L
littleone
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So what’sn the dif between knowing Jesus and knowing of Jesus. HOw can one build up our faith in the spirit of God?
Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me.
So which way are you lending when you say that?I think John 15:4 says it best:
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In that case would it be right to say that satan knows of God, but because of his hatrid of God’s love and God Himself satan could not and will never know God or God’s love!“Knowing-of” Christ is probably the initial or first-step of entering into a life of Christ. Though I’m sure there are those out there in the world who don’t know who Christ is, yet still live a Christ-like life. One the other hand, I know many people who “know-of” Christ, yet do nothing about it, and definately do not reflect that “knowledge” in their opinions and actions.
Getting to know Christ intimately, through study of scripture, through the Sacraments, through His Mother, and especially through the Eucharist is instrumental in growing in holiness. Attending Mass and practicing devotionals draws us to a closer understanding of who He is.
But I think most importantly, we must abide (live) in Christ, and he will abide (live) in us (which is done most profoundly in the Eucharist). By “living” in Christ, we can only be naturally bound towards allowing those fruits of His Grace to be manifest in our lives. We identify not only with His humanity, but his sufferings. Seeing these in Christ, we can make a more concerted effort in imitating him and being more like him. Being able to know about those graces given by Him gives us a keener awareness to His promise to us - acting upon those graces will not only show the fruits of those graces, but draw us closer to the perfection (without sin) Our Lord yearns for us.
To “know” Christ is to love him. To “know-of” Christ can lead to love of Christ, but unless someone has a commitment of love to Him, you can get blown all over the place!
I hope that helps - God bless!![]()
Yes - we unite our will to love God with God’s love for us. That’s something that satan could never do!In that case would it be right to say that satan knows of God, but because of his hatrid of God’s love and God Himself satan could not and will never know God or God’s love!
Hi Littleone,So what’sn the dif between knowing Jesus and knowing of Jesus. HOw can one build up our faith in the spirit of God?