Let us love one another, and we shall be loved by God. Let us show longsuffering to each other, an God will show longsuffering towards our sins. Let us not return evil for the evil done to us (cf Rom 12:17), and we shall not be punished according to our sins. For the forgiveness of our transgressions is to be found in our forgiveness of our brethren. And the mercy of God is to be found hidden in our compassion towards our neighbor... So you see, the Lord has given us a way in which we can be saved, and has endowed us eternally with the capacity to become children of God (cf John 1:12); thus it is on what we ourselves desire that our salvation depends.
+St. Maximos the Confessor, from Ascetic Discourse, #42.
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