“...we will never look back until this work is finished and love of God and neighbor rules the world...”

“We love neither God nor our neighbor as we should. Our love in spiritual things is "too defective, in worldly things too excessive, there is a jar in both." We love the world too much; God too little; our neighbor not at all, or for our own ends.”

“We are God's representatives on earth. We are God's glory, displaying his likeness. After each day of creation God declares what he has made to be 'good'. But only after the 6th day God's verdict on a world that now includes humanity is 'very good'. God's work wasn't finished until there was something in the world to reflect his glory in the world. We often excuse our actions by saying, 'I'm only human.' There is nothing 'only' about being human: we're truly human as we reflect God's glory.”

“If you wish to befriend someone, look for a person who loves first God then themselves. If they love God, they will be able to love their neighbor, too.”

“God loves human beings. God loves the world. Not an ideal human, but human beings as they are; not an ideal world, but the real world. What we find repulsive in their opposition to God, what we shrink back from with pain and hostility, namely, real human beings, the real world, this is for God the ground of unfathomable love.”

“One must love God first, and only then can one love one's closest of kin and neighbors. We must not be idols to one another, for such is not the will of God.”