A lady told me: All we need is to love each other....we dont need the commandments or talking about godliness. All we need is love. Define love? What is it? This ladys answer was just be nice. Which after finding out that I did not hold the same views as her on moral issues, she wasnt so nice to me. In fact she no longer greets me at church or when I see her around town as she once did. Can we just tell people to be loving and not teach them how? Is it so easy? (fake, worldly love is easy) Isnt the commandments examples of how to love God and neighbor (Romans 13:9)? Can we be loving without them? Can we being loving without virtue or without self-control? Isnt (authentic) love the last step? How can we go from step one (Faith) and jump to the final step (authentic love)? First: Faith (the foundation) Next: virtue Next: knowledge Next: self-control Next: perseverance Next: godliness Next: brotherly kindness Finally: love (the roof) “...add to your faith virtue, to virtue knowledge, to knowledge self-control, to self-control perseverance, to perseverance godliness, to godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness love. For if these things are yours and abound, you will be neither barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.” (2 Peter 1:5-8) St. Dorotheos of Gaza said: “The roof is love, which is the completion of virtue as the roof completes the house.” Again St. Dorotheos of Gaza: “A man who wants to build a house must see that it is solid and thoroughly safe and he raises it four-square [on a sound foundation]. He does not concentrate on one part and neglect the rest since this is of no use but defeats his aim and makes vain the expense and labor. So it is with the soul: we must on no account neglect any part of it, but build it up equally and harmoniously.” (Discourses & Sayings) There is only one way to build a proper house and it must include the virtues (commandments), self-control, godliness.....“Unless the LORD builds the house, They labor in vain who build it.” youtu.be/ZXL08IoNKiE
Posted on: Tue, 30 Dec 2014 16:33:14 +0000
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