Goals (of the Life in Christ)
- Michael Haldas
- Apr 28
- 3 min read
“…the goal of the Christian life is the acquisition of love for God and others. The Lord Himself speaks of only two commandments, upon which hang all the Law and the Prophets. These are: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind and Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself (Matt. 22:37, 39). Christ didn’t say these are just two of ten or twenty other commandments, but rather: On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets (Mt. 22:40). These are the main commandments, and their fulfillment is the meaning and purpose of the Christian life.” (Archpriest Pavel Gumerov)
“The clear goal of traditional Christianity is in fact to deepen and transform our desires through reorienting them towards Christ, in order to help us fulfill our deepest desires, which lead to the greatest pleasure—or the deepest joy—and give us a life full of meaning, enabling us to fulfill the primary vocation of every human being—to be, or to become, our authentically “true selves,” something possible only in Christ, in Whose image we are made.” (Dr. Mary S. Ford)
“…forgive everyone for everything. Stated in such a blunt fashion, such a goal is overwhelming. How can I forgive everyone for everything? This life of forgiveness, which is nothing other than the life of Christ within us, is our inheritance in the faith. The life of blame, recrimination, bitterness, anger, revenge and the like are not the life of Christ, but simply the ragings of our own egos, the false self which we exalt over our true life which is “hid with Christ in God.” The rightness of a cause, or the correctness of our judgment do not justify nor change the nature of our ragings. For none of us can stand before God and be justified – except as we give ourselves to the life of Christ, who is our only righteousness.” (Father Stephen Freeman)
“The Parable of the Talents can be understood this way: talents are the spiritual and physical abilities and opportunities, the will, that God has placed in each person. All people are different, and accordingly, each is given according to their abilities. Within the measure of our capabilities, everyone must work toward perfecting their heart and soul, using their talents for deeds pleasing to God. By doing so, we acquire additional talents—virtues. Those who fail to do this are like the servant who buried his talent in the ground. In other words, they use their God-given abilities only to achieve earthly, temporary goals, without concern for eternal values. But those who strive to care for “the one thing needful” will receive the help of God’s grace, enabling them to cultivate and multiply the fruits of their labor.” (Priest Sergei Nikulin)
“Our union with Christ is not only the goal of the Christian spiritual life, but it is also our salvation. We enter God’s Kingdom through Christ, through being united with Him. We live in this world as Christians by being united to Him. This is what theosis [union with God] implies: we are united with Christ as He dwells in us…All Christians must ascend the same spiritual ladder to the house of the Heavenly Father. We all differ from each other in our external appearance, title, position, and clothing, but the justice of God requires that all who enter the Kingdom of Heaven, the abode of the righteous and the saints, resemble each other in internal qualities, virtues, purity of soul, and righteousness. Therefore, all Christians have the same goal in life: to achieve salvation, and to this end, to be perfected spiritually.” (Fr. Ted Bobosh, St. Seraphim Chichagov)
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