Faith and Other People

"God supports my faith, at its strong and weak points, through other faithful, whatever their strengths or weaknesses. Let me have an open heart today, and remember that God works through other people." (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin)

“If you read the Old and New Testaments, I don’t think faith was supposed to occur in an individualistic context. We’re supposed to see our family and community as part of us, and we’re supposed to see ourselves as part of them. What we do impacts others; we should live in community." (Nabeel Qureshi)

“Devotion to God includes both obedience to His commandments and service to others—these two cannot be separated." (Orthodox Study Bible, Matthew 15:3-6)

“Salvation, the full and complete restoration of communion with God and our complete healing, is not a private matter. We are not saved alone, for “alone” is the very antithesis of salvation. Communion is how we exist. Neither can we have communion with God without communion with our neighbor (1 John 4:20-21), Our contemporary culture imagines that we are self-existing, that life is merely a matter of biology. However, true existence, both in this life and the next, is marked by communion, both with God and with others.” (Father Stephen Freeman)

“...in any trial or ailment, be it physical or spiritual, it is helpful and wise to seek the fellowship of others in a similar situation, rather than to self-isolate; and to unite with these others in prayer…We need other people—relationships. We need people to expose to us where we fall short of doing the will of God and our moment in need of walking in conscious fellowship with Him.” (Sr. Dr. Vassa Larin, Pamela Reeve)

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