"Do not neglect the commandment of love; for through it, you will become a son of God, but transgressing it, you will become a son of gehenna. Love between friends is destroyed if you envy or are the object of envy; if you cause or suffer loss; if you revile or suffer revilement; and finally if you feed and keep suspicious thoughts against your brother...Do not be conquered by hatred but conquer it by love .
Pray [to] God sincerely about him, accept his excuses or cure yourself by excusing him, regard yourself as the cause of the trial, and resolve to endure until the cloud has passed. Pay heed to yourself lest it be in you and not in your brother that lurks the evil that cuts you off from him; and hasten to make your peace with him, lest you forsake the commandment of love. Fear keeps the old commandments, but love keeps the life-giving commandments of Christ".
St. Maximos the Confessor. Fourth Century on Love, Texts 19, 20, 21, 148. B#9
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