Philanthropy according to Saint Gregory Palamas

Saint Gregory Palamas stresses the importance of philanthropy for spiritual life and harmonious social coexistence. God has revealed Himself to man as good and philanthropic, and therefore each person is called to imitate His philanthropy, which is not so much related to the financial surface as to a loving attitude towards one's fellow human beings. Philanthropy is therefore a task that is easy to accomplish, not only because it can be practised in many ways, such as providing material goods, forgiving the unjust, giving advice and consolation, but also because each person can easily judge for himself what is needed for his fellow man. Finally, philanthropy is described as beneficial to the spiritual life, since helping others makes up for the lack of virtues in the philanthropist, provided that it is not done for the praise of others, but out of sincere and unselfish love for them.