What is love for God, and how can it be felt

Readers often send me notes with the same question: what is love for God, and how can it be felt?

I have always answered simply. If you save someone, care for someone, or sacrifice something to help another, the feeling you experience is similar to love.

When you maintain a sense of warmth toward your own child, despite their mischief, the troubles, and difficulties they bring, when you accept them no matter if they are clean or dirty, good or bad—this feeling resembles love.

When you feel compassion for another's pain, when you can be both very gentle and very firm, yet still experience warmth toward them—this feeling is akin to love.

When a close person betrays you, when the woman you love turns away, when someone dear to you suddenly passes away, and you see in this the Divine will aimed at cultivating love in your soul—when you maintain warmth and light within despite the collapse of the world around you—this feeling resembles love.

When all those to whom you have given your warmth turn away from you, when you are sick and dying and can no longer feel warmth toward your body or fate, despair may arise in your soul.

And if at that moment you remember that God always needs your inner warmth, that the Creator always requires it, a feeling may arise in your soul that resembles love.

If you realize that we are all made of love and that Divine will is directed primarily at saving and preserving love, that illness, misfortunes, and losses, by veiling from us the needs of the body, spirit, and soul, redirect our energy toward God—then you may feel a sense of reverence and gratitude toward Him. And this feeling will be similar to love.

In my youth, I read in books that love must be completely selfless, asking nothing in return. An egoist only takes, and that is very bad. But an altruist is ready to give everything, and that is very good.

I constantly heard that a loving person must only give. But over time, I realized that love not only gives but also takes.

God not only gives us life but also takes it away. God not only gives us love—He also needs our love.

In the Old Testament, it is written that God is a jealous God who destroys those who turn away from Him. These words are like a parable, where the meaning is hidden behind the form.

In truth, God constantly gives us love and energy. And when we turn away from Him internally, our soul begins to die, and then the mind and body disintegrate.

Essentially, this is a decoding of the higher universal laws—the laws by which our soul lives. And all universal laws are ultimately reduced to one.

…The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart [and in your soul]; you shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up… (Deuteronomy 6:4–7)

As a rule, people believe that the greatest misfortune is the death of loved ones. For many, it is the death of their own hopes and well-being.

Some people fear losing their job above all else. Others dread the loss of money or physical health.

What, then, is the meaning of loss? Why does it cause such pain for every person? Why does the soul suffer so much?

If we reflect, we come to a remarkable conclusion. The greatest pain does not stem from losing someone or something—it lies in the fact that loss deprives us of the ability to love.

The death of a loved one is the disappearance of the opportunity to give them warmth, care, to sacrifice for them, to nurture them, to argue and even conflict with them. It is the loss of the opportunity to receive pain and suffering from them, which often deepens love.

The loss of a job or well-being is also the loss of the ability to direct energy toward sustaining well-being and fulfilling one's work.

Everything we love constantly demands energy from us. We must think, care, and strive toward the object of our love—and this is what makes us happy.

When we lose health, well-being, or when close relatives pass away, our soul loses the ability to love, to sacrifice, to give. And this is the heaviest burden and suffering for the soul.

In one book of the Old Testament, the sufferings of Job are described. However, it does not explain why these sufferings were necessary. In truth, suffering helps us transition from human logic to Divine logic.

Job lost everything. He could no longer love his body, ravaged by disease. He could no longer love or care for his possessions, his flocks, or his status in society. All those he loved and cared for had died.

It was precisely these unbearable sufferings that pushed him toward the final and only way out of the vicious circle: to love God.

Love for God can be infinitely strong. No one can ever take this love away from us. It is impossible to lose, for God is eternal.

In Judaism, whose foundation is the fear of God, adherence to His commandments, worship, and submission to Him, the seeds of future transformation were sown.

Fear, worship, and strict adherence to the commandments were meant to transform into unconditional love. Through this new perception, God would cease to be a master and ruler and would become a caring and loving Father.

For many believers, the parable of poor Job seems cruel and illogical. After all, the Scriptures clearly state that a person who keeps the commandments will enjoy a prosperous life and good health. His wives will not be barren, his flocks will multiply abundantly, and misfortunes will pass him by.

Why, then, was Job punished? To the human mind, this parable seems an unsolvable riddle.

But if we reflect on the purpose of the commandments, much becomes clear. For most people, keeping the commandments is a means to gain health and prosperity, to obtain forgiveness of sins, and to have healthy children.

The more fervently a person prays, the more secretly they hope to gain health, favorable fortune, wealth, a good job, and interesting dreams and plans that will come to fruition. They hope to have many loved ones to share their love with.

But all the things this person dreams of and prays for are merely tools for giving energy, care, and love. Essentially, keeping the commandments is not about acquiring wealth, prosperity, or a happy family.

It is about revealing and amplifying love within the soul. All the wealth of the material world is merely a means to awaken love within the soul.

To understand the essence, it is sometimes necessary to destroy the form. Job had to endure the collapse of everything to grasp the meaning of keeping the commandments.

This meaning is simple: union with God, an increase in love for God, and a growing likeness to Him.

S.N. Lazarev, «The Survival Experience, Part 3»