“He must increase, but I must decrease.” What is this? He must be exalted, but I must be humbled. How is Jesus to increase? How is God to increase? The perfect does not increase. God neither increases nor decreases. For if He increases, He is not perfect; if He decreases, he is not God. And how can Jesus increase, being God? If to man’s estate, since He deigned to be man and was a child; and, though the Word of God, lay an infant in a manger; and, though His mother’s Creator, yet sucked the milk of infancy of her: then Jesus having grown in age of the flesh, that perhaps is the reason why it is said, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”

But why in this? As regards the flesh, John and Jesus were of the same age, there being six months between them: they had grown up together; and if our Lord Jesus Christ had willed to be here longer before His death, and that John should be here with Him, then, as they had grown up together, so would they have grown old together:

Jonah and Christ

Homily 43.2 The Gospel of Saint Matthew

In the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the Corinthians, known as the "Chapter of Love," Saint Paul the Apostle presents to us the attributes of love or the virtues that a loving person should adorn himself with. Amongst these virtues is patience or longsuffering, "Love suffers long" (I Cor.13:4).

“And the Lord God said, ‘It is not good that man should be alone; I will make him a helper comparable to himself.” (Gen. 2:18) Adam’s Need: As Christians, we believe that God created everything for a reason and nothing was done just haphazardly. We also believe that everything God created was good, “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good.” (Gen. 1:31) When God created Adam, He formed him out of the dust of the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life. But at the same time, man was the crown of creation since God formed him after He had prepared every possible means of happiness and comfort for Adam. Yet, as Adam looked at the animals that were under his dominion, he found that each had others of its kind. As for himself, the Bible says, “But for Adam there was not found a helper comparable to him.” (Gen.