The fact of the matter is that a Christian, a real Christian, he does not chase after his own dignity, he does not chase respect for himself, he does not try to prove anything to anyone, you see, and therefore he is completely free. And a person who chases after his own dignity, constantly proves to himself and others that he is in his own dignity, he has some rights – such a person is not free at all.

"You know, as they say, you can't go that far. "If you go somewhere far in this way, it's better not to go anywhere. — No, well, after all, you have to live somehow. "And who prevents you from living?" "And if you don't respect yourself in society, then you won't be respected either. "If you are a real Christian, you will simply not care whether you are respected or not. It is impossible to offend a Christian.

A humble person who does not pay attention to what others think of him, either for evil or for good, is absolutely free. Well, how to offend him? Is it possible? "Without this, you will not love yourself and your neighbor as yourself. "We love ourselves so much, you know, that's not the question. I don't know people who don't love themselves.

The question is not to love others, but not to love oneself strongly, but the question is that if we do not love ourselves correctly, how will we love our neighbor as ourselves? If we love ourselves, it doesn't mean that we say: oh, what a pretty person I am, what a kind person I am, what a wonderful person I am... We don't say? We do evil and good.

But we do not justify ourselves with evil, if we are normal people, if we are honest with ourselves. It is the same with our neighbor – we separate a person from sin, we love the sinner, but we hate sin. This is what we are talking about. This is exactly what the commandment says. And when a person rushes around with himself like a hen with an egg, this does not mean that he loves himself. Look at your previous life, look into the past for yourself and think how much less bumps you would get if you did not run around with your rights and virtues. Isn't that right?

— And if someone insulted you on the street, and severely infringed on your self-esteem? "And if you don't have that feeling, you wouldn't be offended." Well, isn't that right? — How do you understand it: disrespect for yourself?.. How should we treat our neighbors? Is it not something that you should not respect others? Treat you absolutely the same as others treat you. "Look carefully.

But for ourselves, we must realize that there is such a thing as subjectivism, it is our enemy. Unfortunately, after the fall of Adam and Eve, people live in a fantastic state, they fantasize terribly irrepressibly about their surroundings, they do not see a person, and not themselves, they see a fantasy that they have invented for themselves. You don't see yourself and you don't see inside the people you communicate with.

You only imagine the people who live next to you. Check if this is true or not. For example, a certain person respects himself very much or does not respect himself. How will people treat him? Is it respectful if a person respects himself? — Yes, if he declares it. - And if he does not declare, then how do you know whether he respects himself or not? — By a normal, good attitude towards others.

"You're welcome, but he's nice to others for a different reason. "Why?" — Do you know why Christians treat others well? Because Christians see the image of God in those around them. Why do we bow to people when we meet? Because we revere the image of God in them. And what about us? In our country, unfortunately, Christian morality is often confused with secular morality. These are completely different things.

Secular morality is like this: like a wolf – I don't touch you, and you don't touch me. By and large, man is a wolf to man. Therefore, as long as you do not touch me, we are kind, we sing each other's praises. I had to attend social buffets, listen to how they glorify each other there. This is disgusting to hear, because the same people who They sing praises in their eyes, they pour mud behind their eyes.

Everything is built on the most ordinary hypocrisy. Christianity is built on something completely different, Christianity clearly separates sin from the sinner, and it will never justify sin under any condition if a person has not repented of it. "And if sin is in the name of good?" "Good done by evil means is evil. "And if some, for example, a small evil, but a very big good, turned out to be so big. "It's evil all the same.

All the villains think this way, from Hitler to Stalin. We must always remember: good done by evil means is essentially evil. So this is all self-deception, of course. And so. — ... Finishing. "Well, there is no end yet, and there will not be until the Last Judgment, I suspect so. I think the end will last for a long time. A Christian is quite a pessimist, and before the Last Judgment we do not expect that people will turn into angels.

And so, naturally, our yardstick is special, we compare everything with what? We compare it with God. Who is a normal person for us? Is any Christian a normal person? — Jesus Christ. "Jesus Christ, that's right. That's the point. That is why we measure by this yardstick, by the only yardstick. "And the apostles?" "And the apostles — as imitators of Him. Just like the Mother of God, and the saints. "And the saints too?"

Well, of course, they are close to normal, and they have united with Christ. "And the priest in the church?" — To the extent that he can be an image of Christ. Many showed up. This is exactly what we are talking about here, we are guided by Christ. That is, just such a practical example: how to determine whether it is a good deed or an evil one? What would Christ do in your place?