As the apostle Paul says, “Show me your faith by your works.”

As the apostle Paul says, “Show me your faith by your works.” Are you a Christian only in name? If you are a Christian only in name, then this is very scary, even more dangerous than an unbelieving person. After all, it often happens: people who do not believe, even those in whom religion causes denial, are closer to God than a person who considers himself a believer. We must ask ourselves: do I really believe?

Is my faith still alive? Because even demons, they also believe and tremble. They believe, but they don't want to serve God, they don't have love. First of all - the confession of faith, and then the preaching. Confession means to bring joy within yourself. When there will be more joy in you than compulsion, then, perhaps, if circumstances favor this, you can say something to people about your faith, but very carefully.

And it is desirable that there be questioning, thirst in others. And when we do not feel this thirst and, not showing attention to people, we begin to do missionary work, then this is very dangerous. It's arrogance. Look into the eyes of a person with love - and this will be the best sermon. When a person feels very bad in this world, when he has lost faith in everything worldly, he is in despair, offended by everyone, enmity, he feels that no one needs him, he is infinitely lonely, forgotten by both God and people - this is fertile ground, in this a moment to touch it with love.

This is what it is - "show me faith by your works." God accepts these people as they are, and you don't want to. God leads them on his way, He knows in what circumstances and when to breathe faith into him, to touch him with his life-giving warmth, with his Holy Spirit. Christ says, "I am the way," and we are trying to run across the road, to get ahead of God. In the family, most of all, we have the opportunity to show love.

Often our irritation and inner darkness, which we take for indifference, is a terrible substitution. We must understand that God knows everything, there is nothing accidental. Now almost all people have painfully developed self-esteem, ambition. Therefore, true Orthodox fathers, experienced people in the faith, advised preaching like this.

If you want to offer something to a person (not to inspire him with salvation, but to offer it), then turn away and say somewhere in the corner: “And I would have done like this ...”. Don't be proud of your faith. As the same apostle Paul says, your faith is not yours, it is a gift from God. If you have faith, keep it with you, as the apostle says.

Better yet, show faith from your deeds - show real joy. There is a person next to you - love him, love him the way he is. In my life I met believers, deeply church people who were so joyful, radiated such power of life in the most difficult circumstances, that people who were far from God, completely unbelieving or professing a different faith - all aspired to be in communion with these people. With a heat source, well, who wouldn't want to?

At the heating stove, in cold weather, everyone tries to be! It is necessary that a person warm himself about our faith, so that we can warm him. It is often said why Orthodox Christians are so gloomy (I am also like that)? But the Christian faith - it cannot be gloomy, it is in its essence - the light. “You are the salt of the earth,” Christ says.

If faith is insipid, tasteless, that is, how can you treat someone with a tasteless dish? Without salt, it’s better to keep silent, it’s better to pray. And when you get involved in this cosmic work of God and experience it, you will feel the greatest harmony of everything that is happening, and in all the diversity of life circumstances, every moment will be filled with the greatest meaning. And the other person's disbelief too.

If there is a thread between people, and love goes back and forth along this thread, then even though it is even a thread, you can always make a person feel that you love him. You can tell a person “I hate you” with love, or you can say “Yes, I love you, I love you!” so that he will cry. I think that if a person still loves, if he is not a sadist and does not live in a state where evil has absolute control over him, then it cannot be that he does not feel that he is causing pain to another person. But if a person loves and torments the one he loves, then he will feel the suffering of another person.

And having survived this pain from the fact that he hurt another, the next time he will say: no, I don’t want this pain. It will hurt him. By and large, food, says the Apostle Paul, does not bring us closer to God and does not move us away from God. At the heart of the Christian faith is love. The criterion of everything is God's love.

We believe that God became man for us. And he took on the guise of a slave, that is, he took on the image of a slave to such an extent that he was obedient even to death, and death was not an easy one, the most cruel and shameful death. And we believe not that we have reached faith and ourselves came to God, but that God descended from heaven to earth for us, and we did nothing, but the Lord himself did everything to give us eternal life, eternal joy, eternal rest. Therefore, if a Christian is proud of the fact that he has faith, this is no longer a healthy feeling.

Our Orthodox faith is the greatest gift of God, it is the dearest and most joyful, the only thing that can give meaning and strength to live. Here, we must cherish our faith, and if life requires us, we must not hide the fact that we are believers. It is difficult to call it pride, this feeling of the greatest gift that we are Orthodox people, that we belong to the true Orthodox Apostolic Catholic Church, to which the apostles, then the apostolic disciples, belonged, that even in the most difficult moments you can simply say: "I'm Orthodox, what a joy!" The apostle says: "You are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation." What is the chosen one for? Chosen as a sacrifice!

We must understand that our chosenness is not to rule over other peoples, our Orthodox faith is not to boast of other people who do not believe, but our mission is to carry the cross, to bring the joy of the risen Christ. But for this you need to be crucified yourself. Is it possible to be proud of this? This is inconsistent with the crucifixion.

In our time, when we meet in such a big city as, for example, in Helsinki, with a large number of people who have nothing to do with the Orthodox faith, the more we must show love. But we must also think about how to protect our shrine, so as not to give up our dear, dear, what our ancestors passed on to us as the greatest treasure, our traditions, our customs. We must stand firm in our Orthodox positions. But if you are Orthodox, then you must always show love for everything ... you simply have to do this.

To all people, irrespective of religion. If we start telling a Muslim that his prophet is not a prophet, then there will be conflict, enmity, hatred. We must accept a person with respect for his faith, with love and not argue with him. Defending one's faith, one should not allow offensive expressions, an offensive tone or irritation.

If you notice that you have irritation, then it is better to stop the conversation, otherwise the sin will be before God. First and foremost, love.