Love

Perfect Love is Dispassion

"For him who is perfect in love and has reached the summit of dispassion there is no difference between his own or another's, or between Christians and unbelievers, or between slave and free, or between male and female. For in him there is neither Greek nor Jew, male nor female, bond not free, but Christ who 'is all, and in all'" (Col. 3:11; cf. Gal. 3:28). -- St. Maximos the Confessor

God's Word is Efficacious

"God said, 'Let there be light', and there was light. God said, 'Be calm', and the seas were calm. God's word is efficacious. So what does it mean if God says, 'I love you'? It means his grace is showered upon us, and we are saved." -- Unknown (perhaps Fr. James Bernstein)

Love is the Purpose of Creation

"The real God is greater than any man's thought can imagine. He made life as deep and strong as the sea. Your gods are as shallow as a reeking pond. He's above us, and around us; in us, like the breath in our bodies. And he has one law that we break at our peril: the law is love. Whatever we do that breaks that law condemns us. And so that we should see what his love is, he sent his son, to live the life of a man. To show that God understands the life he has made. Tomorrow in the arena, show the emperor that we know what life is worth. Throw away your weapons. Do you think all the things of the earth and the heavens have been made for no other reason except that we should eat and make money and spawn children and kill and die? What a purpose for creation! If anything is beyond belief, that is." -- Character of Sahek in the Movie Barabbas (1961)

Only In Love Can the Spirit Fill Us

"Be ready for the Spirit's filling. This happens only when we have cleansed our souls of falsehood, anger, bitterness, sexual impurity, uncleanness and covetousness. It happens only when we have become compassionate, meek and forgiving to one another, only when facetiousness is absent, only when we have made ourselves worthy. Only then does the Spirit come to settle within our hearts, only when nothing is there to prevent it. Then He will not only enter but also fill us." -- St. John Chrysostom, Homily on Ephesians 19.5.19-21

We Must Love God First

"One must love God first, and only then can one love one's closest of kin and neighbors. We must not be idols to one another, for such is not the will of God." -- Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica, Our Thoughts Determine Our Lives: The Life and Teachings of Elder Thaddeus of Vitovnica

=See Also

The Purpose Of Life