St. Gregory Palamas: God gives much, asks little

 For this purpose the Son of God bowed the heavens and came down to earth, became the Son of man, spoke and acted as He did, finally suffered and died for us, rose again and went to to heaven once more, to make us heavenly immortal and sons of God. So the things He now asks of us, that we should love our enemies, do good, and lend to those unable to repay, are not only fitting and beneficial for us, as has already been demonstrated, but are also small in comparison with what He gave. He gave Himself for us, who not only had nothing to give in return, but who had previously shown ourselves in many ways to be ungrateful and evil. By contrast, He urges us to lend what we have in excess and to do good with what we possess. What do we have, and how much? And for the sake of these trifles He gives us in exchange likeness to Himself, sublime adoption as sons, and heavenly rewards, saying, "Be ye merciful, even as your Father which is in heaven is merciful" (Luke 6:36, cf. Matthew 5:48).

St. Gregory Palamas, from The Homilies, homily 45 for the Second Sunday of St. Luke

St. Gregory Palamas: Humility in response to God's Saving Love

If the Son of God had not come down from heaven we should have had no hope of going up to heaven. If He had not become incarnate, suffered in the flesh, risen and ascended for our sake, we should not have known God's surpassing love for us. If He had not taken flesh and endured the passion while we were still ungodly, we should not have desisted from the pride which so often lifts us up and drags us down. Now that we have been exalted without contributing anything, we stay humble, and as we regard with understanding the greatness of God's promise and benevolence we grow in humility; from which comes salvation.
+St. Gregory Palamas, from St. Gregory Palamas, The Homilies, Homily 16 On Great and Holy Saturday.

St. Gregory Palamas: Life and Death of the Soul

This is real death, the soul's withdrawal from divine grace and its attachment to sin... this is the death from which to flee and of which to dread.... it is more dreadful than torment in Gehenna. That is why we flee it with our every power. We have cast out everything, left everything, renounced everyone, both relationships and business, and desires, that is, everything that destroys us and separates us from God and from everything out of which such a death exists. For one who fears and guards against this, the coming death of the flesh is not so terrible, for having real life in oneself, it moreover at death becomes unalterable from the person. For just as the death of the soul is real death, so too the life of the soul is real life. The life of the soul is its union with God, just as the life of the body is its union with the soul. And just as through the transgression of the commandment, the soul, being separated from God, was put to death; likewise its reunification with God, through obedience, grants it life. For this reason, the Lord said in the Gospels: "the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and life." (John 6:63) Learning this through experience Peter said to Him, that "You have the words of life." (John 6:68)  But "the words of eternal life" are for those who are obedient; to the disobedient this commandment of life brings death. (cf. Romans 7:10) For in the same manner the Apostles being an aroma of Christ, "were to one a fragrance from death to death, and to the other a fragrance from life to life." (2 Cor 2:16) 
+St. Gregory Palamas, from Treatise on the Spiritual Life, #2 The Life and Death of the Soul