On Love for God and Neighbor
-St. Basil the Great.
Those who have forsaken all worldly cares must diligently guard their souls, so as not to cast out thoughts of God or obscure the memory of His wonders with vain imaginings. Instead, through ceaseless and unblemished recollection, they should bear the thought of God in their souls as an indelible seal. For in this way, we acquire love for God, which both stirs us to fulfill His commandments and is itself preserved through them unceasingly. One who has a fervent desire to follow Christ cannot turn their thoughts to love for worldly things, parents, or kin if such love opposes the Lord’s command. Here it is fitting to say: “If any man come to Me, and hate not his father, and mother, and wife, and children, and brethren, and sisters, yea, and his own life also, he cannot be My disciple” (Luke 14:26). The holy disciples of the Lord, James and John, taught us this when they left their father Zebedee and the very boat by which they were sustained. Matthew, rising from the tax collector’s seat, followed the Lord, not only forsaking the profit of his collected dues but also despising the dangers that threatened him and his kin from the authorities for failing to account for his duties. Finally, Paul was crucified to the world, and the world to him. For when the soul is occupied with the love of godliness, discord seems to it worthy of mockery; and though arrows pierce it for the sake of its beloved, they bring more joy than sorrow. If we naturally have love and zeal for our benefactors and do not refuse any labor to express gratitude for their kindnesses, what words can worthily describe the benefits of God? They are countless and so great that even a single one obliges us to offer all thanksgiving to Him who granted it. Yet God, in His abundant goodness, seeks no repayment from us but love alone. Reflecting on this (to make the passion evident), I am struck with awe and come to a fearful trembling, lest through folly or preoccupation with vain things, I fall away from love for God and become a dishonor and reproach to Christ. For the devil will turn our contempt for God into a reproach against Him, boasting of our disobedience, since, though he neither created us nor died for us, he makes us followers of his obstinacy and neglect of God’s commandments. This dishonor to the Lord and the boasting of His adversary seem to me heavier than the torments of hell, for we ourselves give Christ’s enemy cause to boast and exalt himself against the One who died and rose for us.
We must love God with all our strength, and also our neighbor, even our enemies, that we may be perfect imitators of the goodness of our heavenly Father, who “maketh His sun to rise on the evil and on the good” (Matt. 5:45). Conversely, it is improper to exhaust the strength of our love on other things. The good of love, if confined to the mere name of love, is laughable, for those who choose this or that person love only them, excluding countless others from sharing in that good. If associating with harmful people under the guise of peace causes harm, we must discern who these are with whom we mingle. If the Son of God is hated, it is no wonder that we, too, are hated by those filled with hatred. Yet, just as a building cannot stand when its supports are broken, so the church cannot grow in stature unless bound by the bond of peace and love. For nothing is more natural to our nature than to be mutually united, to need one another, and to love those like ourselves. We have greater need of each brother’s help than one hand has for the other. When I consider our very members, that none can act alone, how can I think I can manage life’s affairs alone? For neither does a foot walk securely without the support of the other, nor can an eye see clearly without the aid of its companion, working in harmony to behold what is seen. Hearing is keenest when both ears receive sound, and touch is strongest when fingers act together. Simply put, I see nothing done, whether by nature or choice, that is accomplished without the harmony of its kind, and even prayer, lacking agreement, is weaker than itself. Let the mutual love of bats, linked together like a chain, teach you; prefer not the separate and individual to the communal and united. Nothing divides us from one another, brethren, unless we divide ourselves by our own will! We have one Lord, one faith, one and the same hope. Though you consider yourselves the head of the whole church, the head cannot say to the feet, “I have no need of you”; though you place yourselves in another rank among the church’s members, you cannot say to us, established in the same body, “We have no need of you.” For hands need each other, one foot strengthens the other, and eyes see more clearly in harmony. Let not this thought possess you: “Living by the sea, we are free from the misfortunes of many and have no need of others’ help. Why, then, should we commune with them?” But the Lord, though He separated islands from the mainland by the sea, united their inhabitants through love. This is the chief difference between a friend and a flatterer: the latter speaks only what is pleasing, while the former does not omit what is offensive. Do you know that you are obliged to do for your neighbor what you desire from another? Hearing from God Himself, who said to His disciples, “By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35), and that as His final gift to His disciples, before departing in the flesh, the Lord left His peace, saying, “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give unto you” (John 14:27), I cannot convince myself that without mutual love and the utmost preservation of peace with all, I can be called a worthy servant of Jesus Christ.
In like manner, love must be common and equal, as a person naturally has an inclination toward each of their members, equally desiring health for the whole body, since the illness of any member causes equal distress to the body. For one who loves one thing above others condemns themselves, lacking perfect love. Likewise, from fellowship, one must reject unseemly strife and partial love. For strife begets enmity, and partial love and friendship breed suspicion and envy. Wherever equality is lacking, it becomes the source and cause of envy and malice among those deprived of it. Therefore, just as the all-good God equally illumines all with light, commanding “His sun to rise on the evil and on the good” (Matt. 5:45), so too must God’s imitators extend the ray of their love to all. For where there is no love, hatred takes its place. If, as John said, “God is love” (1 John 4:16), it is clear that the devil is hatred. As one who has love has God, so one who harbors hatred nurtures the devil within. Therefore, everyone must have equal love for all, rendering honor to each according to their worth. Just as the illness of any member affects the whole body equally, yet some members are more excellent than others (for we are not in the same state when an eye or a toe suffers, though the pain be equal), so too must compassionate zeal and the inclination of love be shown equally to all in fellowship; yet greater honor must be given to the more distinguished. However, when we are bound by spiritual love, bodily kinship should not take precedence in love, nor should blood ties—whether brother, son, or daughter—engender greater love for kin than for others. One who follows nature in this regard convicts themselves of not being fully detached from nature, remaining a slave to the flesh. To our God be glory forever and ever, amen.
–St. Basil the Great