The Source of Love in Orthodox Christianity
When the Apostle John wrote, “God is love” (1 John 4:8), he revealed the most important truth of our existence.
Love is not a human invention, nor is it an emotional impulse that begins within us.
Love is an uncreated energy of God. Just as God Himself is without beginning and without end, so His love has no origin and no limit.
Orthodox Christianity teaches that man is not the fountain of love. Man receives love from God, just as the moon receives light from the sun. The moon cannot shine by itself. In the same way, the human heart cannot produce true love on its own. It can only reflect the uncreated energy of divine love that God pours into it.
Saint Isaac the Syrian teaches:
“Love has God as its cause. He alone is the inexhaustible fountain of love.”
This means that whenever we feel true love, we are experiencing a divine gift. The love does not originate from our nature but from the uncreated grace of the Holy Spirit.
Uncreated Energies and the Human Heart
In Orthodox Christianity, we speak of the uncreated energies of God. God’s essence is beyond our reach, but His energies come to us and transform us. These energies are not created, they are eternal and divine. Love, mercy, and grace are among these uncreated energies.
When divine love touches the human heart, the heart is moved to respond. The Fathers describe the heart as a mirror. If it is clean, it reflects the light of God’s love. If it is covered with rust, it cannot shine back what it receives.
The rust is our passions and sins. Pride, selfishness, anger, and lust cloud the heart, making it unable to reflect the love of God.
The prophet David prayed:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
Psalm 50:12 LXX
Without purification, our heart cannot participate in true love. This is why the Fathers say that love is the fruit of a pure heart. When the heart is cleansed by repentance, prayer, and ascetic struggle, it becomes transparent and full of light.
False Loves and Sick Loves
Not all forms of love that people speak about in the modern world are true. There are unhealthy and sinful versions of love that are born from passions.
A person may cling to another with possessiveness, demanding constant affection. This is not true love but a sick dependence. Another may misuse love in the context of lust, which is not pure but sinful and destructive.
Orthodox Christianity teaches us to discern between false love and genuine divine love. The criterion is purity.
- True love is born when the heart has been purified by grace.
- False love is born when the heart is darkened by sin.
The Lord said:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
Matthew 5:8
Only such hearts can also see what true love is.
The Characteristics of Genuine Love
Saint Isaac the Syrian describes genuine love as a burning of the heart for all creation. A heart filled with divine love does not love only friends or family. It loves every person, every creature, and even weeps for the fallen demons who have lost their capacity to repent.
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Such love flows beyond human measure. This kind of love cannot be taught in words, but it is experienced in the depths of the soul.
It moves one to tears of mercy and unceasing prayer. It is love that seeks nothing for itself but only gives. It is love that reflects the very life of God.
The Apostle Paul describes it beautifully:
“Love is patient and kind. Love does not envy or boast. It is not arrogant or rude. It does not seek its own”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Such love is not from man but from God.
Why Man Cannot Be the Source of Love
Man was created in the image of God, but he is not God. He cannot produce divine energies by himself. He can only receive them and reflect them.
When man thinks that he is the origin of love, he falls into pride and idolatry of the self.
To think that love is our own creation is like saying that the moon shines by itself. The moon only shines because it receives the light of the sun. In the same way, we only love because we receive the light of God.
Christ Himself said:
“Without Me you can do nothing”
John 15:5
If this is true even for our actions, how much more for love itself, which is God’s very life. To separate love from God is to create an idol of emotion that cannot save.
The Work of Purifying the Heart
If love is the fruit of a pure heart, then our task is to cleanse the heart from the passions that darken it. This is the work of Orthodox Christian ascetic life.
We fast, pray, repent, confess, and strive against our sins so that the mirror of the heart may reflect divine love.
Saint Theophilos of Antioch wrote that if the mirror of the heart is covered with poison and rust, it cannot reflect the light. So too, if our hearts are chained by passions, we cannot receive God’s love.
Repentance and confession polish the mirror. The sacraments fill it with grace. Then love begins to shine naturally, not as something we produce, but as something God pours through us.
The Apostle Peter reminds us:
“Above all things, have fervent love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins”
1 Peter 4:8
Love is not optional. It is the sign that we live in Christ. But it is never our own creation. It is always divine.
Differences Between the Modern World and Orthodox Christianity on Love
- The modern world sees love as an emotion. Orthodox Christianity sees love as an uncreated energy of God.
- The modern world teaches that love begins in human desire. Orthodox Christianity teaches that love begins in God alone.
- The modern world often equates love with sexual desire. Orthodox Christianity distinguishes between passion and pure divine love.
- The modern world encourages self-centered love that seeks to be loved. Orthodox Christianity teaches selfless love that only gives.
- The modern world limits love to human relationships. Orthodox Christianity extends love to all creation.
- The modern world praises love as a temporary feeling. Orthodox Christianity proclaims love as eternal and divine.
- The modern world treats love as psychological need. Orthodox Christianity reveals love as salvation and communion with God.
- The modern world separates love from purity. Orthodox Christianity teaches that purity is the very foundation of true love.
- The modern world often worships love as an idol of emotion. Orthodox Christianity reveals that only God is love.
- The modern world tolerates distorted and sinful forms of love. Orthodox Christianity calls man to discernment and repentance.
The First Commandment and Love
The Lord said:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind”
Matthew 22:37
Love in Orthodox Christianity is not only an emotion. It involves the whole person. The mind must know God, the heart must feel His mercy, and the will must act according to His commandments.
This commandment shows us that true love engages our entire existence. It is not selective. It is not partial. It is the total surrender of man to God. This is why love cannot be from man. It must come from God and return to Him.
How Parents Can Explain This to Their Children
Parents can explain to children that love is like light. We cannot make the sun shine, but we can feel its warmth and reflect it. Just as a mirror reflects the sunlight, our hearts reflect the love of God. If the mirror is dirty, it cannot shine. But if we clean it, it shines brightly.
Children should learn that love is not just about hugs and kisses. It is about kindness, prayer, and helping others because God fills us with His love.
They should also know that not every feeling that seems like love is true. True love always comes from God, and we can feel it most when we pray, go to church, and stay close to Christ.
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