not given to everyone, but only to those who

who managed to cleanse his soul with humility, repentance and meekness from pride, vanity, ambition; from anger, envy, jealousy, resentment, vindictiveness, greed, desire for power, honor, wealth, comfort, pleasure, etc. and so on.

Many years of ascetic labor are required before the heart of a Christian is ready to receive such love.

But Christ still calls us to love. What kind of love does he mean?

He means love is not sensual. not emotional, but active love! Humbling and constantly confessing, a Christian must, at the same time, show mercy, care and help towards his neighbor: feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, clothe the undressed, give shelter to the wanderer, help the sick and suffering, etc. And all this must be done not only in relation to an outsider, familiar or unfamiliar person, but also in relation to one's enemies and offenders.

At the same time, it is important not to slander, not to humiliate, not to take revenge, not to get angry, etc., i.e. behave meekly and humbly towards your neighbor. " Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart."

That's what it is Christian love ! To a person who tries with his own mind to comprehend the Gospel and the Apostles, to know Christian love, this Truth of God is not revealed. But it is open to the holy fathers. From them we learn and assimilate it.

Christian love is a stepping stone to divine love. For a person who has mastered meek Christian love thereby prepares his heart for the acceptance of higher, spiritual, divine love. But to give or not to give the latter depends on God, and not on man.

So Christian love can and should be forced! This is what Christ requires of us..

Catholics, Protestants, many sectarians, recognizing the commandments of love as the main ones in Christianity, but not understanding their true essence, seek to evoke in themselves artificially strong emotional experiences of love. By special exercises and under the influence of suggestion, self-hypnosis, they introduce themselves into a state of exaltation, experiencing sensual emotional experiences of supposedly love for God and the people around them, enjoying this state in rapture and rapture. They take these emotions for the love commanded by Christ, not realizing that true love is not selfish pleasure, but meek bestowal!

Christ does not expect sensual pleasures from us, but deeds of mercy in relation to our neighbor; not self-gratification, but self-giving!

Now in the literature there are many examples of such disinterested Christian love shown to the neighbor by the Orthodox righteous, practically our contemporaries. One of these books is "Father Arseny". Amazing person, amazing book! In the most difficult, inhuman conditions of the concentration camp, he not only managed to survive, retaining his human appearance, but also saved many others, helped them survive, become real people: And there are many such books now.

We are so accustomed to the phrase “Christian love”, we have heard sermons about it and calls to it so many times that it is difficult for us to comprehend the eternal novelty, the unusualness of what is contained in these words. The Lord Himself points to this novelty in His farewell conversation with His disciples: “I give you a new commandment, that you love one another” (John 13:34). But after all, the world knew about love, about the value and height of love even before Christ, and do we not find in the Old Testament those two commandments - about love for God (Deut. 6:5) and about love for one's neighbor (Lev. 19:18), about which the Lord said that the law and the prophets are established on them (Mt 22:40)? And what, then, is the novelty of this commandment, novelty, moreover, not only at the moment the Savior pronounces these words, but also for all times, for all people, a novelty that never ceases to be novelty?

To answer this question, it is enough to recall one of the main signs of Christian love, as it is indicated in the Gospel: “love your enemies”. Do we remember that these words contain nothing but an unheard-of demand for love for those whom we just do not love? And that is why they do not cease to shock, frighten and, most importantly, judge us. True, precisely because this commandment is unheard of new, we often replace it with our crafty, human interpretation of it - we are talking about patience, respect for the opinions of others, about forbearance and forgiveness. But however great all these virtues may be in themselves, even their totality is not yet love. And therefore, we are constantly replacing the new commandment proclaimed in the Gospel with the old one - love for those whom we already humanly love, love for relatives, friends, like-minded people. But we forget at the same time that about this - only natural, human love in the Gospel it is said: "who loves his father or mother<…>son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me” (Matthew 10:37) and “whoever comes to me and does not hate his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters<…>he cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:26). And if coming to Christ means fulfilling His commandments, then, obviously, Christian love is not only a simple strengthening, spreading and “crowning” of natural love, but it is fundamentally different from it and even opposed to it. It is really a new love, the like of which is not in this world.

But how is it possible to fulfill this commandment? How to love those whom you do not love - not only enemies in the literal sense of the word, but simply strangers, distant, “not related to us” people, all those with whom life confronts us every hour?

There is only one answer. Yes, this commandment would be monstrous and impossible if Christianity consisted only in the commandment about love. But Christianity is not only a commandment, but also a Revelation and a gift of love. And only because love is commanded, that it - before the commandment - is bestowed upon us. Only "God is love."

Only God loves with the love that is spoken of in the Gospel. A person cannot love like that, because this love is God Himself, His Divine nature. And only in the Incarnation, in the union of God and man, that is, in Jesus Christ, the Son of God and the Son of Man, this Love of God Himself, or rather, God Himself Love, is revealed and bestowed on people. This is the novelty of Christian love, that in the New Testament man is called to love with Divine Love, which has become the love of the God-man, the love of Christ. The novelty of Christian love lies not in the commandment, but in the fact that the fulfillment of the commandment has become possible. In union with Christ in the Church, through the Sacraments and His Body and Blood, we receive His Love as a gift, we partake of His love, and it lives and loves in us. “The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us” (Rom 5:5), and we are commanded by Christ to abide in Him and in His love: “abide in Me, and I in you<…>for without me you can do nothing<…>abide in my love” (John 15:4-5,9).

To abide in Christ means to be in the Church, which is the life of Christ communicated and bestowed upon people, and which therefore lives by the love of Christ, abides in His love. The love of Christ is the beginning, content and goal of the life of the Church. It is, in essence, the only one, for all the rest is an embracing sign of the Church: “By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another” (Jn 13:35). In love is the holiness of the Church, because she is "poured out into our hearts by the Holy Spirit." In love - the apostolate of the Church, because she is always and everywhere the same single apostolic union - "bound by the union of love." And “if I speak with tongues of men and angels<…>If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, and have no love, it profits me nothing” (1 Cor 13:1-3). Therefore, only love imparts reality and significance to all these signs of the Church – holiness, unity and apostolate.

But the Church is a union of love, not only in the sense that everyone loves one another in her, but above all in the fact that through this love of all for each other, she reveals Christ and His love to the world, testifies of Him, loves the world and saves it with the love of Christ. She loves in Christ – this means that in the Church Christ Himself loves the world and in it “each of these least brothers”. In the Church, everyone is mysteriously empowered to love everyone with the “love of Jesus Christ” (Philippians 1:8) and to be the bearer of this love in the world.

This gift of love is taught in the Liturgy, which is the sacrament of love. We must understand that we go to the Church, to the Liturgy for love, for that new God-human love of Christ Himself, which is given to us when we are gathered in His name. We go to church so that Divine love “is poured out into our hearts” again and again, so that we “put on love” again and again (Colossians 3:14), so that always, constituting the Body of Christ, forever abide in the love of Christ and show it to the world. Through the liturgical assembly, the Church is fulfilled, our communion with Christ, with His life, with His love, is accomplished, and we constitute “we who are many, one body.”

But we, weak and sinful, can only want this love, prepare ourselves to receive it. In ancient times, those who quarreled had to make peace and forgive each other before taking part in the Liturgy. Everything human must be fulfilled so that God can reign in the soul. But let us just ask ourselves: do we go to the Liturgy for this love of Christ, do we go like this, hungry and thirsty not for consolation and help, but for the fire that burns all our weaknesses, all our limitations and poverty and illuminates us with new love? Or are we afraid that this love will really weaken our hatred of enemies, all our “principled” condemnations, differences and divisions? Do we not too often want peace with those with whom we are already at peace, love for those we already love, self-affirmation and self-justification? But if so, then we do not receive this gift, which allows us to truly renew and eternally renew our lives, we do not go beyond ourselves and do not have a real participation in the Church.

Let us not forget that the exclamation “Let us love one another” is the initial action of the Liturgy of the Faithful, the Eucharistic rite. For the Liturgy is the sacrament of the New Testament, the Kingdom of love and peace. And only having received this love, we can create the remembrance of Christ, be partakers of flesh and blood, look forward to the Kingdom of God and the life of the future age.

“Achieve love,” says the Apostle (1 Cor 14:1). And where can we achieve it, if not in the sacrament in which the Lord Himself unites us in His love.

Never, probably, egoists were not so nice and charming as they are today. In fact, a real egoist now has something to show. He is cheerful and easy in his judgments, everything works out for him, nothing bothers him - an eagle, and nothing more. If Lermontov were alive, the hero of our time would be exactly like that. But here's the bad luck - this brilliant egoist is completely incapable of either long-term relationships, or hard professional work, or any form of responsibility. The scary thing is that the egoist solves all his problems even before they appear in his life. The wife began to annoy - the egoist easily and painlessly parted with her. The work began to tire - the egoist quickly changes it. The salary, in his opinion, is too small - the egoist, without any hesitation, will explain to the authorities that his services have risen in price and that it is necessary to fork out.

The egoist easily sends children, parents, and everyone who had the misfortune to trust him to the altar of tender and touching love for himself. No doubts and worries overshadow the lofty egoistic brow. For what? After all, they can deliver pain, but was he born for this? Everything in itself pleases the egoist inexpressibly. The whole world lies at his feet. This whole world was created only to make the egoist feel good. God, people, good and evil are just a bargaining chip, with which the egoist buys the main thing - his own happiness. Arguing with egoists is difficult, almost impossible. What can Christianity offer me but gloomy self-abasement, hopeless contempt for myself and a slow sinking into the dark bottom of repentance? - the advanced egoist asks rhetorically. And why do I need it? - he immediately answers himself. Why should I sink to the bottom of repentance if I want to realize myself completely, in all my manifestations, whatever they may be? And if you don’t like my manifestations, this, excuse me, is your problem!

And here the egoist is seriously mistaken.

The fact is that the offer of Christianity not only does not boil down to self-destruction, but directly contradicts it. By affirming the vertical dimension of the value of human life and clearly distinguishing between good and evil, Christianity proposes to love oneself, but only in the good, and not in the bad. The main problem of the egoist is that, being wholly concentrated on himself, he does not distinguish between good and evil in himself. He does not care at all due to what or whom he will achieve success. Success, which has grown on scandal, on any abomination, he still considers success and remains very pleased. He cares little even that he is gradually losing himself, disintegrating as a person. Having chosen his own pleasure as a starting point, the egoist ceases to see that in fact he is seriously and terribly ill.

But, contrary to false opinion, Christianity does not at all call upon us to bury ourselves in eternal repentance. On the contrary, Christianity requires us to love ourselves, but not in everything, but in the best. Christian love for oneself is built on the same reliable and strong foundation as our love for the dearest and closest people. Knowing the shortcomings of loved ones, we highlight, cultivate and mentally kiss their virtues, their inner beauty.

Imagine a common and familiar situation for everyone. We have lived with a loved one for a long time, we see how slowly and steadily he loses the beauty of youth, grows old, weakens physically. And meanwhile for us this person is still dear. Looking at aged parents, we see them young, as we remember them in childhood and fell in love. They do not become old for us, on the contrary, they blossom in the rays of our love, revealing more and more virtues. As their appearance changes, we more and more clearly see in them the youthful features of eternal perfection. After all, these are the most important people for us! Not only parents, but also husbands, wives, children - they all demand from us this look of love, which distinguishes and highlights the best. It is for this best thing in them that we hold on, forgiving mistakes and breakdowns, even if they cause us many problems.

But if we can love others this way, why not wrap this look of loving ourselves? This is exactly what Christianity proposes to do - to see and love yourself in the good, refusing the bad and extorting it. So, clinging to the best in ourselves, we can only go to Christ.

Christianity calls us to look at the most important thing - at Christ and at the image of God in other people and in ourselves. We must try to love in ourselves exactly that which aspires to Him, which can help us to correspond to this amazing, truly genuine image.

It is in order to become real that you say to yourself: I do not like such and such traits in myself. In the Church, this is called repentance, that is, the work of ridding yourself of the ugliness that you discover in yourself and which prevents you from finding your true face. The meaning of Christian self-love is the desire to find a face with which a person can enter eternity. We are talking about that perfect appearance, including everything - the body, and the soul, and the spirit. The image that Christians believe is capable of being resurrected for a blissful eternity with God. That is why Christianity - the religion of love - offers a person a single attitude not only to God and neighbors, but also to himself. This is a love directed towards the future, a love for what we can and should become in the eyes of God, a love that presupposes not blissful “stupid” relaxation, but intense and joyful creativity throughout life.

, "celebrated" on a grand scale on February 14. This "holiday" is strange not only because its attributes - bright pink hearts and flowers - for some reason turned out to be tied to the name of the martyr Valentine, beheaded by pagans, but primarily because, while glorifying love, it cultivates feelings that are very far from true love. Alas, modern people often do not understand what love is, they replace it with inflated emotions and lust. Love was even used to justify sin, motivating it to legalize same-sex marriages, euthanasia, abortion, and so on.

So what is love? This is told to us through Holy Scripture by the Lord Himself, called in it Love, as well as the Church Fathers, ascetics and saints, who experienced, and not speculatively, loved their neighbors.

HOLY WRITING ABOUT LOVE

“Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, does not pride itself, does not behave violently, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything. Love never ceases, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished” (1 Cor. 13:4-8).

“If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have no love, then I am a ringing brass or a resounding cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing. And if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, and have no love, it will not profit me at all” (1 Corinthians 13:1-3).

“Let everything be with you in love” (1 Cor. 16:14).

“Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all sins” (Proverbs 10:12).

“You heard what was said: 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 despitefully use you and persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven, for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous” (Matthew 5:43-45).

“The first of all commandments: Hear, O 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! The second is similar to it: love your neighbor as yourself. There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

“Most of all, have fervent love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins” (1 Pet. 4:8).

“We have known love in this, that He laid down His life for us: and we must lay down our lives for our brothers” (1 John 3:16).

“Let us not love in word or tongue, but in deed and in truth” (1 John 3:18).

“Love is from God, and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:7-8).

“God's love for us was revealed in the fact 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” (1 John 4:9-10).

“There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear, because there is torment in fear. He who fears is not perfect in love” (1 John 4:18).

“Love does no harm to the neighbor; Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Rom. 13:10).

“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ also loved the church and gave himself up for her” (Eph. 5:25).

“Most of all, put on love, which is the bond of perfection” (Col. 3:14).

“The end of exhortation is love from a pure heart and a good conscience and unfeigned faith” (1 Tim. 1:5).

“There is no greater love than if someone lays down his soul (i.e. life - Red.) his own for his friends” (John 15:13).

HOLY FATHERS ABOUT LOVE

"He who has love is far from all sin" ( Hieromartyr Polycarp of Smyrna).

“Love is the union of brotherhood, the foundation of the world, the strength and affirmation of unity, it is greater than faith and hope, it precedes good works and martyrdom, it will forever abide with us with God in the Kingdom of Heaven” ( Hieromartyr Cyprian of Carthage).

“What is the nature of loving one’s neighbor? Look not for your own benefits, but for the spiritual and bodily benefits of your loved one. Whoever loves his neighbor fulfills his love for God, because God transfers his mercy to Himself. Saint Basil the Great).

“Love has two remarkable properties: to grieve and suffer because the beloved is harmed, and also to rejoice and work for his benefit” ( Saint Basil the Great)

“All the perfections that lie in the concept of virtue grow from the root of love, so that he who has it does not lack in other virtues” ( Saint Gregory of Nyssa).

“Love does not consist in empty words and not in simple greetings, but in the appearance and performance of deeds, for example, in delivering from poverty, helping the sick, freeing from dangers, patronizing those in difficulty, weeping with those who weep and rejoicing with those who rejoice” ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Carnal love is guilt, but spiritual love is praise; that is the hated passion of the soul, and this is joy, gladness and the best decoration of the soul; the former produces enmity in the minds of those who love, while the latter destroys the existing enmity and brings great peace to those who love; from that there is no benefit, but still a great waste of money and some unreasonable expenses, a perversion of life, a complete disorder of houses, and from this - a great wealth of righteous deeds, a great abundance of virtues ”( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Do not talk to me about vulgar and low love, which is more of a disease than love, but understand the love that Paul requires, which aims at the benefit of loved ones, and you will see that such people are more tender in the love of the fathers themselves ... He who has love for another will agree better to endure thousands of disasters than to see his beloved suffer harm” ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Love, which has Christ as its foundation, is firm, constant, invincible; nothing can terminate it - neither slander, nor danger, nor death, nor anything else like it. Whoever loves in this way, even though he has suffered a thousand defeats for his love, will not leave it. Whoever loves because he is loved, if something bad happens to him, he will interrupt his love; but whoever is united by that love will never leave her" ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Love is the root, source and mother of all that is good. Every good deed is the fruit of love." Saint John Chrysostom).

“Love does not harm the neighbor; where love reigns, there is no Cain killing his brother" ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Whoever loves does not understand the appearance; love does not look at ugliness, that is why it is called love, because it often loves ugly things" ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“Love presents your neighbor as yourself and teaches you to rejoice in his well-being as your own and to feel his misfortunes as your own. Love unites many into one body and makes their souls habitations of the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit of the world can dwell not in those who are separated from each other, but in those who are united in soul. Love makes common to all the blessings of each" ( Saint John Chrysostom).

“He who loves not only desires to subdue, but also to be submissive, and rejoices more in being submissive than in being in command. He who loves would rather do good than receive good deeds, because he would rather have a friend as his debtor than be himself indebted to him. The lover wants to do good to the beloved, but does not want his good deeds to be seen, he wants to be the first in good deeds, but does not want him to appear the first in good deeds ”( Saint John Chrysostom).

“The work of love is to teach one another the fear of God” ( Saint Ephraim the Syrian).

“Whoever has love in him never abhors anyone, small and great, glorious and inglorious, poor and rich: on the contrary, he himself covers everything, endures everything (1 Cor. 13: 7). Whoever has love in him does not exalt himself before anyone, does not puff himself up, does not slander anyone himself, and turns his hearing away from those who slander. In whom love does not flatter, does not stumble upon a brother, does not compete, does not envy, does not rejoice at the fall of others, does not slander the fallen, but sympathizes with him and takes part in him, does not despise his neighbor in need, but intercedes and is ready to die for him ... In whom there is love, he never appropriates anything ... In whom there is love, he considers no one a stranger, but all his own. In whom love is not irritated, not proud, not inflamed with anger, does not rejoice over iniquity, does not stagnate in a lie, does not regard anyone as his enemy, except for one devil. Whoever has love, he endures everything, is merciful, long-suffering (1 Cor. 13: 4-7) ”( Saint Ephraim the Syrian).

“O immeasurable power of love! There is nothing more precious in heaven or on earth than love. She, divine love, is the head of the virtues; love is the cause of all blessings, love is the salt of the virtues, love is the end of the law… She sent down to us from heaven the Son of God. Through love, all blessings are revealed to us: death is destroyed, hell is captivated, Adam is called; love is made up of angels and people a single flock; Paradise is opened by love, the Kingdom of Heaven is promised to us. She wised the fishermen; she strengthened the martyrs; she transformed deserts into hostels; she filled mountains and dens with hymns; she taught husbands and wives to walk the narrow and narrow path ... O blessed love, giver of all blessings! ( Saint Ephraim the Syrian).

“Love does not seek what is useful to itself, but what is useful to many for their salvation” ( Saint Ephraim the Syrian).

“Love actually has nothing but God, because God is love” ( Rev. Nil of Sinai).

“Love belongs exclusively to God and to those people who have restored in themselves the image and likeness of God” ( Saint John Cassian).

“Love is evidenced by non-judgment of neighbors” ( Reverend Isaiah).

“No one has more love than if someone lays down his life for his friends. If someone hears a grievous word and, instead of responding with a similar insult, overcomes himself and keeps silent, or, being deceived, endures this and does not take revenge on the deceiver, then he will thereby lay down his life for his neighbor. Abba Pimen).

“Carnal love, not being bound by spiritual feeling, as soon as some even insignificant occasion presents itself, it evaporates very easily. But spiritual love is not like that: but, although it happens to suffer some grief, in a God-loving soul, which is under the influence of God, the union of love is not stopped. Blessed Diadochus of Photiki).

“If you hate some people, treat others with indifference, and love others very much, then conclude from this how far you are still far from perfect love, which prompts you to love every person equally” ( ).

“Perfect love does not share a single human nature according to the disposition of people, but loves all people equally. He loves the good as friends, and the unkind as enemies (according to the commandment), doing good to them and patiently enduring everything they cause, not only not repaying them evil for evil, but even suffering for them if necessary, in order to make them his friends as far as possible. So our Lord and God Jesus Christ, showing His love for us, suffered for all mankind and gave one hope of resurrection to all. However, each person makes himself worthy of either glory or hellish torment. Saint Maximus the Confessor).

“Love is a good disposition of the soul, according to which it prefers nothing of the existing to the knowledge of God” ( Saint Maximus the Confessor).

“Many have said a lot about love, but you will find it among some of the disciples of Christ” ( Saint Maximus the Confessor).

“Love, aroused by something, is like a small lamp, fed by oil, by which its light is sustained, or like a stream flooded with rain, whose flow stops when the rainwater component of it is depleted. But love, which has God as its culprit, is the same as a source gushing from the earth: its streams are never cut off (because God alone is the source of love), and the one who feeds this love does not become impoverished ”( Reverend Isaac the Syrian).

“Do not exchange love for your neighbor for love for some thing, because by loving your neighbor, you acquire in yourself the One Who is most precious in the world. Leave the small to gain the great; neglect superfluous and meaningless things in order to acquire valuable things" ( Reverend Isaac the Syrian).

"Love is not sad to accept a heavy death for those who love" ( Reverend Isaac the Syrian).

“There is nothing more and more perfect among the virtues than love for one's neighbor. Its sign is not only not to have a thing that another needs, but also to endure death for him with joy, according to the commandment of the Lord, and consider it his duty. Yes, and rightly so, for we must not only by the right of nature love our neighbor to death, but also for the sake of the Most Pure Blood shed for us, who commanded that of Christ ”( Hieromartyr Peter of Damascus).

“What does it mean to love someone? It means to wish him well and do it when possible. Saint Demetrius of Rostov).

“If someone came to me with questions: should anyone love? should anything be done with love? - then I would not answer, but would hasten to retreat from the questioner: because only one who is on the threshold of hell can offer such questions. .

“Let us imagine love enclosed in a more or less close circle of kinship, acquaintance, reciprocity, and let us see what its dignity is. Do fathers and mothers need a feat to love their child? Does a child need to learn to love his father and mother? But if nature does everything in this love, without feat and almost without the knowledge of man, then where is the dignity of virtue? This is just a natural feeling, which we notice in wordless ones. Dislike of parents or children is a deeply low vice, but love for parents and children is not yet a high virtue, except in special cases when it is exalted by the self-sacrifice and self-sacrifice associated with it. (St. Philaret (Drozdov)).

“I understand only that love that acts according to the sacred commands of the Gospel, in its light, which itself is light. I don’t understand another love, I don’t recognize it, I don’t accept it. Love extolled by the world, recognized by people as their property, sealed by a fall, is unworthy to be called love: it is a distortion of love. That is why it is so hostile to holy, true love ... Love is light, blind love is not love ” .

“The gospel rejects love that depends on the movement of the blood, on the feelings of the carnal heart. The Fall made the heart subject to the dominion of the blood, and through the blood to the dominion of the ruler of the world. The gospel frees the heart from this captivity, from this violence, brings it under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit teaches us to love our neighbor holy. Love fueled by the Holy Spirit is fire. This fire extinguishes the fire of natural, carnal love, damaged by the fall. (St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)).

“In what ulcers our love is natural! What a grave ulcer on her—addiction! A passionate heart is capable of any injustice, of any lawlessness, if only to satisfy its painful love. (St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)).

“Natural love delivers to its loved one only earthly things, it does not think about heavenly things. It is at enmity against heaven and the Holy Spirit, because the Spirit requires the crucifixion of the flesh. It is at enmity against heaven and the Holy Spirit, because it is under the control of the evil spirit, the spirit of the unclean and perished ... He who has felt spiritual love with disgust will look at carnal love as an ugly distortion of love ” (St. Ignatius (Bryanchaninov)).

“Love for God has no measure, just as the beloved God has no limits and limitations. But love for neighbor has a limit and a limitation. If you do not keep it within its proper limits, it can alienate you from the love of God, cause great harm, even destroy you. Truly you must love your neighbor, but in such a way that you do not harm your soul. Keep everything simple and holy, have nothing in mind except to please God. And this will protect you in deeds of love for your neighbor from all wrong steps. Saint Nicodemus the Holy Mountaineer).

“Love is born from faith and the fear of God, grows and strengthens through hope, comes to perfection through goodness and mercy, which express imitation of God” ( ).

“There is no higher virtue than love, and there is no worse vice and passion than hatred, which seems unimportant to those who do not pay attention to themselves, but in spiritual significance is likened to murder (see: 1 John 3: 15). Mercy and indulgence towards neighbors and forgiveness of their shortcomings is the shortest path to salvation. Saint Ambrose of Optina).

“If you love someone, then you humble yourself before him. Where there is love, there is humility, and where there is malice, there is pride. Reverend Nikon of Optina).

“Everyone must be loved, because every person is the image of God, even if he, that is, the image of God, is polluted in a person, he can be washed off and be clean again” ( Reverend Nikon of Optina).

“Love, first of all, extends to self-sacrifice ... The second sign of true love is that it is eternal, never stops ... The third sign of true, heavenly love is that it excludes complete dislike for someone, that is, it is impossible, for example, to love some, but not others. Whoever has holy love is completely filled with it. I can grieve, regret that such and such is full of passions, committed to evil, doing bad things, but not loving a person as God's creation, I cannot and must be ready to show love for him in any case. The fourth sign of true love is that this love at the same time is directed towards God and neighbors, being in such a connection that whoever loves God certainly loves his neighbor. Hieromartyr Arseny (Zhadanovsky).

“If love is not in God and not from God, then it is only a sensual passion that people use like a drug in order to delight a life devoid of any meaning with this little nonsense” ( Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“Love is joy, and the price of love is sacrifice. Love is life, and the price of love is death. Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“Love is not just a feeling of the heart. Love is the queen of all feelings, noble and positive. Truly, love is the shortest way to the Kingdom of Heaven. Love has destroyed the separation between God and man" ( Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“When the soul loves the body, it is not love, but desire, passion. When the soul loves the soul not in God, then it is either delight or pity. When the soul in God loves the soul, regardless of appearance (beauty, ugliness), this is love. This is true love, my daughter. And in love - life! ( Saint Nicholas of Serbia)

“God gave people the word “love” so that they would call this word their relationship with Him. When people, having abused this word, begin to call it their attitude to the earthly, it loses its meaning. Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“Love and lust are opposites. Whoever calls lust love is mistaken. For love is spiritual, pure and holy, but lust is bodily, unclean and not holy. Love is inseparable from truth, and lust from illusion and lies. True love, as a rule, constantly grows in strength and inspiration, despite human old age; lust quickly passes, turns into disgust and often leads to despair ”( Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“Love has nothing to do with adultery and fornication. They mock love." Saint Nicholas of Serbia).

“It is not difficult, not at all difficult, to love people who love us; it is not difficult, not at all difficult, to love a father, or a mother, or a wife, or one's children. But what is the price of this love? Oh no, it has almost no price, because we love our loved ones, our children, according to the instinct of love, which is embedded in us by nature. What mother does not give all the affection, all the warmth of her heart to her child? What will not even give his life if he is threatened with death? This, of course, is good, but does it have the highest moral value? Oh no, it doesn't. We know that if we decide to destroy a bird's nest, then the mother of the chicks will fly in, curl over us, beat us in the face with her wings and squeak desperately ... This is the same love, love by instinct, invested in every living being. Don’t a she-bear, a she-wolf protect her cubs, don’t go to a man who comes with a weapon?

“What does it mean to truly love a person? Everything sublime is difficult to logically define. How to say what is the Christian life in love, if its strength is manifested most of all in patience? Where there is love, there is always trust; where there is love, there is always hope. Love endures everything because it is strong. True love is constant, does not dry out and never ceases. This hymn of love sounded for the first time in the mouths of the first apostles of Christianity. (St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)).

“It is love! Neither faith, nor dogma, nor mysticism, nor asceticism, nor fasting, nor long prayers constitute the true image of a Christian. Everything loses its power if there is no main thing - love for a person. Even the most precious thing for a Christian - eternal life - is determined by whether a person in his life loved people as his brothers. (St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)).

“There is mutual love: the love of spouses, the love of parents for children, the love for people worthy of love. All love is blessed, blessed is this love too, but this is the initial, lower form of love, for from conjugal love, by learning in it, we must rise to a much higher love for all people, for all the unfortunate, for the suffering, from it still rise to the third degree of love - Divine love, love for God Himself. You see, until people achieve love for everyone, Divine love, the value of love only for those close to them is small. (St. Luke (Voyno-Yasenetsky)).

“The main duty of a person is to love God and then his neighbor: every person and, above all, his enemy. If we love God in the right way, then we will keep all of His other commandments. But we love neither God nor our neighbors. Who is interested in another person today? Everyone is interested only in themselves, but not in others, and for this we will give an answer. God, Who is all Love, will not forgive us this indifference towards our neighbors. ).

“A good Christian loves first God and then man. Excessive love is poured out both on animals and on nature. The fact that we, modern people, destroy the environment shows that we do not have an excess of love. Maybe we have love at least for God? Unfortunately no. This shows our very life" ( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“He who labors out of pure love for the sake of his neighbor, the weariness itself brings rest. The one who loves himself and is lazy gets tired of his inaction. We must pay attention to what should encourage us to deeds of love, as the elder points out to us. I have to work for another out of pure love, and I mean nothing more. Many show their love towards some people and immediately make them subject to themselves ”( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“In love for our neighbor is hidden our great love for Christ. In our reverence for the Mother of God and the saints, our great reverence for Christ is again hidden. This preserves Christian love and qualitatively differs from the love of worldly people. Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“Love is visible when a person gives, being in hardship himself. When you meet someone in need, think: if Christ Himself were in the place of the poor, what would you give Him? Undoubtedly, the best ... The Lord says that by doing something to one of the unfortunate, you thereby do it to Me ”( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“Just loving someone is not enough. You have to love the person more than yourself. A mother loves her children more than herself. In order to feed the children, she remains hungry. However, the joy that she feels is greater than the joy that her children experience. Babies are carnal, but mothers are spiritual. They experience the sensual taste of food, while she rejoices in spiritual joy" ( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“True love is not selfish. She does not have an egoistic predilection in herself and is distinguished by prudence ”( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

"Willingness to drink the cup of another's sorrow is love" ( Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“Question: How can I understand, Geronda, if I have true love? Answer: To understand this, you need to test yourself whether you love all people equally and whether you consider everyone to be the best of yourself. Saint Paisios the Holy Mountaineer).

“The secret of love for a person begins at the moment when we look at him without the desire to possess him, without the desire to dominate him, without the desire to use his gifts or his personality in any way - we just look and are amazed at the beauty that has been revealed to us” ( Metropolitan Anthony of Surozh).

“When we begin to lead a Christian life, all our work, all our feat is aimed at accepting even our enemies with love. This is the martyrdom of a Christian." .

“We do not think how to change the world on our own. We strive to receive strength from God in order to act with love in all cases. ” (Archimandrite Sophrony (Sakharov)).

“Love for humanity is verbal fornication. Love for a concrete person, on our life path given by God, is a practical matter, requiring labor, effort, struggle with oneself, one’s laziness. (Archimandrite John (Krestyankin)).

“If love is in the heart, then it pours out from the heart on everyone around and manifests itself in pity for everyone, in the patience of their shortcomings and sins, in not judging them, in praying for them, and when necessary, in material support” ( hegumen Nikon (Vorobiev)).

PROVERBS AND SAYINGS ABOUT LOVE

Advice and love - this is the light.

Where there is love, there is God. God is love.

The sweetest of all is who loves whom.

The mind is enlightened by truth, the heart is warmed by love.

Where there is advice (union, love), there is light.

You can't hide love, fire and cough from people.

Love us in black ones, and in white ones, and everyone will love.

To love a friend is to love yourself.

Love and remember.

Love is a ring, and a ring has no end.

There are many rules, permissions and prohibitions in Orthodox Christianity. But in the pursuit of complying with the formal requirements of the Christian religion, people who call themselves "believers" often forget the basic meaning of Orthodoxy: GOD IS LOVE. The Lord God is able to forgive any sins, provided that a person sincerely repented and repented of his deed to the depths of his soul, if a person really loves God, other people, if at least one spark of love glimmers in him ... My beloved grandmother, God bless her, loved to repeat that we should not be afraid to ask the Lord God what we want, and if desires are pleasing to God, then He will surely hear your prayers and help. And the most important thing in the world is not money, not fame, not power, but peace, joy and peace of mind. Money, power, beauty, youth, fame, things, influential acquaintances - this is all temporary, superficial, passing by. And only sincere affection, called love, has eternal meaning, it is always relevant, it is always in the heart, it is always with you. Agree, in the context of the global financial crisis, the age-old Orthodox Christian values ​​have become relevant. A person does not need many things to be happy: enough shelter, food and some clothes - everything else will follow if you work and if you really need it. The Holy Apostle Paul taught believers that, turning to God in prayer with your weak strength, remember the main commandment: GOD IS LOVE.

Love and Orthodoxy: What is Love from God's point of view as the highest value of Christianity? And why is God “guilty” of the misfortunes of sinners?

And therefore, you should not be angry with the Lord if troubles come in succession in life - perhaps this is retribution for past sins, and perhaps these are trials, only after having passed them with dignity will a person really come closer to God and be blessed and endowed with God's grace - he will live well, long and happily. Patience and an unbiased analysis of one's past life is the best assistant to overcome any difficulties, even in difficult times of the global financial and economic crisis. Today, on TV, and especially in Hollywood and other films, TV programs without a soul and even a hint of sincerity, insults and claims to God often sound: they say, if You are so good and kind, then why do I live so badly, why am I unlucky in life, my wife is a fool, I am unlucky in my profession, etc., etc. At the same time, such people calmly go to various religious sects, rage like crazy at "God's festivals", but it is correct to say - at wild disco orgies of fictional gods and idols ... At the same time, such people, for the sake of momentary circumstances, change their native, Orthodox religion to Islam, Judaism, Buddhism, treating the Faith not as a Faith, but as another pair of gloves, changing which for show, you can become even “successful, richer, more beautiful and more famous”... At the same time, such people listen to the pop singer Madonna-Satanist, who both professes Kabbalah, which is forbidden by Orthodoxy, and constantly blasphemes, committing desecration of Holy Scripture, “leaving” on the stage, crucified on the cross, attempting to desecrate Jesus Christ himself and his sufferings ... At the same time, such people constantly swear, swear, they hysteria, curse, mention the name of God on business and not on business, curse, turn to fortune-tellers, magicians, "healers", psychics ... At the same time, such people constantly violate not only all 10 commandments of God in a row and clearly according to the list, but they generally do not consider themselves obliged to obey any laws - neither God's, nor human, nor natural. They say “I am a god, I am like a god”: yes, you are like a worm, because you don’t even know what will happen to you today or tomorrow, he is like ... At the same time, such people consider passion a virtue, although passion is a sin; such people consider malice, revenge, anger, violence, injustice towards others, force and humiliation of others as their main tools in achieving personal happiness in life, for them other people are just tools, means to achieve “success” ... One wants to ask after all this from these murmurers at the moments of their life reckoning: what did you do to show and prove to the Lord God your love? In order to prove your love for God, it is not even necessary to actually never break any of the 10 commandments of God, to pray every morning and every evening, to go to the Orthodox Church, to keep all the great, big, multi-day and one-day fasts on Wednesdays and Fridays, to regularly confess and take communion ... Not at all. If a person accepts God through love for his neighbor - if he sincerely loves his family - his parents, spouse, children, his friends, other people who he meets on his life path ... If, loving, a person not only “takes” from other people, but also generously “gives”, gives them his positive life energy free of charge - joy, peace in the soul, love, care, help, sincere sympathy, compassion, then the Lord God by default will love this person and help him in life in achieving their human goals. If a person inside himself is angry, embittered, hard-hearted - he is “on the drum” of other people's suffering, pleas for help, condescension, sympathy, if he exalts only himself or his ego, observing and caring for his narrow interests directed against the happiness of other people, then such a person can be successful with the help of Satan and other evil spirits only for a short time. And the rest of the time he will suffer, paying, without knowing it, for his dislike for other people, for his evil and cruel deeds ... Have you seen at least one happy rich person? Not embittered, not constantly shaking for their "money", for their goods, their business, power, privileges in fear of losing them? I was closely acquainted, if not with the most oligarchic oligarchs of this world, but with people who have more than a dozen or even a hundred million dollars in their souls. And there is nothing good in their lives: God punished some of the rich for their constant striving for wealth and glory with childlessness, others with the inability to simply enjoy life and be a happy person, still others constantly depend on the will of others, richer and more influential people, cursing both them and themselves, and thereby inviting misfortune on their destinies, for the sins of the fourth, their children, who became drug addicts, alcoholics, prostitutes, or even earlier than their parents, departed into the world and Noah… Any psychotherapist will tell you that there are almost no happy people among the rich. Yes, they are hearty, tasty and eat a lot, pleasing their body in every possible way and not knowing how to restrain their desires, so what? Their payment for materialism, for luxurious furnishings at home and expensive cars - this is their soul, which does not know the words "peace and tranquility." What is most interesting is that such people do not even think and do not remember God when they feel good, when life is high, chickens do not peck money, there are a lot of admirers and a lot of power to commit all sorts of nasty things, crimes against the Bible, law and conscience. But when the time comes to pay for their sins, such cunning comrades quickly appoint the Lord God responsible and guilty for all the troubles in their lives: a “win-win” strategy, which is already there. In fact, in the Orthodox Christian religion, everything is simple: what you sow, you will reap - you will reap evil, you will wash yourself with it, you will sow good, and you will enjoy it. If a person constantly sins, thinking only about himself and his desires, then such a sinner person is deprived of God's grace, God's help, support in difficult times and blessings. What is the main commandment of Orthodoxy and Christianity? Do to other people the way you want them to do to you. And in a moment of demonic possession and universal irritation at the “injustice” of the Lord, a person only needs to honestly ask himself, did he act with other people as well, honestly and justly as he would like them to act towards him? And if not, then there is nothing to blame on the mirror, if the face is crooked: you need to correct yourself, your attitude towards life and other people, and nothing else - otherwise only a direct road to hell - first you will have to go through several circles of hell on earth, and therefore already, in eternal life, you will have to "wind" the full term for lifetime sins and crimes against your neighbor. Nothing matters in this life - neither enormous encyclopedic knowledge, nor the gift of prediction, nor generosity, nor piety, nor truth, nor money, nor fame, nor power, if there is no love in a person’s heart: then no one and nothing will save him, for there is no justification for a person without love, because from the point of view of Orthodoxy and Christianity, such a life is empty, meaningless and no one needs. Read the article “The First Epistle to the Corinthians of the Holy Apostle Paul” attached to this article, which tells in 13 points what Love is from the point of view of orthodox Orthodox Christianity.