The entire Christian life is summed up in the two great commandments given by our Lord Jesus Christ: to love God with all our heart, soul, and mind, and to love our neighbour as ourselves (Matthew 22:37-40). These commandments are not basic ideals but the very foundation of our salvation, for love is the essence of God’s being, and to abide in love is to abide in Him. (1 John 4:16) However, love in the Christian sense is not simply an emotion or sentiment; it is an active and sacrificial way of life, inseparable from obedience to Christ and His commandments.
In the Holy Gospel according to St. John, our Lord solemnly stated: “If you love me, you will keep my commandments.” (John 14:15) This verse reveals a truth that is central to Orthodox spirituality—love and obedience are inseparable. In the Orthodox Church, we do not approach faith as a matter of intellectual assent alone, nor as an abstract belief in God’s existence. To love Christ is to live in complete submission to Him, conforming ourselves to His divine will—He is our Sovereign King. This is why the life of the Church, with her Holy Mysteries, ascetic practices, prayers, and fasting, exists—not as minimal religious duties but as the concrete means through which we manifest our love for God.
Our Lord further states: “Whoever loves me will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him” (John 14:23). This is not a poetic metaphor but a literal reality. Through obedience and love, we become temples of the Holy Trinity, as St. Paul teaches: “Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you?” (1 Corinthians 3:16) The presence of God is a real and tangible indwelling that transforms our very being. Our ascetic tradition teaches that through prayer, fasting, and repentance, we are purified and made capable of receiving the divine presence. The saints, through their holiness, became bearers of the divine light, manifesting visibly the presence of God within them.
Our Lord promises the coming of the Holy Spirit: “And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you always, the Spirit of truth.” (John 14:16-17) This promise was fulfilled at Pentecost, when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Apostles and filled them with divine power. The Holy Spirit is not simply a force or an impersonal influence but the third Person of the Holy Trinity, who sanctifies, illumines, and strengthens the faithful. In the Orthodox Church, the mystery of chrismation, which immediately follows baptism, is the personal Pentecost of each Christian, sealing them with the gift of the Holy Spirit. Without the Holy Spirit, no one can truly follow Christ, for it is He who enables us to live a life pleasing to God.
Thus, in light of these divine truths, our love for God cannot be separated from the life of the Church. It is within the Church that we receive the Holy Spirit, that we are taught how to love through obedience to Christ’s commandments, and that we are sanctified through the mysteries. The modern world pushes upon us and our families a false understanding of love—one that is self-serving, sentimental, and detached from divine truth. True love, as taught by Christ and preserved by the Holy Orthodox Church, is cruciform—it is a self-sacrificial giving of oneself to God and to others. This is why the lives of the saints, filled with ascetic struggle, suffering, and self-denial, are the greatest testimonies of divine love.
As we reflect upon these words of our Lord in John 14, may each of us strive to live in obedience to His commandments, seeking not the quickly passing comforts of this world but the eternal joy of communion with the Holy Trinity. Let us not approach our faith with lukewarmness but with the zeal of the saints, who loved God with their whole being. And let us pray earnestly for the grace of the Holy Spirit, who alone can purify our hearts and enable us to love God and our neighbour as we are commanded. Through this, we will become true disciples of Christ, inheritors of His divine life, and partakers of His heavenly Kingdom.
May the Lord grant us the strength to love Him in word and in deed, and may the Most Holy Theotokos, who perfectly obeyed the will of God, intercede for us so that we may walk the path of salvation.
May God bless you +
Fr. Charles
7 May 2023
