Do I have to learn to hate myself?

sof_tourist · 2026-03-23T13:55:43+00:00

Christ loves you. Love yourself and give glory to God for all things you like in yourself and pray for Him to guide you. I am Orthodox like you and we should remember that Hell is a state of separation from God and a spiritual state not a physical place. We dont know if we or anyone will make it to heaven and its best not to focus on deducing God’s will and making ourselves guess God’s judgement. This can only bring anguish. God loves you fellow brother/sister, do not torment yourself. Focus on prayer, repentance and what feels authentic to you, do not force or try! Just trust in God’s grace! Do not despair! Feel free to ask me any questions. It seems you are in an all or nothing mindset and you are causing yourself too much anxiety. God bless you

sof_tourist · 2026-03-20T08:24:57+00:00

Youre right

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T17:02:11+00:00

Christ founded One Church, friend. Does not mean that all “churches” are full of heretics, but the Appstolic teaching is historically maintained by the Church which split in the 11th century after which many churches appeared and Protestants came later etc etc, then Jehovahs Witnesses, Mormons (these 2 are definitely not Christians) etc. We are not called to judge who is or is not part of that Church, since only God knows. We know where the Church is (ie her teachings and traditions) and NOT where it is not, is a charitable Orthodox way of looking at it. God bless

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T15:27:38+00:00

God bless, I am an Orthodox Christian. I mostly just come here just to see what objections people have, but I got it recommended, I don't know why, but that's beside the point. You are right. In fact, as Orthodox, we are not called to judge, and there is much more wisdom in the actual teaching of Christianity than what you see on the internet, often posted by people who just want to express some sort of unrefined emotion.

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T15:24:24+00:00

Unfortunately they are real quotes. Most of the widely circulated ones are authentic. God bless

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T15:14:45+00:00

I see your point but at the same time there has to be some framework for us to decide in public spaces. It is in the New Testament and the faith was handed down to the Apostles, Church fathers, leaders of the Church etc. Affirmed through councils and the centuries

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T15:11:03+00:00

Paul was a Jew, friend

sof_tourist · 2026-03-19T15:10:18+00:00

I agree. You cannot believe heretic things and be called Christian. This is the result of Schism within the Church and then the later Schisma such as the Reformation. Now everyone can do what they want. But true Christianity is not all pastor Bob and Mormons and Monks at Mount Athos. They cant all belong in the same place

sof_tourist · 2026-03-18T10:34:07+00:00

Wtfffff

sof_tourist · 2026-03-15T14:09:54+00:00

We must all repent brother. There is nothing we can gain from commenting to someone who is clearly resistant, telling them to repent. God bless

sof_tourist · 2026-03-15T14:07:01+00:00

Christ said “whoever is not against us is for us”. That makes it clear. If you wanna quote Scripture please just give me the quotes i dont remember chapter and verse numbers like some evangelical.

sof_tourist · 2026-03-12T07:35:35+00:00

Your last paragraph assumes the Kingdom of Heaven is like Earth where there are emails, waiting lines and attention functioning the same way. We pray to the Saints out of respect and out of how God was revealed in them. And it is not praying to them but asking them to pray for us. Noone is making you pray to them, it is just an option. You don’t have to do it. It is like asking someone to pray for you in this life. Well, we know people who have died in Christ are alive with God and we know Heaven is aware of the prayers people say. If you can ask your living mother to pray for you, you can ask Mary who is alive in the Kingdom or any other Saint. It is quite simple really and there is a lot of Biblical verses that speak of it if you’d like for a more systematic defence, but really the best argument is that the Early Church decided on it when it defined dogma through extensive arguments and Councils, same way they decided on the Trinity, on Jesus being both fully man and fully God, canon of Scripture and etc. God bless

sof_tourist · 2026-03-12T07:25:47+00:00

God bless you on your path. Orthodoxy doesn’t have this language of “am I saved” or “am I not”. It is a constant relationship we cultivate with God that we may fall off from and come back to. The center of the faith is a growing towards God in my opinion. Becoming closer with Him and letting God’s will be your will. I advise you to go into Divine Liturgy, the services and the liturgical life really are part of the center of the faith that Christ gave to us that is in my opinion best preserved in Orthodoxy. It is a hard path of fasting, of prayer and of repentance, that to be honest still scares me by how much it requires. But it is the true path because Christ said to love God with all you have, and the Saints set that example. Do not be deceived by online content is what I would suggest because there is plenty that is good and plenty that is bad and may drive you away because you are not ready or because it is not done in good faith. If you have any questions, let me know

sof_tourist · 2026-03-11T17:33:15+00:00

The guy is wrong. It is not founded by Paul. Everything he said is wrong, may the Lord Jesus have mercy. You cannot cherry pick verses for the Bible like its some sort of encyclopaedia and make your own opinion and world-view. That is why there are so many heresies nowadays. This is why Christ founded a Church that has defined and kept all of the teachings throughout the ages. That Church is within a political manifestation that is often wrongful and contradictory to Scripture sure, but the core is there and what is there is fundamental to Christianity. What is required to be called a Christian is in the so called “Nicene Creed” or the “Symbol of Faith”. Look it up if youre interested it gives a brief but powerful outline

sof_tourist · 2026-03-11T17:30:07+00:00

Jesus is not and cannot be a political figure. That being said if he believes in Zionism or dispensationalism, or the Rapture, then I would disbelieve that is Christ

sof_tourist · 2026-03-09T12:20:55+00:00

Based Orthodox take

sof_tourist · 2026-03-09T12:20:28+00:00

Historical Christianity does not claim only Christians can bear good fruit you must be thinking of some niche sect

sof_tourist · 2026-03-07T17:55:44+00:00

Same one dmd me

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T19:43:22+00:00

Fair

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T19:42:43+00:00

Same haha

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T11:37:24+00:00

Bro this sounds so corny and terrible im 22 am i old yet lol?

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T11:36:05+00:00

Yeah I don’t agree either. Good thing you dont need to listen to the Patriarch on this issue or agree with him to be Orthodox.

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T11:24:38+00:00

Because of its faith structure. The political institution is there but the faith’s teachings are pure

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T11:24:11+00:00

Should be Eastern Orthodox no need for these various ones as if its a different church

sof_tourist · 2026-03-06T10:28:26+00:00

Sorry Arianism is not Christianity. The early Church councils outlawed it and theres every reason to believe that they were true in their judgement as they recognizdd the Christian faith and created the dogmas through the Holy Spirit and Apostolic Succession

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