The Fathers of the Church, the Holy Scriptures, and the spiritual experience of the saints all testify that love is not born from human effort alone. It flows from God, who is the only source of love.
Yet, when the human heart is darkened by sin and passions, it fails to reflect this divine love and thus cannot love God as it should.
Orthodox Christianity teaches us that man is not self-sufficient in his virtues. Just as the moon does not shine with its own light but reflects the light of the sun, so man receives love, goodness, and holiness from God.
The Apostle John declares clearly:
“God is love”
1 John 4:8
Love is not something created by man but an uncreated energy of God that radiates into the world. When this energy touches the heart, the heart is called to respond with love toward God and neighbor.
However, if the heart is rusted and clouded with passions, it cannot reflect this love.
The Source of Love in Orthodox Christianity
Saint Isaac the Syrian teaches that God alone is the inexhaustible source of love. Love is not exhausted, nor can its streams ever run dry, because its origin is divine.
This is why Orthodox Christianity insists that love toward God is not a mere human emotion but participation in the uncreated energy of God.
This understanding is radically different from the world’s perception. Modern thought often places love within psychology or human instinct.
Orthodoxy places love within divine grace. When the heart is pure, it becomes like a clear mirror, reflecting the rays of God’s love. But when passions corrode it, the mirror becomes opaque.
The Prophet David sings:
“Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me”
Psalm 50:12 LXX
Without purification, the heart cannot bear or return divine love.
Love is therefore not simply commanded but also requires healing and cleansing.
How the Passions Darken the Heart
The Fathers describe the passions as spiritual rust.
Just as iron exposed to corruption loses its brightness, so the human heart when exposed to passions becomes darkened.
These passions are pride, greed, lust, envy, anger, sloth, gluttony, and many more forms of selfishness. They suffocate the spiritual senses.
Saint Theophilus of Antioch said that the heart reflects God’s light only when it is not covered with this rust. If passions dominate the heart, the light of God’s love is not reflected.
This means that the human being cannot truly love God. He may have emotions or instincts that resemble love, but the true love of God, which saves, does not dwell in him.
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The Lord Himself warned:
“Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”
Matthew 5:8
Purity of heart is not simply the absence of sin but the active cleansing of passions through repentance, prayer, fasting, and obedience to God’s commandments.
Without this purification, the passions remain and darken the soul.
The False Loves That Replace True Love
The human soul desires love. When it does not receive or reflect divine love, it often turns to substitutes. These false loves can appear even noble on the surface but are corrupt at their root.
For example, there are sickly loves based on emotional dependence, and there are sinful loves based on lust or selfish desire.
Orthodox Christianity warns us against confusing these with the true love of God.
Saint Isaac the Syrian says that the sign of genuine love is that the heart burns with compassion for every creature.
True love is expansive, not possessive. It reaches out to humans, animals, even to the fallen spirits in pity, crying out for all of creation before God.
By contrast, false love is inward, possessive, and self-centered. It seeks satisfaction rather than offering sacrifice. This is also a main reason why a faithful Christian cannot have premarital relations.
The Apostle Paul describes the true love that comes from God:
“Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5
Passions destroy this and turn love into something distorted.
The Struggle for Purification
The only way for the heart to love God is to be cleansed. The Fathers insist that love is not an isolated virtue but the fruit of purification. If the heart is filled with passions, there is no space for God’s love.
This purification is both negative and positive:
- Negative, in the sense that we avoid what corrupts: sinful sights, words, and deeds.
- Positive, in the sense that we actively cultivate prayer, almsgiving, humility, and the remembrance of God.
The Psalmist cries:
“Turn away my eyes from beholding vanity, and quicken me in thy way”
Psalm 118:37, LXX
Avoiding corruption is essential, but equally essential is filling the soul with the remembrance of God.
Saint Isaac the Syrian describes the purified heart as one that weeps for all creation, because it is united with the love of God. This burning of the heart is not human emotion but the indwelling of divine grace. It is the work of the Holy Spirit in those who have cleansed themselves from passions.
The Role of the Mind, Heart, and Will in Love
The Lord gave the great commandment:
“You shall love the Lord your God with all your mind, with all your soul, and with all your strength”
Deuteronomy 6:5, repeated in Mark 12:30
Love in Orthodox Christianity is not limited to feelings. It involves the whole human person.
- The mind must know why it loves God.
- The heart must feel the warmth of His love.
- The will must act in obedience and sacrifice.
When all three are united, man loves God truly.
When passions dominate, they fragment the person. The mind justifies sin, the heart is attached to worldly pleasures, and the will is enslaved. In such a state, man cannot love God.
Saint Paul warns that those whose god is their belly, whose glory is in their shame, and who set their minds on earthly things cannot inherit the kingdom of God (Philippians 3:19).
The passions enslave each part of man.
Purification frees the whole person for love.
The Modern World and Orthodox Christianity
The differences between how the modern world views love and how Orthodox Christianity teaches it are striking. Here are some key contrasts:
- The modern world sees love as an emotion; Orthodox Christianity sees love as participation in God’s uncreated energy.
- The world often makes love a matter of self-fulfillment; Orthodoxy makes it self-sacrifice.
- The world reduces love to sexuality; Orthodoxy raises it to holiness.
- The world praises love that satisfies personal desires; Orthodoxy praises love that seeks the salvation of the other.
- The world separates love from truth; Orthodoxy unites love with truth in Christ.
- The world treats love as temporary; Orthodoxy treats love as eternal.
- The world thinks man is the source of love; Orthodoxy teaches only God is the source.
- The world accepts distorted and sinful loves; Orthodoxy calls for purification and discernment.
- The world praises emotional intensity; Orthodoxy praises purity of heart.
- The world views love as a right; Orthodoxy views love as a gift of grace.
The Fruit of True Love
When the passions are cleansed, love flows naturally. The person begins to love not only God but all of creation.
He feels pain for every suffering creature, he prays for enemies, and he weeps for those enslaved by sin.
This love is healing, universal, and unending. It does not depend on human strength but on the grace of God.
Saint Isaac says that even the remembrance of demons makes the loving heart weep for them, since they cannot repent. Such a heart imitates God Himself, who “makes His sun rise on the evil and on the good” (Matthew 5:45).
This is the path of salvation. The passions must be stripped away, the heart must be purified, and then man can reflect the love of God. Only then does he fulfill the commandment to love God with all his being.
Explaining to Children
Parents can explain this to children in simple terms.
The heart is like a mirror. When it is clean, it shines with the light of God’s love. But when it is dirty with passions like selfishness, anger, or greed, it cannot shine. To clean it, we must pray, confess, forgive others, and do good deeds. Then God’s love fills us and we can love Him and everyone else.
Children can understand that God is the sun, we are like the moon, and our heart is like a mirror. If the mirror is clean, we shine bright. If it is dirty, the light cannot be seen.
This helps them understand that love is not just a feeling but living close to God.