St. Gregory of Nyssa discussed three elements of a good Christian life: Thoughts, words and deeds. Sound familiar? He wrote (my translation):
“What else would he who has been given the name Christian do but explore diligently each of his thoughts, words and actions, and see if each of them leads to Christ, or leads away from Him?
“…. the purity that is in Christ and the purity which is in our hearts is the same; the purity of Christ though can be identified as the source; our purity however comes from Him and flows into us, sweeping us along the way of beauty and honesty of thought, in such a way that there appears a certain coherence and harmony between the interior man and the exterior man, so that the thoughts and sentiments which come from Christ will regulate our lives and guide them in holiness…
“In this way then, in my judgment, Christian life is perfected: In the assimilation and the concrete realization of all the titles expressed by the name of Christ, be they of the interior of our hearts or our external words and actions.” — Gregory of Nyssa, PG 46, 283-286
An interesting thought for consideration — we are to assimilate and concretize in our words and actions all we have come to say and believe about Jesus Christ.
