“A depraved life always gives rise to the illusion of happiness, and only a virtuous life in the gospel spirit can bring accomplishments and joy. We must return from illusions to reality as soon as possible because life without God leads to darkness and death; and let us remember the biblical words: For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul? Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Mt. 16:26).” (Archpriest Octavian Moşin)
“Imagine a character in a story who is wraith-like, barely existing. His every move threatens to draw him deeper into non-existence. As it stands, others around him are only able to see him moments at a time. He often disappears for whole days at a time as he lapses into such ghostly non-being that he cannot be seen at all. Each step he takes either diminishes his existence or establishes it. As such, the path he takes is a matter of life-or-death. Although this is fantasy, it is a way of seeing our lives that allows us to envision what is actually taking place. We move through our days and with each step, we move either towards the truth of our existence, the fullness of our being, or we move towards non-existence, non-being. Each step towards the truth of our existence is an action of goodness, a move towards that which is good, or, ultimately, a step towards God, who alone is truly good. Each step away from that goodness, away from the path towards God, is a movement away from existence, a movement towards non-being.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“When a man lets Christ into his life, everything changes, everything acquires a taste, everything acquires color, everything is sanctified. Christ brings all this into our lives. But take God out of your life and you’ll see that you find no peace or joy in anything; everything is tasteless. When a man loses his taste sensations, you can give him the best food, the best dessert and he doesn’t taste anything. He has lost his sense of taste.” (Metropolitan Athanasios of Limassol)
“When someone moves from slavery to personal decay to the glorious freedom of the children of God, that person has moved from death to life. That person has become his or her true self as one who bears the divine image and likeness. Such a radical change is a brilliant sign of the truth of Christ’s resurrection, for He makes us participants in His victory over death by breaking the destructive hold of the power of sin in our lives.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“In the person of Jesus Christ the holiness of God dispelled the darkness of deceptions and falsehoods with the light of truth that offered hope and peace. In the midst of spiritual blindness and ignorance, our Lord brought the knowledge of salvation to all humankind. By sharing in our humanity He has shown us that through grace and faith we can be the holy people God created us to be….The greatest blessings of the life in Christ come when we trust God, faithfully undertaking the wilderness trials and struggles that follow our death and rising with Christ – our passage through the laver of regeneration to sonship in the fountain of life.” (Archbishop Demetrios, Dynamis 5/7/2019)
“The Lord Jesus clearly teaches in this parable [Parable of the Sower - Mark 4:1-9] that there is irresistible power in life, physical and spiritual alike. Everything that can be called life flows from God; it comes from His Person. For this reason, Christ our God says, “I am the . . . life” (Jn 14:6), which makes the parable exciting. He who is Life yields life many times over.” (Dynamis 9/4/2020)
“The “works” that a Christian does, are properly done in union with Christ, such that the works are not those of an individual, but of our common life with and in Christ. When we fast, it is Christ who fasts in us. When we pray, it is Christ who prays in us. When we give alms it is Christ who gives alms in us. And we should understand that Christ-in-us longs to fast. Christ-in-us longs to pray. Christ-in-us longs to show mercy. The disciplines of the Church are not a prescription for behaving ourselves or a map of moral perfection. Rather, the commandments of Christ (as manifest in the life of the Church) are themselves a description, an icon of Christ Himself. Jesus answered and said to him, “If anyone loves Me, he will keep My word; and My Father will love him, and We will come to him and make Our home with him” (John 14:2). (Father Stephen Freeman)
“Of course, because I am a struggling Christian, it’s inevitable that I superimpose my awareness of all that happened in the life of Jesus upon what I’m reading, upon Buber, upon Plato, upon the book of Daniel. But I’m not sure that’s a bad thing. To be truly Christian means to see Christ everywhere, to know Him as all in all.” (Madeleine L'Engle)
“We need to set our eyes on the most important thing in our lives. Our highest good and what is most precious to us logically should have first place in our hearts. Our hearts are usually where our treasure is. If the Lord Jesus Christ is your life's real treasure, then your primary need is to give Him most of your time, your energy and your substance. First things must come first in our lives. Too often things around us of secondary importance entice us and tempt us, and we end up instead giving them our maximum attention…The whole purpose of the Christian life is conforming ourselves to Christ, not dragging Christ to us.” (Father Eusebius Stephanou, Fr. John Behr)
“ ‘But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.’ (John 6:69). “To be givers of life in this world the way Christ was, which was through loving, supporting, healing, ministering, we have to emulate Him which means we have to unite with Him. The Church is the means to do this and then who we are ripples out from the Church walls into the world is our daily choices.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“The life in Christ is a relationship. We tend to think we know other people through physical association, but much we know of others is gained through our mind and heart. We know God primarily through the heart, via our spirit, for “God is Spirit” (Jn 4:24).” (Dynamis 1/26/2018)
“Our life in Christ is based on communion: “For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am there in the midst of them” (Mt 18:20) … even hermits leave their isolation to come together regularly for prayer and to celebrate the liturgy….Communion with God is the greatest good we seek, for Christ is the source of all good.” (Dynamis 4/28/2018, 7/2/2018)
"The very definition of a Christian is one who believes that Jesus Christ is God. In a world where there is an increasing tendency to choose the aspects of religions that we find appealing while rejecting those that don’t fit our personal philosophy, we hear people claiming to appreciate the teachings of Jesus while not believing in His divinity. While the very basis of this approach is flawed it is also an illogical position to hold towards Christ. Anyone who genuinely reads the teachings of Christ discovers that He believed Himself to be God." (Father Spyridon Baily)
“The hardest part of our life in Christ is trusting God in all circumstances (Ephesians 6:16). “Teach me to treat all that comes to me throughout the day with peace of soul and with firm conviction that Your will governs all,” says Metropolitan Philaret of Moscow. This kind of faith shields against every assault on our hearts and minds. Let us keep our minds fixed on the salvation that is to come (vs. 17), for the word of God (vs. 17) cuts through the web of lies and dispels the darkness that would overtake us.” (Dynamis 12/2/2018)
“In Christ we find our true human identity and potential. In Him we have the power to bury our vices and return to the natural movements of our human nature.” (Kevin Scherer)