“Let us enlarge the hope within us by our feeble efforts to keep the commandment to love. Like infants, we mimic our loving Father and seek to love as He has loved us (Jn 13:34). To love others is an act of faith, especially if we are to love them as God loves – sacrificially… If we begin to love sacrificially, in the Lord’s way, then we may see genuine growth in faith.” (Dynamis 11/22/2021)
“You must love and suffer–suffer for the one you love. Love makes effort for the loved one. She runs all through the night; she stays awake; she stains her feet with blood in order to meet her beloved. She makes sacrifices and disregards all impediments, threats, and difficulties for the sake of the loved one. Love towards Christ is something even higher, infinitely higher.” (St. Pophyrios of Kavsokalyvia)
“God is love (1 John 4:8) is not a definition of who God is, but rather describes His relationship to us as our Father. As the only begotten Son (v. 9) sacrificially gave Himself that we might live through Him (v. 9), so we are to give ourselves to Him and one another (v. 11).” (Orthodox Study Bible, 1 John 4:7-11)
“By sacrificially placing obedience to God and benevolence to our neighbors before serving ourselves, we learn that the healing of our corrupt humanity is not in some illusion of self-sufficiency, but in sharing by grace in the eternal life of the Holy Trinity as living members of Christ and one another in His Body, the Church.” (Fr. Philip LeMasters)
“It is well to place candles before the icons. But it is still better if you bring as a sacrifice to God the fire of your love for Him and your neighbour. It is well that the one should be accompanied by the other….When we become Christian, through faith and the sacramental life, we give up our self-centered point of view and embrace the cosmic view of our Lord Jesus Christ. We no longer live selfishly for ourselves, but live for the Lord. No longer do we focus on self-love and self-preservation, for now we embrace God’s self-sacrificial love for the world, making Christ the Lord of every aspect of our life including our deeds, words and thoughts.” (St. John of Kronstadt, Fr. Ted Bobosh)
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