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?

Well, do you think Christ would have worn with self-respect? — No, I don't. "Well, do you think He was an unfortunate Man?" Maybe He was wrong? "If He gave His life for everyone, then in theory He is an unhappy person. "He has conquered, He has conquered death, He is the Conqueror. Understand? This is the answer, the whole essence of Christianity is reduced to Christ, to the person of Christ.

That is why such paradoxical commandments are given by the Gospel. Are you reading the Gospel now? Agree, there are completely paradoxical commandments, for example: turn the other cheek to the one who insulted you. A scandalous commandment, of course, it has always been scandalous. I think that the Roman legionnaire did not turn the cheek to the neighbor who struck him more often than you and I did.

And the commandment does not depend entirely on time. What does the Lord focus on? Not for a while. And it is very important that morality does not depend on time in any way. It is guided by the will of God. You should always focus only on it. And what is this will expressed in? In the word of God, according to which we must act. In all cases where a person has a conflict between his desire and the word of God, what should he follow? The will of God, the word of God.

And, by the way, practice shows that such a person has never lost. A lot of people thought that if I did that, they wouldn't understand me, they wouldn't think of me that way. But a person who really acted according to the will of God, God always brought him out and raised him up. And a person who acted according to his own will necessarily always fell. And so, a brief expression of the will of God — these are the commandments. I have already listed them briefly.

So, the first commandment is this: "I am the Lord your God... thou shalt have no other gods before me" (Exodus 20:2-3). That is, you cannot worship gods other than the Lord, you need to worship God, serve Him, serve Him alone. By the way, this is why Christians, for example, do not serve the Motherland. They respect the Motherland, help it, but do not serve it. "Christians don't serve the Motherland?!"

"No, they go to the army, they take the oath. "But this is what it means to serve the Motherland. "I'm explaining to you what the difference is. To serve the Motherland is to put the Motherland in the first place. A Christian will never put the Motherland in the first place. When a conflict arises between the will of the Motherland and the will of God, what will a person follow? God. Here is a simple example. Soldiers shot civilians. What should a Christian soldier do? I must refuse. Although he may be court-martialed for this. But this is his right and duty.

- And if, for example, the enemies of the Church are shot? "Again, if he is on the battlefield, he can kill, fight, because he protects his own people. But this is only if the war is just, of course, in Chechnya, for example, when a person defends his loved ones, his relatives from terrorist attacks. I'm not talking about some wars that are unjust.