The Kingdom of God is not confined to the future, but is already present in the life of Christians through the Church and the Divine Liturgy, Serbian Orthodox Patriarch Porfirije said on Sunday. Speaking after leading the Divine Liturgy in Belgrade, he emphasized that faithfulness to Christ must be demonstrated first of all in one’s relationship with others—above all through a readiness to forgive.

On August 16, the head of the Serbian Orthodox Church presided over the service at the Church of Saint Sava in Belgrade. In his sermon, Patriarch Porfirije turned to the Gospel parable of the unforgiving debtor (Matthew 18:21–35), stressing that forgiving one’s neighbor is not a distant moral ideal but an essential condition of Christian life.

“The Kingdom of God is forgiveness, the Kingdom of God is reconciliation, the Kingdom of God is love,” the Patriarch said.

According to him, the Church and the Divine Liturgy are a foretaste of the Heavenly Kingdom. For this reason, Christians should live according to its values not only during worship, but also in everyday life.

A special focus of the sermon was the ability to forgive. The Patriarch pointed to the “Our Father,” saying that believers ask God to forgive them their debts in the same measure that they forgive those who owe them.

“The Lord will forgive us to the extent that we are ready to forgive our neighbors,” he said.

Patriarch Porphyry added that people often seek God’s forgiveness while, at the same time, showing pride, arrogance, and lack of mercy toward those around them. In that context, he argued that God’s forgiveness must transform the human heart.

“It is important, it is necessary, to forgive everyone everything in one’s heart, because it is in this place that God’s love is manifested—God’s forgiving, ever-forgiving love, His compassion and mercy toward us,” the Patriarch said.

He also urged the faithful to remember this most of all when they believe they are the ones who have been harmed and are convinced of their own rightness.

“If we want to help ourselves be a place of God’s forgiveness for us, then through our deeds and prayer we must do everything so that we forgive our neighbors,” Patriarch Porfirije concluded.