There are three ways that we can please God:

1.) By fearing Hell and following His commandments. In this case we are like a slave.

2.) By practicing His commandments to receive the reward of eternal life or peace. In this case we are like a laborer.

3.) By pleasing God out of love for Him. In this case we are a son of God.

For when a son reaches a mature age, he carries out the will of his father not because he is afraid of being punished, not because he wants to receive payment from him, but because he loves his father, and he pays special attention to always love and respect his father, convinced that everything that his father owns belongs to him as well. Such a person becomes worthy of hearing the following words: “Wherefore thou art no more a servant, but a son; and if a son, then an heir of God through Christ” (Gal. 4:7). Such a person no longer fears God (with introductory fear, of course) as we have already said, but he loves God, as Saint Anthony stated: “I no longer fear God, but I love Him.”

So, one must approach the Logos Savior, not induced by the fear of punishment and not with the expectation of some kind of a reward, but primarily for the sake of the good in and of itself. Such souls will stand on the right side in the sanctuary.

Based on Saint Basil the Great, Saint Dorotheos of Gaza, Saint Clement of Alexandria

In this image a hermit trying to give the photographer a small prayer rope

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