The love for God is love for itself—it is love for love. This love is the highest good. Such a love does not allow the possibility of dislike for any being. The moment you dislike even a single person, you lose your love for God and the good of this love.
One of them, a lawyer, asked him a question, testing him. “Teacher, which is the greatest commandment in the law?” Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’ This is the first and great commandment. A second likewise is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments.”
— Matthew 22:35–40
Where do all misfortunes and spiritual torments come from? Only from the soul’s attachment to things which one cannot continue to possess because they are always in flux. People fear and suffer only for the objects they love, and all the humiliations, suspicions, enmities—all this comes only from a love for objects which a human being can never wholly possess.
Only a love for an eternal and infinite object gives our soul pure joy; and it is towards this good that we should strive for with all our strength.
And that is why the highest human good not only depends on the perception of God, but consists wholly in it. The reason for this is made clear by the fact that a human being’s perfection grows by the degree of perfection of the object which he loves above all else, and vice versa. And therefore it is clear that the more a human being loves the most perfect being, i.e. God, and the more he surrenders himself to that love, the more perfect he becomes and the more he partakes in the highest good. Thus our highest good and the foundation of our bliss lie only in the perception of God and in our love for him.
Once this is acknowledged, then it becomes obvious that the means of attaining this end goal of human aspirations can and should be acknowledged by God’s commandments, for the use of these means is prescribed for us by God himself, since he exists in our soul. And that is why the rules of conduct which lead to this goal can also be called divine commandments or divine law. And divine law consists wholly in the highest commandment: to love God as the highest good, i.e. not out of a fear of punishment or out of a love for another object, but in such a way that the love for him is itself the final goal, towards which all our actions are directed.
The corporeal human being does not understand this, to him this rule appears empty because he has only an imperfect understanding of God and does not see in the good that is being offered to him anything palpable, anything that is pleasant to the senses, anything that can satisfy the body, which is the source of his pleasures, since the good that is offered to him consists only in abstract thought, in reason. But those who can understand that in a human being there is nothing higher than reason and more perfect than a pure soul certainly cannot think this.
And if we carefully examine the essence of this divine law, then we will see that, firstly, that the law is universal, i.e. common to all humankind, because it is derived from human nature. Secondly, we will see that this law requires no support by means of any kind of historical tales, because by deriving this law exclusively from human nature, we find it in the soul of every human being, living either in solitude or among those like him. Thirdly, we will see that this natural, divine law of the love for God does not demand from us any liturgical rites, i.e. such actions that are pointless on their own but which are deemed good only because they are part of a universally acknowledged tradition; and this is because the natural light of reason that dwells within us does not ask of us anything that we cannot understand and clearly see as something that is a good in itself and as a means of attaining bliss. Fourthly, we will finally see that the reward for the fulfillment of divine law will be the law itself, i.e. the knowledge of God and a pure, free and everlasting love for him. The punishment for transgressing the law will be only the loss of these goods, a slavery of body and soul, forever in a state of change and turmoil.
— Spinoza
A love for one’s neighbor without the love for God is like a plant without roots. A love for a human being without the love for God is a love for those who love us, those whom we like, those who are beautiful and happy. Such a love often turns into enmity. On the other hand, when we love our neighbor because we love God, then we also love those who do not love us, those whom we find unpleasant, those who are ugly, whose bodies are repulsive. This love is real and firm, and such love does not fade but only grows stronger with time, and it gives ever more good to the one who experiences it.
People say: I do not understand what it means to love God. But who can understand what it means to love something or someone? Only the one who loves can understand it.
If someone does not know what it means to love art or science, how can one explain this to him if he does not know what art or science is?
How can one explain to someone what it means to love God when not only does he not know what God is, but even takes pride in his not knowing it?
They say that we must fear God. This is not true. We must love God. And how can you love the one whom you fear? And besides, it is impossible to fear God because God is love. How can we fear love? We must love God, not fear him. And if you begin to love God and stop fearing him, then you will not be afraid of anything in the world.
