Love and the Cross

The Bible states that love is a Divine state of man, the PRESENCE of God with His Spirit in us, the presence of the Holy Spirit in man. "The love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us" (1 John 5:5). There is no love without God. The love that a person finds in himself is born together with God as a GIFT from God.

Love manifests itself in various actions and in the emergence of various feelings. Love gives birth to them. Love is a state of man when God - the Holy Spirit of God - abides in man. The Holy Spirit in man prompts man to perform various ACTIONS and the birth of various feelings. This is what the Bible tells us: "he who abides in love abides in God, and God IN HIM" (1 John 4:16).
 
If  human love is a manifestation of the action of the Holy Spirit in a person, then the question may arise: does a person participate in acquiring love for people and for God? Or is this the action of God alone and the ability to love does not depend on a person?
Just like acquiring FAITH, LOVE begins first of all with a person's actions,

In most cases, love for people appears before they become believers. Love for God comes only after acquiring faith in Him or maybe at the same time. Love is not only joy and happiness, but it is also a cross for a person. A cross that a person takes consciously and with the joy of fulfilling it in his life. And this is very surprising in that a loving person, even to a small extent, resembles his God and His manifestation of love on the Cross of Calvary.
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 Here is what St. Theophan the Recluse said about this: "Although not everyone carries his own cross, and the cross is mostly not simple, but complex, but not everyone looks at it through the cross of Christ; not everyone turns it into the arrangement of his salvation; therefore, not everyone's cross is a saving cross. There are many crosses, but there are three types:   

THE FIRST TYPE - external crosses, consisting of sorrows and troubles, and in general of the bitter lot of earthly existence. They are scattered along all the paths of our life and are encountered at almost every step. These include: sorrows, troubles, misfortunes, illnesses, loss of loved ones, failures at work, all kinds of deprivations and losses, family troubles, unfavorable external relations, insults, offenses, slander and in general the earthly lot, more or less difficult for everyone. And who does not have one of these crosses?   

Internal crosses (SECOND TYPE) we encounter during the struggle with passions and lust. The Holy Apostle says, "But they that are Christ's have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts" (Gal. 5:24). Crucified? So, there was a cross on which these passions and lusts were crucified. What kind of cross is this? The struggle with them. To crucify passions means to weaken them, suppress them, eradicate them. Don't have the strength to begin? Pray. The Lord will send it.

It remains to explain to you the THIRD TYPE of cross, saving for us - the cross of devotion to the will of God. The most perfect Christians ascend this cross. Who raised our Savior to the cross? This devotion. In the Garden of Gethsemane our Lord Jesus Christ prayed: "My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt" (Matt. 26:39). The Apostle Paul describes this state in relation to himself: "I have been crucified with Christ: and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me" (Gal. 2:19,20).

I would like to give one human parable. This parable is about our lamentation and murmuring: One man came to God with a complaint that his cross, his fate, was too heavy... The Lord leads him to a barn, opens the locks, and there is a huge number of crosses - of all kinds: metal, wooden, carved, large, small, and says: "Choose the one you like." The man was delighted, spent a long time choosing, trying it on, testing its weight, and finally brings out the thinnest and lightest one and joyfully cries out: "Here, this one, why didn't You give it to me right away?" To which the Lord replies: "So this is your cross."   

At first I was delighted with the beautiful parable, but when I came to my senses I immediately realized that this parable was about my entire past life. And bitter memories came and engulfed me, from which I could neither escape nor hide...

So, Love is not only joy and happiness, but it is also a cross for a person. A cross that a person takes consciously and with the joy of fulfilling it in his life. And this is very surprising in that a loving person, even to a small extent, resembles his God and His manifestation of love on the Cross of Calvary.