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And to return to the praise of martyrdom, there is a word of the blessed Paul, who says: "Know ye not that they who run in a race strive many, but one receiveth the prize? But do ye so run, that all of you may obtain." ¹ Moreover also elsewhere, that he may exhort us to martyrdom, he has called us fellow-heirs with Christ; nay, that he might omit nothing, he says, "If ye are dead with Christ, why, as if living in the world, do ye make distinctions?" ² Because, dearest brethren, we who bear the rewards of resurrection, who seek for the day of judgment, who, in fine, are trusting that we shall reign with Christ, ought to be dead to the world. For you can neither desire martyrdom till you have first hated the world, nor attain to God's reward unless you have loved Christ. And he who loves Christ does not love the world. For Christ was given up by the world, even as the world also was given up by Christ; as it is written, "The world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world." ³ The world has been an object of affection to none whom the Lord has not previously condemned; nor could he enjoy eternal salvation who has gloried in the life of the world. That is the very voice of Christ, who says: "He that loveth his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come; but he that hateth his life in this world, shall find it in the world to come." ⁴ Moreover, also, the Apostle Paul says: "Be ye imitators of me, as I also am of Christ." ⁵ And the same elsewhere says: "I wish that all of you, if it were possible, should be imitators of me." ⁶