mock you, reproach you, dishonor you), use and falsely say evil things about you (slander, unjustly accuse), and all this you will endure for your faith in Me, then do not grieve, but rejoice and be glad, because a great, greatest, reward awaits you in heaven, that is, a particularly high degree of eternal bliss. Jesus Christ taught that God provides, that is, cares, for all creatures, but especially cares for people.

The Lord cares for us more and better than the kindest and most reasonable father cares for his children. He gives us His help in everything that is necessary in our life and that serves for our true benefit. "Do not be anxious about what you will eat or drink, or what you will wear," said the Savior. "Look at the birds of the air: they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into the garner, and your Father who is in heaven feeds them; and are you not much better than them?

Look at the lilies of the field, how they grow. They do not work, nor spin. But I say to you, Solomon in all his glory was not clothed like any of them. But if God dresses the grass of the field, which is there today and tomorrow will be thrown into the furnace, then how much more so will you, you of little faith! But God, your Father in heaven, knows that you have need of all these things.

Therefore, seek first of all the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." ON NON-CONDEMNATION OF ONE'S NEIGHBOR Jesus Christ did not command to condemn other people. He said, "Judge not, and ye shall not be judged; condemn not, and ye shall not be condemned. For with what judgment you judge, you will also be judged (i.e. ,

if you are lenient with the actions of others, then God's judgment will be merciful to you). And with what measure you measure, it will be measured to you also. And why do you look at the mote in your brother's eye (i.e. , every other person), and do not feel the beam in your own eye? (This means: why do you like to notice even minor sins and shortcomings in others, and do not want to see even great sins and vices in yourself?)

Or as thou shalt say unto thy brother, Let me take the mote out of thy eye; Is there a beam in your eye? Hypocrite! First take the beam out of your own eye (try first of all to correct yourself), and then you will see how to remove the mote from your brother's eye" (then you will be able to correct the sin in the other without insulting or humiliating it). ON FORGIVENESS OF YOUR NEIGHBOR "Forgive, and you will be forgiven," said Jesus Christ.

"For if ye forgive men their trespasses, your Father which is in heaven will forgive you also; but if you do not forgive men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive you your trespasses." ON LOVE FOR ONE'S NEIGHBOR Jesus Christ commanded us to love not only our loved ones, but all people, even those who have offended us and done us harm, that is , our enemies. He said, "Ye have heard that it was said (

your teachers , the scribes and Pharisees): you shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them that despitefully use you, and persecute you, that ye may be sons of your Father which is in heaven. For He commandeth His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain upon the just and the unjust."

If you only love those who love you; or will you do good only to those who do it to you, and will lend only to those from whom you hope to receive it back, for what shall God reward you? Do not lawless people do the same? Do not the Gentiles do the same? Be ye therefore merciful, even as your Father is merciful, be ye perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect?

As we should always treat our neighbors, in any case, Jesus Christ gave us the following rule: "In all things, whatsoever you would that men should do to you (and we certainly want all men to love us) to do good to us and forgive us, do you also to them." (

Do not do to others what you do not want to do to yourself). If we pray earnestly to God and ask for His help, then God will do everything that will serve for our true benefit. Jesus Christ said about this: "Ask, and it will be given you; seek and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you; for everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.

Is there a man among you who, when his son asks him for bread, would give him a stone? And when he asks for a fish, will he give him a snake? Therefore, if you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask Him." We must do any good deed not out of boasting before people, not for showing off to others, not for the sake of human reward, but for the sake of love for God and neighbor.

Jesus Christ said: "Take heed that you do not your alms before men, that they may see you; otherwise you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven. Therefore, when you give alms, do not blow the trumpet before you, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, so that people may glorify them. Verily I say unto you, they have already received their reward.

But with you, when you give alms, let not your left hand know what your right hand is doing (i.e. , do not boast to yourself of the good you have done, forget about it), so that your alms may be secret; and your Father, who sees in secret (that is , all that is in your soul and for the sake of which you do all this), will reward you openly" — if not now, then at His last judgment.