Persistently and insistently, I strove to understand this pain and to find its cause. I couldn't tell whether it was from a lack of love or an absence of truth... I went to see Father Paisios and opened up my heart to him... He became serious and said:
"Man is worthy of being loved just because he's in the image of God. It doesn't matter at all if he's good or bad, moral or sinful. Man is worthy of being loved for what he is. Christ loved and sacrificed Himself for sinful, corrupt people. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance (Matt 9:13; Mark 2:17; Luke 5:32). We should be the same way: we should love everyone without making any distinctions. Just like the sun rises on everyone, intelligent and unintelligent, good and evil, beautiful and ugly, our love should be like the love of God––love that's like the sun and shines on His whole creation without making distinctions.."
From The Gurus, The Young Man, And the Elder Paisios by Dionysios Farasiotis p 83
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