True Christian Religion 43. It is the essence of Love to love others outside of oneself, to desire to be one with them, and to render them blessed from oneself. . . .
The first essential, which is to love others outside of oneself, is recognized in God's love for the whole human race; and for its sake God loves all things that He has created because they are means; for when the end is loved, the means also are loved. All human beings and things in the universe are outside of God because they are finite and God is infinite. The love of God goes forth and extends not only to good people and good things, but also to evil people and evil things; consequently not only to the people and things in heaven but also to those in hell, thus not only to Michael and Gabriel but also to the devil and satan; for God is everywhere, and is from eternity to eternity the same. He says also: That He makes the sun to rise on the good and on the evil, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust (Matthew 5:45). But the reason why evil people continue to be evil, and evil things continue to be evil, lies in the subjects and objects themselves, in that they do not receive the love of God as it is, and as it is inmostly in them, but [they receive it] as they themselves are; in the same way as thorns and thistles receive the heat of the sun and the rain of heaven.
The second essential of the love of God, which is a desire to be one with others, is recognized in His conjunction with the angelic heaven, with the church on earth, with everyone there, and with everything good and true that enters into and constitutes each person and the church. Moreover, love viewed in itself is nothing but an endeavor towards conjunction; therefore that this aim of the essence of love might be realized, each person was created by God into His own image and likeness, with which a conjunction is possible... .
The third essential of the love of God, which is to render others blessed from Himself, is recognized in eternal life, which is the endless blessedness, happiness, and felicity that God gives to those who receive into themselves His love.
Question: How does this description tell you something about true love with us? What qualities in a human relationship indicate true love?
