First, charity is disinterested, seeking no reward, nor allowing itself to be diminished by any return of evil for its good. God is to be loved for Himself, not for his gifts, and persons and things are to be loved for God’s sake, because they are temples of the Holy Ghost. since charity is disinterested, it must of necessity be universal. Love seeks no cause beyond itself and no fruit; it is its own fruit, its own enjoyment. I love because I love; I love in order that I may love…. --- St. Bernard
He that loveth not knoweth not God, for God is love. I John: 4
That is the agape, unconditional Love of the scriptures. I have often said that to love because that is who you are, and no one or no circumstance can make you not love is a spiritual goal. It is what we aim to be as spiritual beings having a human experience, as Teilhard de Chardon described our life here.
If we love conditionally, we are merely manipulating. I think that is one of the reasons people deflect Love, for they have been given and give phony love, love that seeks an ego's purpose. As St. Bernard said, Love seeks no cause beyond itself and no fruit; it is its own fruit, its own enjoyment.
Let us strive to live and love fully and without conditions.
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