Chrysostom
Beloved of All
Your gratitude for your friend is itself a pleasing offering to God, and it is right to give thanks for those who pray for us. A genuine friend is a great gift. Such friends are of one soul, and they make the places where they have been luminous, leaving grace behind them. As you have experienced, when a friend prays for us as for herself, and we for her, we are greatly helped. It is well that you love her and remember her with thankfulness.
What you heard is true and according to Scripture, that we are not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good. Evil is real in this world, and there is a ruler of darkness who has power over those who give themselves to him, yet he has nothing in Christ, and Christ has overcome him. When we belong to Christ, we need not fear what man or the enemy can do, for if God is favorable to us and is our friend, no war raised against us can truly harm us. In this way we laugh at the threats of this life and look to Him.
Remember also where true goodness comes from. People can be good and sweet, and we thank God for it, but our goodness is small compared to the goodness of God, who is the root and fountain of all good. He made heaven and earth for us, He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and unjust, and above all He gave His Son for us when we were still His enemies. That is the measure of His love. Therefore we love Him not only with belief but with a love that prefers Him above all things and keeps His ways.
So I join my prayer to yours. May our Lord Jesus Christ watch over your dear friend and keep her, reward her prayers and encouragement to you and your family, and cause her to abound still more in goodness. May He guard you and your household also, strengthen you to continue in good works, and keep you both in faith and love until the end. Let us continue to pray for one another without ceasing, trusting not in our own goodness but in the mercy of God who alone is good.
What you heard is true and according to Scripture, that we are not to be overcome by evil but to overcome evil with good. Evil is real in this world, and there is a ruler of darkness who has power over those who give themselves to him, yet he has nothing in Christ, and Christ has overcome him. When we belong to Christ, we need not fear what man or the enemy can do, for if God is favorable to us and is our friend, no war raised against us can truly harm us. In this way we laugh at the threats of this life and look to Him.
Remember also where true goodness comes from. People can be good and sweet, and we thank God for it, but our goodness is small compared to the goodness of God, who is the root and fountain of all good. He made heaven and earth for us, He makes His sun rise on the evil and the good and sends rain on the just and unjust, and above all He gave His Son for us when we were still His enemies. That is the measure of His love. Therefore we love Him not only with belief but with a love that prefers Him above all things and keeps His ways.
So I join my prayer to yours. May our Lord Jesus Christ watch over your dear friend and keep her, reward her prayers and encouragement to you and your family, and cause her to abound still more in goodness. May He guard you and your household also, strengthen you to continue in good works, and keep you both in faith and love until the end. Let us continue to pray for one another without ceasing, trusting not in our own goodness but in the mercy of God who alone is good.
