The measure of love is to fulfill Christ’s commandment
Sometimes we’ve done things that cause us to wonder how we can ever forgive ourselves. Perhaps we’ve hurt someone we love or disappointed people we respect by behaving in a way we deeply regret. Maybe we’ve said some unkind thing to someone and caused them terrible hurt and embarrassment. We are so horrified by our behavior that we want to crawl under a rock. How can we ever forgive ourselves? We’ve been able to ask their forgiveness, but forgiving ourselves is quite another matter.
When Christ gave us the great commandment He told us that we must love God above all things, and we must love our neighbor as our self. This ability to love others is in direct correlation to our love of God and self. If we hate ourselves, we can not begin to love God and neighbor. And loving ourselves must begin with learning to forgive ourselves, for the measure of love is to fulfill Christ’s commandment to love others as we love our self.
With love in Christ,
Abbot Tryphon
Photo: Our community outing on Tuesday brought us to Lake Crescent, one of the most beautiful and serene places in the Olympic National Park.
Thursday October 9, 2014 / September 26, 2014
18th Week after Pentecost. Tone eight.
Repose of the Holy Apostle and Evangelist John the Theologian.
Canonization of St. Tikhon, Patriarch of Moscow (1989)
New Hieromartyrs Athanasius, Alexander, Demetrius priests, martyrs John, Nicholas (1937).
New Hieromartyr Vladimir priest (1939).
Venerable Ephraim, abbot of Perekop, wonderworker of Novgorod (1492).
Righteous Gideon, judge of Israel.
Venerable Nilus of Rossano (Calabria) (1044).
Arrival of the Iveron Icon of the Most Holy Theotokos in Geogria (1989) (Georgia).
The Scripture Readings for the Day
1 John 4:12-19
Seeing God Through Love
12 No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God abides in us, and His love has been perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in Him, and He in us, because He has given us of His Spirit. 14 And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world. 15 Whoever confesses that Jesus is the Son of God, God abides in him, and he in God. 16 And we have known and believed the love that God has for us. God is love, and he who abides in love abides in God, and God in him.
The Consummation of Love
17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness in the day of judgment; because as He is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. 19 We love Him because He first loved us.
John 19:25-27
Behold Your Mother
25 Now there stood by the cross of Jesus His mother, and His mother’s sister, Mary the wife of Clopas, and Mary Magdalene. 26 When Jesus therefore saw His mother, and the disciple whom He loved standing by, He said to His mother, “Woman, behold your son!” 27 Then He said to the disciple, “Behold your mother!” And from that hour that disciple took her to his own home.
John 21:24-25
24 This is the disciple who testifies of these things, and wrote these things; and we know that his testimony is true.
25 And there are also many other things that Jesus did, which if they were written one by one, I suppose that even the world itself could not contain the books that would be written. Amen.
Dear Fr. Tryphon,
As usaul, I enjoy your Morning Offerings as a resource for my own daily meditations. This one in particular: “forgiving ourselves” is very important. But, you only give very little information on the HOW TO DO IT! I am convinced that it is hard to forgive ourselves as God forgives us. Please, tell me what Church Father I can read that will help me through this process.
God bless you Father. In Jesus Christ,
Br. Jorge
Thank you, Father. I, too, would like to read writing(s) from a Church Father, perhaps, to help learn this. I also would like to know how to keep my mind from “revisiting” the memories. Your words were very comforting.
God bless, cynthia