Theology Blog

“At the sight of human sin, one wonders whether to combat it by force or by humble love. Always decide ‘I will combat it by humble love.’ If you resolve that once for all, you can conquer the whole world. Loving humility is a terrible force: it is the strongest of all things, and there is nothing like it.”–Kalistos Ware

I found this quote to be rather interesting. I cannot remember if I found it on a website, from an email, Facebook or something else, but it is well worth pondering. To recognize that we can combat anything and conquer the world (and our own personal worlds) through humble love is powerful. It is clearly something that it easier than done. The act of love and humility are very difficult tasks and impossible without the help of God in many cases. To demonstrate humble love to others, ourselves and the world is a great challenge, especially in a contemporary culture that values power, justice, entitlement, fairness, revenge and a wide range of other values that run contrary to the message of humble love. We are used to conquering through war, power, strategy, manipulation and other things that garner a quick resolution and center around control. To exercise humble love is to give up control, to give up our ‘rights’, to give up power and to trust. It is truly countercultural, but it is exactly what Christ did on the cross. This is a powerful quote worth wrestling with. When you hear these words, what does it stir in you?