Those who are always trying to lay hold of our soul do so by means of impassioned thoughts, so that they may drive it to sin either in the mind or in action.  Consequently, when they find the intellect unreceptive, they will be disgraced  and put to shame; and when they find the intellect occupied with spiritual contemplation, they will be turned back and suddenly ashamed. (Maximos the Confessor)

I am not called to the monastic life.  I do not perceive this is God's purpose for me. Maximos is not writing for me. 

But impassioned thoughts - epipothe'sis - are relevant.  Plato suggests we are motivated by goodness, truth, and beauty. We might capitalize each.  He argues that we will not be be satisfied until we experience the ideal of each.

Such ideals are not, typically, immediately accessible.  We encounter shadows of each.  We may even - usually do - confuse a shadow for its ultimate form.

Plato - perhaps in tension with Maximos - perceives that by fully engaging a shadow, coming to know its limits, we can eventually move closer to its source.

I understand Jesus to say that in fully engaging our neighbors and our selves, shadows of God, we can eventually move closer to God.