Love never ceases apostle paul. Apostle Paul: Hymn of Divine Love, Discourses on Love and Marriage. Christian Love in Marriage and Family Life

TWELVE NOVELS ABOUT LOVE
or SELECTED MEDITATIONS ON THE APOSTLE PAUL

The theme of this issue is unusual both in content and in form. There are no interviews and articles, no references and information cuts. To talk about the Christian perception of love, the techniques of traditional journalism are hardly suitable. And so our topic consists of twelve stories that happened at different times: some several centuries and even millennia ago, and some - literally "yesterday". They are separated not only by time, but also by authorship and plot. And the very breadth of perception of the word "love", which is often identified with the relationship of a man and a woman. Far from all the short stories written for this topic by five Orthodox people as original illustrations of the epistle of the Holy Apostle Paul, which is amazing in its power, are similar to lives and icons. And of course, the stories we have chosen contain more manifestations of love than their names. Love is always deep and spacious. But it is precisely in this spacious and at the same time deep perception of love; in understanding how differently God is present in our relationships is a joyful and unusually important discovery for Orthodoxy.
That is what brings us closer to God.
That which Christ, who came to earth, witnessed with his life, death and Resurrection.
It is no coincidence that what becomes the most important for people - regardless of whether they are believers or not.
That God is Love. This means that when and for the time being we love God, no matter how difficult the path from doubt to faith may be for us.

Editorial

Love is patient

My godmother Tatyana had a sick husband: he got drunk every day, and if he didn’t drink, then he swallowed Nembutal, and if he didn’t swallow Nembutal, then he scored mastyrka. At the same time, he was the most talented, smartest and most witty person, a writer, a classic of children's literature G.S. In his medical history it was written: “Schizophrenia in a paranoid form, alcoholism, polydrug addiction, published in Murzilka, broadcast on the radio, a member of the Union writers." S. commented on this as follows:
- I myself am crazy, and my wife is a "writer's wife."
And he also said:
- To be crazy in this country, you must have a strong psyche and iron nerves.
If he got out of the house, he would certainly get into some kind of story, and therefore they talked about him, like Gogol's Nozdryov, that he was a historical person. “Mother Tatyana” followed him like a small child, always assigned “bodyguards” from among his friends to him. But she was especially worried about this everyday buzz in which her husband was, and most of all she was afraid that he would not be saved.
“Genka,” she said, “the Apostle Paul himself wrote that drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God!”
She tried everything - and treated him, giving him to the hospital, but there he talked orderlies, nannies and even nurses, and they regularly supplied him with alcohol and pills; she prayed for him and even bought him a hut in the village so that he could experience the beneficial effects of his native nature, inhale the sweet and pleasant smoke of the fatherland and lie down on the stove. But the hut was burned down by drunken fishermen. She tried to invite true friends to the house to help S. destroy the stocks of alcohol and he "got less." She herself almost became a victim of the “Neuhaus wife syndrome”: Neuhaus’s wife, as soon as she saw her husband’s vodka, immediately selflessly tried to drink as much as possible so that it dried up quickly. And so, poor thing, she drank herself, but he ended his days quite safely.
So Tatyana courageously applied the same method, that is, in fact, “lay down her soul for her friends,” only she managed to stop in time. In general, she created an atmosphere of normal life in the house, where everything went on as usual: editors came to whom S. dictated his wonderful stories about travels and animals; friends gathered, someone always celebrated their birthday, wedding anniversary, thesis defense, the opening of an exhibition, the release of a new book here; then a neighbor ran in for a minute on some business, and so he remained, listening and staring; then a certain out-of-town acquaintance stopped for the night; then the wandering monk received shelter. A strange situation was created when here, in this warm, hospitable house, where Tatyana literally treated everyone - from the bottom of her heart, people rushed outwardly, apparently much more comfortable and prosperous than the owners themselves, in order to receive comfort and love here, to come to terms with life. S., after libations, reclined on the sofa, like an ancient patrician, guests sat around him, sometimes they were people who seemed to be completely incompatible with each other, if they were somewhere else, and he told such amazing stories that were then passed from the lips by mouth, gradually losing its authorship and already being perceived as the fruit of wise folk art. S. was a master of storytelling, a virtuoso of paradox.
There was a time when Tatyana secretly diluted vodka with water, and the proportions of the latter kept increasing and increasing, until S.'s glass contained pure water. He drank and said in surprise:
- Well, it’s necessary, what has it come to - I drink and don’t get drunk!
Then Tatyana learned that in the Belgorod region in the village of Rakitnoye lives an amazing Orthodox elder, through whose prayers miracles are performed. And she took S. to the old man.
He received him with love, hugged him and said:
- What are you, my dear, so long to me did not come!
And he blessed them to live with a local old woman, every day inviting them to a meal in his priestly house.
For weeks, and sometimes even months, my friends lived near the elder. S. communicated with the priests and monks who came here, and he himself began to look so handsome that sometimes he was mistaken for a priest in the churchyard and asked for blessings.
But she herself was sick and needed an operation. However, she could not even imagine how she would suddenly take care of herself and go to the hospital, and leave her “nechka” unattended. But the main thing was even, it seems, not in this: in the end, it was possible to settle with S. a faithful person who would take care and feed. The bottom line is that she was so absorbed in love for her husband, so preoccupied with the idea of saving him, that psychologically she could not switch her energy and attention from him to herself. Therefore, she kept pulling with the operation, putting it off, pulling, pulling ... And she missed the time.
He survived her by two years. All this time he was very sad, almost did not drink - he was lying on his sofa, remembering life. He was practically blind and perceived it somehow symbolically: they say, behold, the earthly vale went out, but what pictures he now surveys with his spiritual eye! My husband, a priest, often visited him, confessed and took communion until our friend passed away into eternity.
... And I saw Tatyana immediately after her funeral in a dream. She looked happy and cheerful. We came to some luxurious refectory, to put it in secular language - as if to some chic restaurant, but very high and spacious, and she said, laughing:
- Well, Oleska, and now you will treat me!
When I woke up, I imagined long church funeral tables with burning candles and thought that it was precisely this kind of treat that was discussed in my dream. And I also remembered how in her earthly life she always treated everyone, distributed to everyone from her generosity, from the abundance of her heart, from the riches of love - no one left her empty: without consolation, without a present, without a gift, without a kind word, smiles and jokes.

Love is merciful

I remembered one story that is impossible to forget - well, what, tell me, made a six-year-old girl secretly run away from her parents at night to feed a dog with broken paws that fell under the train, lying under the platform (someone, taking pity, threw her there to die), look after her? A well-to-do child, a rich house, any hobbies - just you want, your own devoted dog - were bought for her for a lot of money, and now she is dragging some shabby half-dead mongrel curds, cookies, meat from the refrigerator, her things on the bed. The dog licked her hands, trying not to howl too loudly... And what did she, a girl, have to do for this... For the sake of this love! A prestigious country house in a protected area - I had to negotiate with the guards, but simply pay for silence. But in order to pay, it means that you have to somehow extract money from your parents, that is, lie and lie every time about some gifts for your girlfriends or something else, and when that didn’t help, you had to steal - you knew, after all, where the money is, spying. Not to mention what it's like to make your way to the platform at night, to sit under it, shrinking from the roar of the freight train ... And why, you say, at night? Why secretly? Yes, because I knew that they would not let me in, they would not allow me. So, in general, it happened: when they found out where their child runs at night, they were in indescribable horror: the child daily risked falling under a train, he himself could turn into such a dog! They sent servants to the station. And they found that dog and nailed it - they eliminated, so to speak, the very reason ... And how did it all end? And it ended with a serious nervous breakdown of the girl. She lay, withdrawing into herself, then suddenly she cried for no reason ... And nothing could distract her, console her. One day in March she asked for a walk. There was a lot of sun, a fresh wind smelling of summer ... Then lobar pneumonia - transient, like the life of a moth. And the man was gone.
I could not help thinking about this fate: what brought her into this life? What is it lived for? Is it really for the love of mercy for this unfortunate stray dog? Really...
So little lived and so much given.

Love does not envy

My old friend, prose writer V., lived a stormy bohemian life. He changed several cities and even countries, as well as several wives, one of whom he beat hard out of jealousy with a whip, and knocked out his opponent's front tooth, so that he almost landed on trial, but it worked out, he paid off. And, finally, at the end of his days, he "returned to his circle", settled down in place and adopted the image of a "repentant sinner." From his former life, he has a wonderful son, Kolenka, whom V. himself calls "a gift from heaven," a meek, fair-faced young man. Kolenka served in the church from adolescence, and then entered the Moscow Theological Seminary and studied very successfully there. At the sight of him, his heart itself began to sing to him: “Axios! Axios!”* And in general, everything said that he was about to take the priesthood and would pray with a pure heart for us at the Throne. In addition, his girlfriend was a match for him - joyful, handsome, all like a bulk ruddy apple.
He used to say about her "my girlfriend":
- Can I come to you with my girlfriend? Can you give my girlfriend your book?
He introduced her to her father, relatives, friends of her father - therefore, the wedding is just around the corner, and there it’s a stone’s throw before ordination ...
So a month passes, another, six months, a year ...
I meet him on the street - he walks, shining:
- Kolya, how are you?
- God bless! Here - he entered the Theological Academy ...
- And how is your girlfriend?
- And she's just fine! She is so lucky! She got married - very happily, very well. For my friend, former classmate. A wonderful person, very spiritual and how he sings! He has already been ordained a deacon. He took her on a pilgrimage to the holy places - they had just returned from Greece, full of impressions: they were at the relics of St. Spyridon, and Andrew the First-Called, and John the Russian. All my life I dreamed of going there, but they described everything to me so accurately, so vividly, that it was as if I had been there myself, seen everything with my own eyes and touched the shrines. I still have this blissful feeling.
... My friend V., commenting on this, says: "God is free to grow grapes on thorns, and figs on burdock!"
I asked him anyway.
- Or maybe Kolenka did not really need that girlfriend of his? Well, maybe he didn’t love her so much, he was just friends?
- What, you don't understand anything? He loved, of course, she even bought an engagement ring, he consulted with me, he was afraid - what if he doesn’t like it? Yes, I didn’t have time to give it: everything was whispering then, shocked: “Not fate, not fate!”. Well, he brought this ring simply to the Mother of God: either he gave her a vow, or simply asked for consolation ...

Love doesn't rage

Andrey Desnitsky:

There is one very unusual letter of Paul in the New Testament. Readers, as a rule, do not remember it at all: it is the smallest, it speaks of some private and long-gone things ... but it very well illustrates the words of another Epistle: "love does not act outrageously." However, before starting the story, it is necessary, perhaps, to explain one of the meanings of this word - "outrage". To act outrageously is not necessarily to hooligan, it means, first of all, to violate the existing social order (rank), turn it into chaos.
So, the epistle to Philemon. That was the name of an acquaintance of the Apostle Paul, whom he converted to the faith. And Philemon had a slave, Onesimus, who fled from him - we do not know under what circumstances, before or after his conversion, but fled, perhaps taking something with him. And then Onesimus met Paul, also converted to Christianity and helped him in his ministry when he was in prison. Paul wrote this letter to Philemon, asking him to take Onesimus back and forgive him.
And why, it would seem, include such correspondence in the New Testament? What is so important and significant in it? People, living people. This letter shows us how relations developed between people in the early Christian community and how they correlated with the then accepted structure of society. Sometimes one can hear bewilderment: why did the first Christians not protest against the cruel customs of their time, for example, slavery? The answer is simple: they lived in a world where it simply never occurred to anyone that they could do without them. But they tried to change themselves, their attitude to these customs.
The runaway slave Onesimus... According to the laws of that time, Paul had to send him in chains to the owner, and he had the right to punish him at his own discretion, and often such a punishment was a painful death penalty. Crucifixion - the Romans had it just for runaway slaves, so that no one would dare to think about such a thing again.
And Paul does not violate the law in the least - he sends Onesimus to the master, giving him a cover letter: “I ask you about my son Onesimus, whom I gave birth in my bonds: he was once unsuitable for you, but now he is suitable for you and me; I return it; you accept it as my heart. For, perhaps, he went away for a while so that you would receive him forever, not as a slave already, but higher than a slave, a beloved brother. Moreover, he gives official guarantees to personally pay for any possible damage once caused by Onesimus!
Unless Philemon was a completely unscrupulous and ungrateful person, he certainly fulfilled the request of Paul, his mentor. It can be assumed that he even released Onesimus as a free man back to Paul - after all, he wrote that he needed Onesimus there, in prison, but he sent him back to the owner so that everything would take place in the spirit of peace, love and free choice of man.
Paul could revolt the slaves, as Spartacus did, and shed rivers of blood. He could hide runaway slaves at home and send them where no one would find them, as the American abolitionists would later do. He could prepare a social revolution, of which there were many in our history - but he preferred the revolution in human hearts to outrage.
So, probably, the first and most important step towards the abolition of slavery was taken: the master accepted the runaway slave as a brother in the Lord.

Love is not irritated

Love thinks no evil

Andrey Desnitsky:

Many probably remember the strange epigraph to the poem by M.Yu. Lermontov "Mtsyri": "Eating, tasting a little honey and now I'm dying." But few know about whom it was said for the first time. The 1st Book of Kings put these words into the mouth of Jonathan - no less tragic character than Lermontov's Mtsyri.
He was the son of King Saul and a real hero - once it was his bold outing, during which he, along with his armor-bearer, killed about twenty enemies, brought the Israelites victory over the Philistines. He would probably have been a more worthy king than his father Saul. And, of course, Saul was quite willing to hand over his throne to him. But it turned out differently...
God rejected King Saul, choosing another, more worthy king - a young shepherd named David, then unknown to anyone. It so happened that he ended up in the palace of Saul, became his favorite servant. However, Saul gradually began to guess that there was something in this kid that was not in himself, which means that he was a rival and a threat. The suspicious king even tried to kill his faithful servant by throwing a spear at him, and another time sent assassins to him at night. It could well be expected that if Jonathan did not help his father in eliminating a competitor, then at least he would not interfere. After all, he would have ascended the throne after Saul!
But it turned out quite differently. “Jonathan made an alliance with David, for he loved him as his own soul” - the Bible sparingly describes human feelings, she prefers to talk about words and deeds. So these words are one of the very few references to friendship in the biblical text. But the actions of Jonathan are described in great detail.
He saved David from the revenge of his father. David was in mortal danger, but he still could not understand whether the king really decided to destroy him, or whether all his actions were dictated by momentary outbursts of anger. David fled from the royal camp, but so far he did not go far, but remained nearby to wait for news and decide everything for sure.
It was Jonathan who helped him in this, having started a special conversation with his father about David. Unfortunately, reconciliation was no longer possible, and all that remained was to give David a predetermined sign. Jonathan went out into the field to practice archery, and only he knew that David was closely watching these exercises from hiding. The servant boy picked up the fired arrows, and the king's son, giving him commands, thus warned David: "Run, run faster!"
He probably wanted so badly for his father and best friend to reconcile, but this did not happen. Then he could make a choice: go with his father against a competitor and secure the throne for himself - or openly oppose his father, as the princes in the East did more than once. Then, having transferred the throne to David, he could count on the second place after him ... After all, he himself told him so when parting: “Do not be afraid, for the hand of my father Saul will not find you, and you will reign over Israel, and I will be second in you; and Saul my father knows it.”
He loved David, but he also loved his father, and did not leave him even in the years of confusion and defeat. As a result, Saul and Jonathan died together in battle with the Philistines. And David, who was told about the death of Saul and all his sons, was not at all happy that now he could finally take the throne of Israel. No, first of all, he composed a funeral lament for the dead King Saul and for his faithful friend Jonathan:
From the blood of the wounded, from the bodies of heroes
Jonathan's bow did not recede,
Saul's sword was not wasted.
Saul and Jonathan lived in love and harmony,
they were not parted even in their death;
faster than eagles, stronger than lions they were...
I grieve for you, my brother Jonathan,
how dear you were to me!
Above a woman's love was your love.
How the mighty fell, the weapons perished!

Love does not rejoice in iniquity

Andrey Desnitsky:

Today we know about the miracle of the Resurrection - but when Christ was crucified, no one knew about him yet. All His disciples were amazed, death on the Cross seemed to be the end of all hopes. The apostles fled, and the faithful and ardent Peter denied him three times out of fear of the persecutors... And only the Pharisees could celebrate the victory: they said that this preacher from Nazareth was no Messiah! His shameful and terrible death proved this in the best possible way.
But at this terrible moment, there were two people from the "camp" of the Pharisees who did not triumph together with their comrades and even risked a high social position in order to give Jesus the last honor - to adequately bury His wounded body. All four evangelists name one of them: Joseph of Arimathea, - and John adds the second, Nicodemus.
Who were they?
Joseph was a member of the supreme council, the same Sanhedrin that condemned Christ. True, he did not participate in that very meeting - perhaps, anticipating its outcome, he simply did not dare to come. Evangelists do not skimp on kind words towards him: “a disciple of Jesus, but secret from fear from the Jews; a famous member of the council, who himself was looking forward to the Kingdom of God; a kind and honest man."
John calls Nicodemus a Pharisee and "one of the leaders of the Jews"; he describes how he came to Jesus at night, secretly so that no one would know. Nicodemus knew for sure: this strange Preacher, whatever his colleagues might say about him, is from God, because no one can work such miracles if God is not with him.
But Nicodemus and Joseph had something to lose, and therefore they had to hide. They could not, like ordinary fishermen, give up everything and follow Him - there would be too much to give up. Position, wealth, respect, the opportunity to quietly study the Scriptures - all this would have been lost by following him, and such would not have gotten away with it, as the fishermen did.
True, Nicodemus once tried to intercede for Jesus. When the Pharisees were already beginning to deliberate on how they should execute Jesus, Nicodemus asked his comrades: “Does our law judge a person if they don’t first listen to him and don’t know what he is doing?” But the answer was brief: “You yourself are not from Galilee, are you? Look and you will see that a prophet does not come from Galilee.” It was useless to argue further, and unsafe.
But now... Hopes did not come true, but there was nothing to be afraid of, all the worst happened now on the Cross, and they saw it. What did all their reputation, honor, calmness mean now in front of this exhausted and dead body? And just then, when everyone else fled, the Pharisees Joseph and Nicodemus went to Pilate so that they would be given the body of the executed criminal - no small impudence. But Pilate agreed, and Christ was buried in Joseph's ancestral tomb.
Thus, another prophecy about the death of the Savior, from the book of Isaiah, was fulfilled: “He was appointed a tomb with villains, but He was buried with a rich man, because he did not sin, and there was no lie in His mouth.” Did Joseph and Nicodemus think about this? Who knows, maybe yes, maybe not. But in any case: they could not rejoice at the murder of the Innocent, they paid their last debt to their beloved Teacher - and so their names were forever preserved in the Gospel, and the ancestral tomb of Joseph of Arimathea became the main shrine of the Christian world, to which pilgrims go and go from all over the world.
Sometimes, to go down in history, you just need to remain human.

Love rejoices in truth

Vladimir Gurbolikov:

As a child, I knew only one "Foma" - from a wild children's poem. He was stubborn and died in the waters of an African river, eaten by a crocodile. But even from the crocodile's mouth came: "Not right ... I'm not right" ... That is, it's not true, I don't believe it. Here is such an unbelieving Thomas. And why this boy was called Thomas, I did not know then: the Gospel in the early seventies was a rarity in Soviet families. And the one, because of whom the saying about Thomas the unbeliever went down in history, happened to endure a test, perhaps more terrible than death in the teeth of a crocodile.
He lived in ancient Judea, at a time when people were waiting for the coming of the Messiah. And Thomas was lucky to meet Jesus of Nazareth, to become His disciple, and - listening to the words of the Teacher and seeing the great miracles Created by Him - he believed that he was following Christ, the Savior of the world. But the faith of Thomas was subjected to a terrible test. One night, his beloved Teacher was seized, condemned by a quick and unjust trial, and executed by the most terrible execution of those used in the Roman Empire - crucifixion. Christ repeatedly told Thomas and other disciples that this must happen, but the horror of what happened and the bitterness of loss overshadowed the memory of His words for the apostles. The one who was revered as God did not perform a miracle, did not destroy his persecutors, did not descend from the cross. And the only thing that could be done was to persuade the prefect of Judea, Pontius Pilate, to allow the wounded dead Body to be buried in a grave cave.
Perhaps Thomas experienced this grief and the collapse of hopes more sharply and deeper than others. Because when on the morning of the day following Saturday (now we call this day Sunday), first the women who went to the grave, and then the apostles themselves began to talk about the Resurrection of Christ, the only one who refused to believe the joyful miracle was he. It would be wild to think that Thomas did not want this Resurrection. He left everything he had to follow him; He is the only one among the apostles, knowing that the Jews threaten the Teacher with death, exclaimed just ten days before the Crucifixion: “Let's go and we will die with Him”! He was probably afraid to believe in a false resurrection, he was afraid that his friends were not the Living Jesus, but a ghost. That they rejoice in a mirage, and not in Truth. “If I don’t see His wounds from nails on my hands, and I don’t put my finger into the wounds from nails, and I don’t put my hand into His ribs (there Christ should have left a huge wound from a blow with a Roman spear - V.G.), not I will believe,” he told the other apostles.
And a miracle happened: Christ appeared to Thomas. It was at the moment when all the apostles gathered together, in one house, behind locked doors. “Jesus came when the doors were locked,” writes the apostle and evangelist John the Theologian, “he stood in the midst of them and said: peace be with you! Then he says to Thomas: put your finger here and see my hands; give me your hand and put it in my side, and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” And then, finally, Thomas exclaimed: “My Lord and my God!”. Then he finally became convinced of the Truth of the Resurrection and was able to share the joy of the Meeting. This joy never left him all his life. He set out on a journey, preaching Christianity everywhere. He reached distant India, where, through all subsequent centuries, the News of Christ and the memory of the holy Apostle Thomas were preserved, in spite of everything. He was not afraid of persecution and death, which overtook him in a distant land. His love, which demanded assurance of the truth of the Resurrection, forever became joyful and fearless. And remembering him, I, who have not seen Christ with my own eyes, hear the words that God said to his incredulous but loving disciple. Words addressed to me: “You believed because you saw Me; blessed are those who have not seen and believed." And a particle of Fomin's joy and hope fills my heart, and I live with it ...

Love covers everything

In that old house on Maroseyka, where they used to live, everyone knew their family. Although it was difficult to call it a family in the full sense. Zhorka, husband, a famous reveler. Wife Tatyana or Tanya, as her neighbors spoke of her. And their two children: Lyonka and Lyudochka. Zhorka often scandalized, they tried not to get involved with him. He did not know the measure in his addiction to the bottle and female charms, one day he completely stepped on his conscience, began to bring women to him - one “beautiful” than the other - where he only took them like that. Everyone knew that Zhorka honestly told his wife, his Tanya: here, I’ll live with another woman so that you know in advance, and tell the children, if you want, that it’s like a relative. There will be countless of these “relatives”, and everyone will get used to it, and in all the gossip Zhorka and the women will grind him with their tongues completely without malice, but all the evil rumors will go to Tanka.
And it was for what. Not only could she not keep the man and her husband, not only did she tolerate his mistresses, wash and cook for them, but she also justifies such a father in front of the children!
It was true: when the children saw their father fallen into a puddle, she ran to him, dragged him on her back, explaining to them that their father was very tired, that he was very ill now, that he needed help and then he would feel better ... When the children trembled from their father’s riot and abuse, she took them to a back room, because “dad is very upset about something, he doesn’t succeed in everything in life, and God forbid you experience when your soul is sick” ... It got to the point that she felt sorry for his mistresses when he beat them. Bandaged, consoled, gave tea. Sitting in the kitchen, embracing, crying ...
Time passed, children grew up. Lenka entered the school. Lyudochka moved to the sixth grade. Zhorka continued to live in the old way, as he pleases, although now not with the same strength. Decreased a little. Only Tanya did not change, everything is the same; and it was worth starting a conversation about their ninth apartment, as they immediately rushed: “That's all this Tanka! all Tanya! she's everything!"
How she died, why, no one knew. There was and no. Lyonka was in the army. Lyudochka left for the Crimea on a ticket. Zhorka did not spend the night at home for a week. He returned, saw her - all clean, lay as if something good had been dreamed of ...
So they buried it.
Only once, on an autumn day, they saw: George was standing in the middle of the courtyard. Unusually quiet, sober; standing and still looking for something, as if for the first time here, looking at the windows, at the roof, at the sky ... It costs an hour, another, in the rain. Doesn't leave. They came and called him. Doesn't go. Well Lyudochka came home from class and took him away. And he says, says something to her ... For a long time they could not understand, then they figured it out: “I lost everything ... I lost everything!” - speaks. Another person has become. Quit drinking, no scandals, mistresses ...
Lenka grew up, moved to Mitino. Lyudochka married an officer. And their father is living his life here. He now has one concern: to go to Tankin's grave.
Children help, they come often, and no one reproached him for anything, never said a bad word to him.

Love hopes for everything

A person with a pure heart can receive such an undeniable message about his path that no doubt about its apparent irrationality can shake. And only then, when the assurances of the heart come true, we joyfully celebrate the victory of God's Providence in our lives.
Here is the story of my parents. In December 1941, a sixteen-year-old father was traveling by train from Moscow with cadets like him to the artillery school in Omsk. In the same car, my grandmother took her daughters to the evacuation - my eleven-year-old mother and my nine-year-old aunt Lena. It was cold and scary. But the young cadets who occupied the same compartment sang, joked and smoked. We talked about poetry. They read poetry. Mom, too - a smart girl - read something. Then she receives a note from one of these young people. On a newspaper section, it is scrawled in pencil: "I will return with a victory - you will be my wife." Mom also took a pencil and wrote in block letters: "Fool." With that, I gave the paper to the cadet.
Meanwhile, it was time for bed. It was cold in the reserved seat, there were a lot of people, there was nowhere for an apple to fall. In short - grandmother laid Lena right in felt boots, with her feet towards the aisle. And when they woke up, it turned out that someone had stolen boots from the girl at night. Then the grandmother cut off the sleeves of her fur coat, sewed them up and put Lena on her feet.
... After 14 years, dad, a veteran, a war invalid, a young poet, a student of the Literary Institute, sat quietly at home with his wife and mother-in-law. We had supper and told all sorts of stories related to the war. And dad remembered how he was driving to the school and they took off the boots from the sleeping girl in the carriage, and then, in order to put on her bare feet, her mother cut off the sleeves from the fur coat ... Grandmother changed her face, looked at him with some new look and gasped. And she began to describe these cadets, who were joking and reciting poetry ... Then already dad looked at her in a strange way, silently stood up, rummaged somewhere and pulled out a tiny piece of paper - a newspaper section. He unrolled it and handed it to his young wife. She read "I will return with a victory - and you will be my wife." And a little lower - with shame I dismantled my own pencil printed letters ...

Love endures everything

Vladimir Gurbolikov:

My great-grandmother Serafima lived to be almost ninety years old, and it seemed to me that she would live forever. I could not imagine otherwise: an old woman with sky-cornflower blue eyes accompanied my childhood, and there was nothing more eternal in the world than her gray hair and our long conversations. And therefore, when she fell ill, I did not immediately understand what was happening. I was already finishing the first grade, playing the violin and reading thick books myself, but neither the sickly yellowness, nor any special, new sadness in her eyes alarmed me. My great-grandmother managed to “deceive” me for a long time so that my first class ended without worries. She endured the pain, stealthily accepted her sister and made painkillers. She wouldn't let herself lie down. She acted like everything was the same. And only one thing was special in the last weeks of what was then May: pancakes.
Every time I came back from school, I followed her into our kitchen, and there was a stack of hot, sunny pancakes waiting for me, which I ate, pouring condensed milk over. He ate to satiety, and together with my great-grandmother, laughing, we counted what we had eaten: twelve, thirteen, fourteen ... And then we always drank tea. As before, as always, all May.
She went to bed right after I brought my yearbook from school. And again I did not understand anything, waiting for her recovery, sitting day after day behind a book somewhere nearby. Until it's time to go out of town, to a rest home with my mother. And in the last minutes of parting, great-grandmother Seraphim, who had already been lying around the clock, suddenly got ready, sat down, and held out her hands to me to say goodbye. And I saw that something was happening in her, although she did not cry, but I myself cried. But again I did not believe in the parting for which my great-grandmother Seraphim was preparing, smiling through the pain and persuading me to go.
She loved me very much. If I were an adult, maybe she expressed it differently. Although thirty-five years later, it was those pancakes of her - a month before her death - that I remember as if it were yesterday: twelve, thirteen, fourteen ...
If only I knew how to love like her!

Love never stops
although the prophecies will cease,
and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished

My eldest son died, nineteen-year-old Petya, a student at the Moscow Aviation Institute, surprisingly similar to his father, who died seven years earlier. Of all the losses that have already been: husband, mother, beloved aunt - this is the most difficult. Petya went with the guys after passing the exam to sunbathe in Serebryany Bor, moved away from his friends and disappeared. They searched for Petya for four days, calling hospitals, morgues, and the police. On the fifth day they found him beaten up in the river. For what, who? So it is not clear: from my pure, childishly open Petya, who, apart from his physics and mathematics, naive youthful poems and guitar, did not know anything yet, and there was nothing to take. When they found him, beaten up, he was wearing only panties and a cross ... I remember here I am standing near the morgue where my child is, I have to go, do something, sign some papers, but I can’t move, and life itself flows out of me, and you don’t even resist it, because this life itself is devalued by what happened.
And I still remember - the funeral service. Petya was a believing boy, for a long time he went to church on his own, without me, obeying his inner impulses, so a week before that ill-fated day he confessed and took communion. Then the guys told me that Petya's only fight happened when he climbed with his fists at the company of some young idiots who began to say something impudent and stupid against God. Someone was silent, someone began to argue, and Petya started to fight. I remembered that bruise, he never told me about the reason for it, and, resting on his firm no, I decided that, incorrectly, some secrets connected with the girls had begun ... Either because Petya was loved, or because they knew that he was a believer boy, a lot of his friends came to the funeral, I didn’t even suspect that he had so many of them. Of course, because so many people came to share your pain with you, it becomes easier. But all the same, it is very difficult, even just physically, to stand at the coffin of your child, and only the fact that the hand of your youngest son is in your hand, and your parents are behind your back, makes you hold on. And here, in the temple, at some point, when I was not even praying as much as trying to pray, I suddenly realized with distinct clarity that my love for Petya, just like his love for me, had not gone away. That I feel it, and with that primordial power that we rarely experience in ordinary life. And it suddenly became obvious that for this love there are no boundaries that exist between our world and that world. It seems to me that it was from that moment, in the temple, that life began to return to me.
Many who have gone through such losses calm down when they see loved ones in a dream, believers know the story of the widow Cleopatra, who turned to the martyr Huar when her only son died. I didn’t see any dreams and didn’t expect. I do not dare to ask questions: “Why and why do the best leave, children?” In general, I think that it is wrong to try to look beyond this line - there is an amazing depth in the cruel truth of the capacious Russian proverb: "God gave - God took." To be honest, I am embarrassed when I hear arguments about who is destined for the Kingdom of Heaven and who is not: if we are not talking about the saints, then it is not given to us to know.
But what I know for sure is that when I pray for my Petya, I can touch that great love that has no boundaries, I feel it. And this obviousness of what is happening for me easily crosses out both death certificates and the monumentality of the cemetery fences.
Authors: Andrey DESNITSKY, Maria GORODOVA, Maxim YAKOVLEV, Vladimir GURBOLIKOV, Olesya NIKOLAEVA

Christianity, as a religion of love, teaches every person to treat everyone around with kindness. There are many texts in the Bible calling for this, but the most famous passage is the 13th chapter of the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians.

These lines are usually called the “hymn of love”, because it is in them that the whole essence and meaning of the Christian understanding of this high feeling is revealed. What did the apostle Paul mean when he talked about love? How does the Christian understanding of this feeling differ from the ordinary, worldly one? Let's try to figure it out.

Explanation of the 13th chapter of the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians

Having opened the Bible in the right place, we will see the words of the apostle about what true love should be in the Christian sense. It is noteworthy that the Apostle Paul in his youth was an ardent and passionate persecutor of Christ, in every possible way refuted His teaching. After the Divine revelation to him, he believed in the true God and began to serve with the same boldness.

Holy Apostle Paul

It was this servant of the Lord who brought together and wrote down the main 16 characteristics of love, the list of which we see in his letter to the Corinthians. According to Christian doctrine, love:

Prayers for the gift of love:

Not exalted. True spiritual connection between people involves the natural exaltation of one's neighbor. This does not mean at all that we should humiliate ourselves and in every possible way sacrifice ourselves to our beloved. A real connection is always mutual and mutual, and it is quite natural to wish great blessings for a loved one. In a close relationship there can be no competitive spirit - each of the partners is always ready to give in, so as not to destroy close contact.
True love is always generous
Not proud. Pride is always a kind of isolation, an attempt to prove one's superiority, independence, significance. A proud person is not able to build a really deep and sincere relationship, because he does not let anyone get too close. Loving people, on the contrary, know their place in relationships, recognize the need for each other, affection for each other.
Doesn't run amok. A loving person is always affectionate and attentive to the object of his feelings. As long as relationships are built on love, a person will by all means avoid any conflicts, quarrels, difficult showdown. As soon as there is a shortage of good feelings in a relationship, aggression immediately appears, and love reconciles everyone.
not looking for his. The search for one's own means profit, concern only for oneself and one's problems. Such a person always calculates what certain relationships will bring him, and if the result is not in his favor, he simply refuses them. True love is very rich, it fills a person from the inside so much that he is ready to endlessly share it with others, without at all calculating what he will receive in return.
Not irritated. Irritation is always a sign of some kind of emotional stress. Close trusting relationships presuppose the freedom of the spirit and the comfort of people; they do not lead to the accumulation of fatigue and negativity. Love does not need the release of negative feelings in the form of irritation, since it does not create any bad experiences.
Thinks no evil. True love is always generous, it does not allow revenge, resentment, evil, hatred. Even if another person behaves badly and offends the lover, he will never respond with evil for evil. Christians are called to love their neighbor as themselves, therefore, wishing evil to others, we harm ourselves.
Does not rejoice in iniquity. Love can be built solely on trust and great closeness of people, which completely excludes any deceit, cunning, intrigue, which are very numerous in the modern world. Only a sincere and deep feeling is able to resist the evil of the world, even after meeting with betrayal and treachery. There are many examples of such relationships in classical literature. So, the heroine F.M. Dostoevsky in "Crime and Punishment" by Sonya Marmeladova, love for Raskolnikov does not fade after she learns about his crime. She only calls him with all her might to repentance, thereby wishing him the salvation of his soul.
Paul reveals the meaning of the Christian understanding of love
Everything covers. Love is a great power that can "cover" many weaknesses of those who are deprived of this power. This does not mean that you need to justify any impartial actions of people. To cover - it means to help cure, without betraying unnecessary publicity, without disgrace to the one who stumbled. A loving person strives to make up for the lack of virtue in a loved one, since he himself is full and has an excess.
Believes everything. Perhaps one of the most controversial places, causing a lot of controversy. On the one hand, we all want to believe our loved ones to the end and not doubt them. On the other hand, the experience of life shows that one can be very cruelly deceived in one's trust. Well, here we must admit that complete trust is always a risk. But without this risk, it is impossible to know the depth of love, because distrust and doubt destroy it. A loving person will believe to the end.
Total hopes. This point is inextricably linked to the previous one. To hope means to see the best in others, to believe that this best exists and will definitely show itself, even if it is not noticeable now.
never ceases. From the point of view of Christianity, love has no end, it is eternal. According to Anthony of Surozh, to tell a person “I love you” is the same as declaring to him that he will never die, that he will live forever. It is a great comfort for loving people to know that their feelings go into eternity, come into contact with it and do not fade away with the extinction of the body.

Christian Love in Marriage and Family Life

What do the words of the apostle mean in practice? Is it possible in ordinary worldly life to build such relationships that will correspond to all high biblical characteristics? Orthodoxy says yes, it is possible. And the tool for cultivating such relationships is the family.

In the first place in the hierarchy of family values should be love.

In family life, a believer learns to endure, to be merciful, to trust, and to hope. It is family life that can and should become an effective tool for spiritual uplift and growth in a person. It is impossible to imagine life in marriage without the daily self-sacrifice of each of the spouses, but this self-sacrifice must be voluntary, natural and mutual.

Read about family and marriage:

Duties and Instructions for Husband and Wife in an Orthodox Family

According to the same Apostle Paul, a husband should love his wife as much as the Lord loved the Church. Of course, it is impossible for sinful human nature to comprehend the greatness and power of Divine love, but it is necessary to strive for these heights.

Needless to say, with such an attitude of a husband towards his wife, the concepts of mercy, long-suffering, exaltation of one's neighbor quite naturally enter life. And certainly such high marital relations cannot be combined with pride, envy, irritability, and memory of malice.

Advice! It must be remembered that deep, true marital love is not a momentary gift, but the result of long and hard work on relationships. It is impossible to know the true feeling quickly, at the very beginning of a relationship, but it can be grown after many years of faithful and honest living together.

Hymn of Love of St. Paul the Apostle

If I speak in human and angelic tongues, but have no love, then I am a ringing copper or a resounding cymbal.
If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that I can move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.
And if I give away all my possessions and give my body to be burned, but I do not have love, it is of no use to me.
Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, is not proud, does not behave violently, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything.
Love never ceases, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.
For we know in part, and we prophesy in part; when the perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease.
When I was a baby, I spoke like a baby, thought like a baby, reasoned like a baby; and when he became a man, he left the childish.
Now we see, as it were, through a dull glass, guessingly, then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, just as I am known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the love of them is greater. (1 Corinthians 13:1-8)

The Apostle Paul is considered the recognized authority on the Christian understanding of Love. It is interesting that the former persecutor of Christians did not meet, unlike other apostles, with Jesus personally. It is even more surprising that his opinion often does not seem to coincide very much with the words of other apostles. But it was Paul, from the era of the early Middle Ages, when his positions were reconciled with the positions of other companions of Christ (such as, for example, the stern Apostle Peter), the outstanding masters of logic and rhetoric, St. Christ.

The Apostle Paul on Divine and Worldly Love

In two epistles to the Corinthians and in the third and seventh chapters of the epistle to the Romans, the teacher of new Christian morality and ethics creates not only a real "hymn of love of the Apostle Paul" (as his passionate lines in the 13th chapter of the first epistle to the Corinthians are usually called), but also explains the ethical laws of Christian marriage.

The Apostle Paul against pagan tolerance for unnatural sexual relations

From the first chapters of the apostle's epistle to the Romans, Paul sharply opposed the mundane and attractive to pagan fashion for homosexual relations.

─ “Those who replaced the truth of God with a lie serve the creature instead of the Creator… God gave their hearts to impurity and shameful passions… so that they defiled their bodies: their women replaced the natural use with the unnatural; likewise also men, leaving the natural use of the female sex, were inflamed with lust one for another, men doing shameful things with men and receiving ... due retribution ”(Romans, 1 chapter).

Really, the custom of having "concubines" and concubines of either sex in the West or “bachi” (persons of the same sex for sexual services, usually from among subordinates) in the East was so rooted before the beginning of the sermons of the disciples of Christ that even nobles, who were supposed to be married by rank, often had “second and third” wives, concubines. Or they even preferred connections on the side (with getters or courtesans) to legal connections, at home.

Of course, these “advanced”, most often, those who were at the heights of power, even though almost two thousand years ago, it was wild to listen to the ravings of some “homophobe” from the Mediterranean Jewish diaspora ─ from the far outskirts of the civilized world.

In addition, Paul encroached in his sermon letters on another, no less important foundation of pagan society. The fact is that divorces among most peoples were considered something quite common. Only the Romans experienced some difficulties, marrying according to the even more ancient laws of the “Good Mother” - as one of the goddesses of the pagan pantheon was called, ─ and for reasons of the need to divide property during a divorce.

And on this Wednesday, the letters of the Apostle Paul about marriage came with the theses “I do not command those who have entered into marriage, but the Lord: if you are united with your wife, do not seek divorce!”. Or: "a married man is concerned about how to please his wife, and an unmarried man is about how to please God." That is, the apostle considered the very sacrament of marriage to distract a Christian from the spiritual path. Although he admitted: "if you marry, you will not sin, and the girl will not sin when she gets married" and "it is better to marry than to be inflamed by the flesh."

It is clear that very few in the modern world of the apostle could understand or accept these statements of his. Especially between the "powerful" readers, among the "wise" and the rich.

And then probably the apostle Paul broke out famously:“If I speak in different tongues, if I give away all my wealth, if I know many secrets and have wisdom… but do not have love, then I am nothing and there is no use in me.” With similar words, the wisest and most poetic commandment of the apostle about love begins in 1 epistle to the inhabitants of Greek Corinth.

Thus, according to Paul, marriage was not a prerequisite for a righteous Christian. But only on condition that he can give up the carnal worldly "inciting lust" passions. But the apostle understood that it was unrealizable and unwise to demand such things from all people, physical abstinence is desirable for a spiritual person following the path, but not necessary.

For those who cannot humble their own thoughts about bodily, worldly love, the apostle directly advised to enter into marriage, since there is no sin in marriage itself.

There is sin in leaving a living wife or a living husband for the sake of a new marriage, in this matter the apostle is categorical.

Curious fact: the Catholic Church until recent times and since the early Middle Ages very often - contrary to the writings of the apostle! divorced living spouses. At the same time, Western churchmen used (and use) ... precedents, or rather "tricks" from the so-called "Roman (pagan!) Law."

One of the judicial tricks, ─ hasn’t the topic of “judicial drama” been so popular since then in Western literature, and then in cinema, ─ for example, Catholics recognized a marriage already entered into in the church (although they themselves declared that “marriage is made in heaven”) “prisoners not for Christian reasons.” This trick has been used successfully to this day. With great success in the Middle Ages, when necessary, they also searched for "previously unknown" family ties between spouses.

Anthem of love

In the thirteenth chapter of the same epistle to the Greeks and other inhabitants of Corinth, the apostle shifting to a prophetic, poetic tone:

“Love is long-suffering, merciful, does not envy, does not exalt itself, does not pride itself, does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not irritated, does not think evil, does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth: it covers everything, believes everything, hopes everything, endures everything. Love never ceases… There is faith, hope, love, but love is more of them”.

From this brilliant statement, clearly escaping from the apostle at the moment of the highest inspiration (as writers would say) or at the moment of Divine enlightenment (as believers think), theologians for almost two thousand years have singled out sixteen properties of Christian love, providing each with countless interpretations relating to worldly love. and divine love. It is clear that it is not possible to give all these interpretations, even “official” ones, in a short article, because they were started by the first translators of the Gospel in the second century, but it is possible and necessary to indicate the literature that it will be useful for Christians to read on this topic.

But briefly, then The main signs of Christian love according to the Apostle Paul are as follows:

─ the interpretation of these signs is still best read in the literature mentioned above, from recognized theologians. Because trying to explain them “in a nutshell” threatens to profane the wise precepts of the apostle.

Live with love! Read the Apostolic Epistles and their interpretations!

May 8, 2017

Many are familiar with the chapter in which the Apostle Paul speaks about love. And this text is often quoted as some sublime teaching about the meaning of love. Recently, among Christians, even the teaching has appeared to make tattoos on the body with verses from the Bible and the text from chapter 13 has become, very much, a fashionable text that is tattooed on the body. Since the text is large in volume, it is pricked on the lower back closer to the pelvis.

Fashion is characteristic of people who do not have freedom of choice and obey its trend. It is not surprising that in Christianity, tests from the Bible in the form of tattoos have become another indication of the slaves of the flesh. Not understanding what Paul is essentially saying from a Jewish point of view, people boast about it. Saying quotes and at the same time completely not understanding their meaning is an indicator of illiteracy.

What the apostle Paul says about love in chapter 13

1 If I speak with the tongues of men and angels, but have no love, then I am a ringing brass or a clanging cymbal.

2 If I have [the gift of] prophecy, and know all mysteries, and have all knowledge and all faith, so that [I can] move mountains, but do not have love, then I am nothing.

3 And if I give away all my possessions, and give my body to be burned, but have no love, it profits me nothing.

4 Love is long-suffering, merciful, love does not envy, love does not exalt itself, does not pride itself,

5 does not act disorderly, does not seek his own, is not irritated, does not think evil,

6 does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth;

7 covers all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

8 Love never ceases, although prophecy will cease, and tongues will be silent, and knowledge will be abolished.

9 For we know in part, and we prophesy in part;

10 When that which is perfect comes, then that which is in part will cease.

11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child; and when he became a man, he left the childish.

12 Now we see as if through a [dull] glass, guessingly, then face to face; Now I know in part, but then I will know, just as I am known.

13 And now these three remain: faith, hope, love; but the love of them is greater.

(1 Corinthians 13:1-13)

First, this text, although belonging to a particular chapter, is not autonomous in this epistle. It is a continuation of the thought that begins in chapter 12 on spiritual gifts and continues in chapter 14.

The essence of the conversion in these chapters is to put love before service. Gifts are nothing if there is no love.

Why is love greater than gifts? Love is the fulfillment of the Law:

8 Do not remain indebted to anyone for anything but mutual love; for he who loves another has fulfilled the law.

9 For the commandments: Thou shalt not commit adultery, Thou shalt not kill, Thou shalt not steal, Thou shalt not bear false witness, Thou shalt not covet, and all the others are contained in this word: love your neighbor as yourself.

10 Love does no harm to the neighbor; so love is the fulfillment of the law.

11 So [do] knowing the time, that the hour has already come for us to wake up from sleep. For salvation is nearer to us now than when we believed.

(Rom.13:8-11)

For many, the law is either not written, if it is written, then it is not understood, if it is understood, then it is wrong. The law is the reflection of the legislator. If, for example, in a country it is allowed at the state level to involve minors in sexual relations, to enter into same-sex marriages, then we can say with one hundred percent confidence that the legislators in this country are pedophiles and homosexuals.

When the Almighty revealed himself to the people of Israel in his Law, or more precisely, through His Law, then by this law one can judge the Legislator - what is He, what is His essence. We can take a few passages from the Bible to see what the Lawgiver is that is displayed through His Law.

5 And Jehovah descended in the cloud, and stood by him there, and proclaimed the name of Jehovah.

6 And Jehovah passed before him, and Jehovah proclaimed, Jehovah Elohim compassionate And merciful, patient And great in beneficence and truth,

7 Preserving mercy for thousands (kinds) who forgives guilt and crime and sin; but not leaving without punishment; exacting for the guilt of the fathers and from the children and from the grandchildren up to the third and up to the fourth generation, (if they also sin).

We see that the meaning of the name of the Almighty is love. Therefore, John in his epistle says:

7 Beloved friends, let's love one another as love is from Jehovah. Anyone who loves knows Jehovah, and Jehovah is his Father.

8 But those who do not love do not know Jehovah, because Jehovah is love.
(1 John 4)

If the Legislator Himself is in its essence the highest reflection of love, then what Law can He issue? A law that brings good to people, a law based on mutual love, which happens between a person and God and between people.

The psalmist sings of the Law of the Creator:

8 The Torah of Jehovah is perfect quickens the soul, the testimony of Jehovah is true, makes the simpleton wise.

9 Jehovah's Commands Are Righteous rejoice the heart, the commandment of Jehovah is pure, illuminates the eyes.

10 Fear (before) Jehovah is pure, abides forever the laws of Jehovah are true, all are just,

11 More desirable than gold they are both loads of pure gold, and sweeter than honey and honeycomb.

12 And your servant is careful (in doing) them, in keeping them is a great reward.

(Tehelim 19)

The perfect Law (Torah) gives life to the imperfect soul of man. It fills a person's heart with love for the Creator and neighbor. All commandments speak of love.

The Perfect Law of Love could only be issued by the Perfect Legislator, possessing perfect Love.

96 I have seen the limit of all perfection, [but] Your commandment is immensely vast.

97 How I love your law! I think about it all day.

98 By Your command You have made me wiser my enemies, for she is always with me.

99 I became smarter than all my teachers x, for I meditate on your testimonies.

100 I know more than the elders because I keep your precepts.

101 From every evil way I keep my feet to keep thy word;

102 I do not turn away from your judgments, for you teach me.

103 How sweet are your words to my throat! better than honey to my mouth.

104 By your commandments I am enlightened; therefore I hate every way of lying.

105 Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

(Ps. 119:96-105)

So, the main essence of love, which the apostle Paul spoke about, is the fulfillment of the law. Where there is a fulfillment of the law, there reigns peace and order. Where it does not exist, where it is not respected, chaos and lawlessness reign. And for this reason, Paul reproaches the Corinthians that they put the ministry of gifts above the Torah (God's Law). Gifts are just a tool for improving people, to teach them to fulfill the commandments of the Creator:

11 And he appointed some to be apostles, others to be prophets, others to be evangelists, and others to be shepherds and teachers,

12 to the perfection of the saints for the work of service, for the building up of the Body of Christ,

For many ministers and those filled with spiritual gifts, the purpose of their ministry remains unclear and they do not understand their purpose. And even some think that through the ministry of the gifts they earn their salvation. Gifts are nothing - everything is in the fulfillment of the commandments.

Explanation of the 13th chapter of the letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians

Christian Love in Marriage and Family Life

The Apostle Paul on Divine and Worldly Love

Anthem of love

What the apostle Paul says about love in chapter 13

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