Watch, stand fast in the faith, be brave, be strong. Let all that you do be done with love. (1 Corinthians 16:13-14)
St Paul tells us to stand firm in the faith. St Isaac the Syrian comments on how our faith ultimately leads to love which allows us to fulfill Christ’s command to love one another:
“For the sake of the mysteries of the Spirit, which are above knowledge and cannot be apprehended by the senses of the body or by the reasoning power of the intellect, God has given us faith, whereby we know only that these mysteries exist. But this faith gives birth in us to hope for them. By faith we profess that God is the Lord, Master, Creator, and Fashioner of all things. By knowledge we determined that we must keep his commandments and understand that fear keeps the old commandments, but love keeps the life-giving commandments of Christ, as He Himself said, ‘I have kept My Father’s commandments and abide in His love‘ (John 15:10). It is evident that the Son does not keep the commandments of His Father from fear but from love. For this reason He admonishes us that we should also keep His commandments out of love when He says: ‘If ye love Me, keep My commandments. And I will entreat the Father and He shall give another comforter’ (John 14:15, 16). By the coming of the Comforter He indicates the gifts of the revelation of the mysteries of the Spirit, since it was by the reception of the Spirit that the apostles received the perfection of spiritual knowledge.” (THE ASCETICAL HOMILIES, p 440)
Fraternized 