SR
← On Loving God/Book 1 · On Loving God
Chapter 7Dil.1.7

Non sine fructu et praemio diligi Deum; et terrenis non satiari humani cordis appetitum.

The Paradox of Loving God Without Reward

True love of God is not mercenary, yet it is never without fruit or reward.

Now let us consider what good it is to us to be loved by God. But how much of our own capacity to see is even in this — to grasp what it truly is? Nor should what does appear be passed over in silence, even if it is not seen entirely as it truly is. Earlier, when the question was proposed — why and how God is to be loved — I said the inquiry seemed to yield a double meaning: why God should be loved, either by merit of his own or by benefit to us, and that either line of questioning could equally well be pursued. Having spoken then about the merit of God — not as he deserves, but as it has been given to me to understand — it remains for me to speak about the reward that will likewise be given. For God is not loved without reward, even though he is to be loved without any thought of reward. True love cannot be empty of fruit, and yet it is not mercenary; for it does not seek its own advantage. It is an affection, not a contract; it is not acquired by agreement, nor does it acquire by negotiation.

Love's Own Reward Is the Beloved

True love finds its reward not in external gain but in the one loved.

It acts on its own, and makes whatever it touches willing. True love is content in itself. It has a reward, but the reward is the one who is loved. Whatever you seem to love for the sake of something else, that's plainly what you love — that's where the goal of love is aimed, not the thing it passes through along the way. Paul doesn't preach the Gospel in order to eat, but eats in order to preach the Gospel: the reason being that he loves, not food, but the Gospel. True love doesn't demand a reward, but earns one. The reward, to be sure, isn't yet set before the one who loves; it's owed to the one who loves, and rendered to the one who perseveres. In short, when it comes to persuading people in lesser matters, we lure the unwilling with promises or rewards — and they don't come of their own accord.

God Alone Is the Soul's Reward

A soul that truly loves God seeks no reward other than God himself.

For who would think a man deserves a reward for doing what he already wants to do of his own accord? No one hires a hungry man to eat, or a thirsty man to drink, or even a mother to nurse the child of her own womb. Then again, who would think anyone needs to be hired by prayer or payment to tend his own vineyard, or to dig around his own tree, or to build up the structure of his own house? How much more, then, does a soul that loves God seek no other reward for its love besides God himself? Or if it does seek something else as a sure reward, it is not God that it loves.

The Insatiability of Worldly Desire

Human desire is endlessly restless because nothing in creation is the supreme good.

Everyone who has the use of reason carries a natural drive—always shaped by their own judgment and intention—to seek better things, and to be content with nothing when they judge what's lacking to be preferable. Take the man who has a beautiful wife: with a wandering eye or mind he looks at a more beautiful woman. The man dressed in an expensive garment strives after a more costly one. And the man possessing many riches envies a richer man. You might see men already swollen with many estates and possessions, yet still day by day joining field to field, stretching out their boundaries ever further with boundless greed. And you might see those who live in royal houses and spacious palaces, nonetheless joining house to house every day, and with restless curiosity building, tearing down, and changing square shapes to round. What of men raised high by honors? Don't we see them driven by insatiable ambition, striving more and more with all their strength toward higher things? And there's no end to all of this, because nothing uniquely supreme or truly best is found in any of these things. Is it any wonder that a person can't be content with lesser and worse things, when they can't rest short of the highest and the best?

The Folly of Chasing What Cannot Satisfy

Worldly pleasures weary but never satisfy the soul, and the pursuit of all things is a futile detour.

But this is foolish and the height of madness — to always desire things that never, I won't say satisfy, but don't even moderate your desire: so long as whatever such things you've had, you still crave what you don't have, and toward whatever is lacking, you're always restless and panting. For this is what happens: through the various and deceptive pleasures of the world, the wandering mind, running about in vain labor, is wearied but not satisfied — so long as whatever the hungry person has gulped down, he gives little thought to what remains to be devoured, and always desires what's absent no less anxiously than he joyfully possesses what's at hand. For who could obtain everything? And yet even the little that each person has obtained with labor, he has possessed with fear — indeed, he can't be certain when he'll lose it with pain, but he is certain that he'll lose it at some point. So a perverse will strives by a straight path toward the best, hurries toward that by which it can be fulfilled. Nay rather, it's through these winding detours that vanity plays games with itself, and iniquity lies to itself.✦ If you want to fulfill what you desire, here's what it takes: if you want to grasp that one thing which, once grasped, you'd want nothing further — what's the point of trying all the rest? You're running through winding byways, and you'll die long before this circuit brings you to what you long for.

The Restless Heart Finds Rest Only in God

Even the godless soul, having exhausted all things, would at last find rest only in God.

So this is the roundabout path the godless walk — naturally craving the very things that will put an end to their desire, and foolishly spurning the very things that would draw them close to their true end. Their true end, I say — not their destruction, but their fulfillment. And so they rush not toward a blessed fulfillment but toward being consumed by fruitless labor — those who take more delight in the appearance of things than in their Author, who want to run through everything first and experience each thing for themselves, rather than hurry to reach the Lord of the universe Himself. And indeed they would arrive, if only they could at last obtain what they long for — so that one person might grasp everything, that is, everything except the Beginning of all things. For by the law of its own desire, the heart is accustomed to hunger for what it lacks and to scorn what it already has; and so, once everything in heaven and on earth had been grasped and then dismissed, it would at last without doubt run to Him who alone would be lacking — God, the one end of all things. There it would rest — because just as nothing this side of God calls the soul back to rest, so beyond God no restlessness disturbs it any longer. It would say with certainty: 'But for me, to cling to God is good.' It would say: 'For what do I have in heaven, and apart from you, what have I desired on earth?' And again: 'God of my heart, and my portion, God forever.'

The Impossibility of Possessing All Things

Since no one can possess everything, the attempt to grasp all things through experience is a futile and crooked path.

So then (as has been said), anyone who truly desires would arrive at that which is best, if only, before reaching for what falls short of it, one could first attain the very thing one longs for.12 But since this is altogether impossible — life is shorter, strength is weaker, and our fellow humans more numerous — they toil along a long road and labor in vain, those who, while they desire to reach whatever things they want, cannot attain the end of all desirable things. If only they would seek to grasp all things with the mind, and not through experience! For they could easily do this, and not in vain. For the mind is that much swifter than the carnal sense, and more discerning, as it was given for this purpose: to anticipate all things. And let the sense dare to touch nothing that the mind, running ahead, has not first approved as useful. Hence, I believe, the saying: 'Test all things; hold fast to what is good' — namely, so that the mind may provide for the sense, and the sense may not pursue its own desire except by following the mind's judgment.✦ Otherwise you will not ascend the mountain of the Lord, nor stand in his holy place — because you have taken your soul in vain, that is, your rational soul: while you follow the sense like a beast, with reason idle and offering no resistance to anything.✦ Those whose reason does not anticipate their steps run, but off the path; and so, having despised the Apostle's counsel, they do not run in such a way as to seize the prize. For when will they ever seize the one they do not wish to seize until after all other things?

The Straight Path of the Righteous

Unlike the godless who wander endlessly, the righteous choose the straight path, desiring God alone.

It's a crooked path and an endless detour to want to tackle everything at once. But the righteous person doesn't live that way. When the righteous one hears the criticism of the many who linger on the roundabout way — for many are those traveling the broad road that leads to death — he chooses the royal highway for himself, not turning aside to the right or to the left.✦3 In short, as the prophet bears witness, the path of the righteous is straight; the track of the righteous is level for those who walk it.✦4 These are the ones who, by a wholesome shortcut, are careful to avoid this troublesome and unfruitful roundabout way — choosing the brief and pointed word — not desiring to possess everything they see, but rather selling what they have and giving to the poor.✦✦5 Blessed indeed are the poor, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.✦6 All indeed run, but among those who run, a distinction is made.✦7 In short, the Lord knows the way of the righteous, but the path of the wicked will perish.✦8 For this reason, then, a little is better for the righteous person than the many riches of sinners — since, as the Wise One says and the fool discovers by experience, whoever loves money will never be satisfied by money; but those who hunger and thirst for righteousness will themselves be filled.✦✦910

Justice as the Soul's True Food

Justice nourishes the spirit as food nourishes the body, but material wealth cannot satisfy the soul.

Justice, then, is the vital and natural food of the spirit, depending on how it's used; money, on the other hand, does nothing to lessen the soul's hunger, any more than wind does for the body. Finally, if you saw a starving person open his mouth to the wind, gulping down air with puffed-out cheeks, as if that could relieve his hunger — wouldn't you think he was out of his mind? In the same way, it's no less madness to think that a rational spirit is inflated rather than satisfied by any bodily thing whatsoever. For what comparison is there between bodies and spirits? The former certainly can't be restored by spiritual things, nor can the latter be refreshed by material things — not in the same way, at least. Bless the Lord, my soul, who fills your desire with good things.✦ He fills you with good things, stirs you toward what is good, holds you in what is good. He goes before you, sustains you, brings you to fulfillment. He himself makes you desire, and he himself is what you desire.

God as the Cause and Crown of Love

God is both the reason for loving and the reward of loving, preparing, fulfilling, and crowning our love.

I said it before: the reason for loving God is God himself. And what I said was true: he is both the efficient cause and the final cause. He himself provides the occasion, he himself creates the desire, and he himself brings that longing to its fulfillment. He made us — or rather, he made himself one with us — so that he might be loved. He is the one we hope for, the one to be loved all the more joyfully, so that our love for him is not love poured out in vain. His love both prepares our love and rewards it. He goes before us, more generous in giving, more justly repaid in return, and more sweetly awaited in hope. He is generous to all who call on him, and yet he has nothing in himself that is better than himself.✦ He gave himself as our merit, he keeps himself as our reward, he sets himself before us as the refreshment of holy souls, and he offers himself as the ransom that sets captives free.

The Mystery of Seeking and Finding

God is good to the seeking soul, yet no one can seek him unless they have already found him.

You are good, Lord, to the soul that seeks you — so what must it be for the one who finds you? But here's the remarkable thing: no one can even seek you unless they've already found you. You want to be found so that you may be sought, and sought so that you may be found. You can indeed be sought and found, but not anticipated. For even when we say, 'My prayer will anticipate you at morning,' there's no doubt that any prayer not preceded by inspiration is lukewarm.1112 So it must now be said: where does our love begin, since it's said that where it's brought to completion, there it has its beginning?13

Read the original Latin

Nunc quo nostro commodo diligendus sit, videamus. Sed quantum est et in hoc videre nostrum ad id quod est? Nec tamen quod videtur tacendum est, etsi non omnino videtur ut est. Superius, cum propositum esset, quare, et quomodo diligendus sit Deus, duplicem dixi parere intellectum id quod quaeritur, Quare: ut, aut quo suo merito, aut quo nostro commodo diligendus sit, utrumlibet quaeri posse perinde videatur. Dicto proinde de merito Dei, non prout dignum ei, sed prout datum est mihi; superest ut de praemio, quod item dabitur, dicam. Non enim sine praemio diligitur Deus, etsi absque praemii intuitu diligendus sit. Vacua namque vera charitas esse non potest, nec tamen mercenaria est; quippe non quaerit quae sua sunt. Affectus est, non contractus: nec acquiritur pacto, nec acquirit.

Sponte afficit, et spontaneum facit. Verus amor seipso contentus est. Habet praemium, sed id quod amatur. Nam quidquid propter aliud amare videaris, id plane amas, quo amoris finis pertendit, non per quod tendit. Paulus non evangelizat ut comedat, sed comedit ut evangelizet: eo quod amet, non cibum, sed Evangelium. Verus amor praemium non requirit, sed meretur. Praemium sane necdum amanti proponitur, amanti debetur, perseveranti redditur. Denique in rebus inferioribus suadendis, invitos promissis vel praemiis invitamus, et non spontaneos.

Quis enim munerandum hominem putet, ut faciat quod et sponte cupit? Nemo, verbi causa, conducit aut esurientem ut comedat, aut sitientem ut bibat, aut certe matrem ut parvulum allactet filium uteri sui. An vero quis putet prece vel pretio quempiam commonendum suam ipsius vel sepire vineam, vel arborem circumfodere, vel structuram propriae domus erigere? Quanto magis Deum amans anima, aliud praeter Deum sui amoris praemium non requirit? Aut si aliud requirit, illud pro certo, non Deum diligit.

Inest omni utenti ratione naturaliter pro sua semper aestimatione atque intentione appetere potiora, et nulla re esse contentum, cui quod deest, judicet praeferendum. Nam et qui, verbi gratia, uxorem habet speciosam, petulanti oculo vel animo respicit pulchriorem: et qui veste pretiosa indutus est, pretiosiorem affectat, et possidens multas divitias, invidet ditiori. Videas jam multis praediis et possessionibus ampliatos, adhuc tamen in dies agrum agro copulare, atque infinita cupiditate dilatare terminos suos. Videas et qui in regalibus domibus, amplisque habitant palatiis, nihilominus quotidie conjungere domum ad domum, et inquieta curiositate aedificare, diruere, mutare quadrata rotundis. Quid homines sublimatos honoribus? annon insatiabili ambitione magis ac magis totis viribus conari ad altiora videmus? Et horum omnium idcirco non est finis, quia nil in eis summum singulariter reperitur vel optimum. Et quid mirum si inferioribus et deterioribus contentus non sit, qui citra summum vel optimum quiescere non potest?

Sed hoc stultum et extremae dementiae est, ea semper appetere, quae nunquam, non dico satient, sed nec temperent appetitum: dum quidquid talium habueris, nihilominus non habita concupiscas, et ad quaeque defuerint, semper inquietus anheles. Ita enim fit ut per varia et fallacia mundi oblectamenta vagabundus animus inani labore discurrens fatigetur, non satietur: dum quidquid famelicus inglutierit, parum reputet ad id quod superest devorandum, semperque non minus anxie cupiat quae desunt, quam quae adsunt laete possideat. Quis enim obtineat universa? Quanquam et modicum id quod quisque cum labore obtinuerit, cum timore possederit, certus quidem non sit quando cum dolore amittat, certus autem quod quandoque amittat. Sic directo tramite voluntas perversa contendit ad optinum, festinat ad id unde possit impleri. Imo vero his anfractibus ludit secum vanitas, mentitur iniquitas sibi. Si ita vis adimplere quod vis, hoc est, si illud apprehendere vis, quo apprehenso nil jam amplius velis, quid tentare opus est et caetera? Curris per devia, et longe ante morieris, quam hoc circuitu pervenias ad optatum.

Hoc ergo in circuitu impii ambulant, naturaliter appetentes unde finiant appetitum, et insipienter respuentes unde propinquent fini: fini dico, non consumptioni, sed consummationi. Quamobrem non beato fine consummari, sed consumi vacuo labore accelerant, qui rerum magis specie, quam auctore delectati, prius universa percurrere, et de singulis cupiunt experiri, quam ad ipsum curent universitatis Dominum pervenire. Et quidem pervenirent, si quandoque voti compotes effici possent, ut omnia scilicet, praeter omnium principium, unus aliquis obtineret. Ea namque suae cupiditatis lege, qua in rebus caeteris non habita prae habitis esurire, et pro non habitis habita fastidire solebat; mox omnibus quae in coelo, et quae in terra sunt obtentis et contemptis, tandem ad ipsum procul dubio curreret, qui solus deesset omnium Deus. Porro ibi quiesceret: quia sicut citra nulla revocat quies: sic nulla ultra jam inquietudo sollicitat. Diceret pro certo: Mihi autem adhaerere Deo bonum est. Diceret, Quid enim mihi est in coelo, et a te quid volui super terram? et item, Deus cordis mei, et pars mea Deus in aeternum.

Sic ergo (ut dictum est) ad id quod optimum est, quivis cupidus perveniret, si quidem ante, quod citra cupit, assequi posset.

Verum quoniam id omnino impossibile praestruit et vita brevior, et virtus infirmior, et consors numerosior; longo profecto itinere et casso labore desudant, qui dum quaecunque desiderant, attingere volunt, ad cunctorum desiderabilium nequeunt pertingere finem. Et utinam attingere universa animo, et non experimento vellent! Hoc enim facile possent, et non incassum. Nam et animus sensu quidem carnali tanto velocior, quanto et perspicacior, ad hoc datus est, ut illum ad omnia praeveniat; nihilque audeat contingere sensus, quod animus praecurrens ante utile non probaverit. Hinc enim arbitror dictum, Omnia probate, quod bonum est tenete; ut videlicet ille huic provideat, nec is suum votum, nisi ad illius judicium consequatur. Alioquin non ascendes in montem Domini, nec stabis in loco sancto ejus, pro eo quod in vano acceperis animam tuam, hoc est animam rationalem: dum instar pecoris sensum sequeris, ratione quidem otiosa, et non resistente in aliquo. Quorum itaque ratio non praevenit gressus, currunt, sed extra viam: ac proinde Apostoli spreto consilio, non sic currunt ut apprehendant. Quando etenim apprehendant, quem apprehendere nisi post omnia nolunt?

Distortum iter, et circuitus infinitus, cuncta primitus attentare velle.

Justus autem non ita. Audiens nempe vituperationem multorum commorantium in circuitu (multi enim sunt viam latam pergentes, quae ducit ad mortem), ipse sibi regiam eligit viam, non declinans ad dexteram vel ad sinistram. Denique attestante propheta, Semita justi recta est, rectis callis justi ad ambulandum. Hi sunt, qui salubri compendio cauti sunt molestum hunc et infructuosum vitare circuitum, verbum abbreviatum et abbrevians eligentes, non cupere quaecunque vident, sed vendere magis quae possident, et dare pauperibus. Beati plane pauperes, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum. Omnes quidem currunt; sed inter currentes discernitur. Denique novit Dominus viam justorum, et iter impiorum peribit. Ideo autem melius est modicum justo super divitias peccatorum multas, quoniam quidem, ut Sapiens loquitur et insipiens experitur, qui diligit pecuniam, non saturabitur pecunia: qui autem esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, ipsi saturabuntur.

Justitia siquidem ratione utentis spiritus cibus est vitalis et naturalis: pecunia vero sic non minuit animi famem, quomodo nec corporis ventus. Denique si famelicum hominem apertis faucibus vento, inflatis haurire buccis aerem cernas, quo quasi consulat fami, nonne credas insanire? Sic non minoris insaniae est, si spiritum rationalem rebus putes quibuscunque corporalibus non magis inflari, quam satiari. Quid namque de corporibus ad spiritus? Nec illa sane spiritualibus, nec isti e regione refici corporalibus queunt. Benedic, anima mea, Domino, qui replet in bonis desiderium tuum. Replet in bonis, excitat ad bonum, tenet in bono; praevenit, sustinet, implet. Ipse facit ut desideres; ipse est quod desideras.

Dixi supra: Causa diligendi Deum, Deus est. Verum dixi: nam et efficiens, et finalis. Ipse dat occasionem, ipse creat affectionem, desiderium ipse consummat. Ipse fecit, vel potius factus est ut amaretur: ipse speratur, amandus felicius, ne in vacuum sit amatus. Ejus amor nostrum et praeparat, et remunerat. Praecedit benignior, rependitur justior, exspectatur suavior. Dives est omnibus qui invocant eum: nec tamen habet quidquam se ipso melius. Se dedit in meritum, se servat in praemium, se apponit in refectione animarum sanctarum, se in redemptione distrahit captivarum.

Bonus es, Domine, animae quaerenti te: quid ergo invenienti? Sed enim in hoc est mirum, quod nemo te quaerere valet, nisi qui prius invenerit. Vis igitur inveniri ut quaeraris, quaeri ut inveniaris. Potes quidem quaeri et inveniri, non tamen praeveniri, Nam etsi dicimus, Mane oratio mea praeveniet te; non dubium tamen quod tepida sit omnis oratio, quam non praevenerit inspiratio. Dicendum jam unde inchoet amor noster, quoniam ubi consummetur, dictum est.

Scripture echoes

  1. ↩Jer.17.9 — The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and desperately sick — who can know it?
  2. ↩1Thess.5.21 — But test all things; hold fast to what is good.
  3. ↩Ps.25.3-Ps.25.4 — Indeed, all who wait for you shall not be put to shame; those who are treacherous shall be put to shame, empty-handed. Ps.25.4 — Your ways, O LORD, make known to me; your paths, teach me.
  4. ↩Matt.7.13 — Enter through the narrow gate. For the gate is wide and the road is broad that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter through it.
  5. ↩Isa.26.7 — The path of the righteous is level; you, O Upright One, make smooth the way of the righteous.
  6. ↩Rom.9.28 — For the Lord will execute his word on the earth, accomplishing it and cutting it short.
  7. ↩Matt.19.21 — Jesus said to him, "If you wish to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me."
  8. ↩Matt.5.3 — Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
  9. ↩1Cor.9.24 — Do you not know that those who run in a stadium all run, but only one receives the prize? Run in such a way that you may obtain it.
  10. ↩Ps.1.6 — For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
  11. ↩Eccl.5.9 — Whoever loves money is never satisfied with money, and whoever loves abundance never has enough profit—this too is vanity.
  12. ↩Matt.5.6 — Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.
  13. ↩Ps.103.5 — who satisfies your life with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.
  14. ↩Rom.10.12 — For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord of all is rich toward all who call upon him.

Notes

  1. 1 ↩The conditional is counterfactual or highly hypothetical: the point is that the desire for the Best (God) is frustrated by grasping at lesser things first. Citra ('short of/below') marks the lesser objects as falling short of the ultimate good.
  2. 2 ↩Cupidus rendered 'who truly desires' rather than 'greedy' to preserve the devotional sense of holy longing rather than mere avarice.
  3. 3 ↩The broad road that leads to death echoes Matthew 7:13 (lata via quae ducit ad perditionem); the phrase viam latam pergentes quae ducit ad mortem is a close adaptation.
  4. 4 ↩Semita justi recta est echoes Isaiah 26:7 (recta semita justi), a prophetic witness to the straight path of the righteous.
  5. 5 ↩Verbum abbreviatum may echo Romans 9:28 (abbrevians enim verbum in aequitate) or Isaiah 10:23; the selling-and-giving motif recalls the evangelical counsel (Matt. 19:21).
  6. 6 ↩Direct quotation of Matthew 5:3 (Beati pauperes spiritu, quoniam ipsorum est regnum caelorum); here plane pauperes adapts the beatitude.
  7. 7 ↩The image of all running but one receiving the prize echoes 1 Corinthians 9:24 (omnes quidem currunt, sed unus accipit bravium).
  8. 8 ↩Novit Dominus viam justorum, et iter impiorum peribit is a direct quotation of Psalm 1:6.
  9. 9 ↩Qui diligit pecuniam, non saturabitur pecunia echoes Ecclesiastes 5:9 (qui amat pecuniam non satiabitur pecunia); qui autem esuriunt et sitiunt justitiam, ipsi saturabuntur is a direct quotation of Matthew 5:6.
  10. 10 ↩Sapiens is capitalized in the source, likely referring to the personified Wisdom of Ecclesiastes/Sirach; rendered as 'the Wise One.'
  11. 11 ↩The quoted phrase 'Mane oratio mea praeveniet te' echoes Psalm 62:9 (Vulgate) / Psalm 63:1 (Hebrew numbering): 'Mane oratio mea praeveniet te' — 'My prayer will anticipate you at morning.' Candidate allusion pending Moses resolution.
  12. 12 ↩praeveniri / praeveniet: the sense is that God's grace must precede and inspire our prayer for it to be fervent. The passive infinitive 'praeveniri' (to be anticipated) is rendered actively in context: God's inspiration anticipates our prayer.
  13. 13 ↩The sentence is compressed and paradoxical: amor begins where it is consummatur (brought to completion). The sense is that the completion of love in God is also its true origin — grace perfects what it initiates. The Latin 'ubi consummetur, dictum est' is elliptical; the antecedent of 'dictum est' is left implicit, likely pointing back to a scriptural or traditional saying about love's perfection.

On Loving God companion

Fourteen days is a start. Love grows by daily practice.

Continue with a short daily portion of historic devotion in the free Chosen Portion app.

Bernard argues love of God deepens through repeated, ordinary acts of devotion — the daily portions in Chosen Portion are precisely that repeated practice.

  • Finish the plan, then keep a 10-minute daily devotional habit
  • Read classics like Bernard's in plain modern English, one portion a day
  • Track which of the four degrees you are practicing, week by week
Chosen Portion — Daily Prayer (free iOS app) →