“A litmus test, technically about acidity or alkalinity, has evolved into slang used on the context of something being the ultimate benchmark for what is true and acceptable. Sometime we construct various spiritual litmus tests for ourselves and faith. For example, some people say essentially “I have to see it to believe it.” That’s their litmus test for God. They say if they saw visual evidence such as a miracle then they would believe. Yet some people can believe certain things they can’t see but experience, but do not believe other things they can’t see. Consider air and breathing. I experience breathing and accept the reality of air and oxygen. I know I breathe because I experience it. I have never seen air or oxygen but I accept it as truth because science teachers taught me about its reality. Now I know you can prove the existence of oxygen but most people are like me and have neither seen this proof nor require it to accept its reality.” (Sacramental Living Ministries)
“…Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?” The question Paul poses in [2 Cor 13] verse 5 is an appropriate challenge for us as Christians. Just as Saint Paul urges the Corinthians to “examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith” (vs. 5), let us likewise “test [ourselves]” (vs. 5). The issue of “Christ within” is the litmus test of our genuine commitment to Christ. Saint Paul would have us examine whether Christ is truly within us. Is an inner voice motivating me in Christ? Let us test this voice to see if it belongs to the Lord who was crucified in weakness, but now lives by the power of God. Who is the governing Truth in my life?...Truly, natural and genuine love is the measure of authentic Christianity. Such love always indicates the way of our life in Christ.” (Dynamis 9/22/2021, 9/6/2021)
“When a Christian, even if he practices private prayer, voluntarily stops attending Church services, it is a symptom of a spiritual illness…If someone's love for God has grown cold, he first of all loses interest in Church services. First he tries to come to services later, and then he stops attending the holy church of God completely. Thus, our thirst for Church services is the litmus test by which we can check the state of our souls. Our love for church worship indicates that the Lord abides in our hearts.” (Andrei Gorbachev)
“Formalism, as a tendency on our part to attach ourselves to forms and to ignore the substance of things, events and situations, is a disorder in our religious life. This human tendency is a kind of enslavement of the spirit, which, in the name of God, places rules above people and their needs. Naturally, we can’t conceive of the smooth organization and functioning of society, or the structure of religious life, without formal arrangements, institutions and laws. Freedom doesn’t mean reckless and irresponsible violation of the form, but a preference for the substance when this is stifled by the form. For this reason the sermons of the Lord and the message of the Gospel should be wings to help us soar up into life with God rather than weights that drag us down and suffocate our freedom and our soul. They should be stepping stones to allow us to discover the substance of matters, not obstacles trapping and enclosing us in their formality. For religiously active people in any era, the external religious form is necessary and, in fact, critical. It’s the litmus test for our inner relationship with God, our own self and others.” (Archimandrite Nikanor Karayannis)
“The litmus test of true love for God is our love for our neighbor.” (Archbishop Averky Taushev)
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