O Jesus, ever with us stay! “God is love… Love comes from God…” (1 John 4.) Perhaps some quotes from Scripture can help describe this. The third degree of love, we have now seen, is to love God on His own account, solely because He is God. For until then the soul is restricted in the body, bound at least to it by the natural affections, of not also still vitally connected by physical sense…. Themes: Love. 2. Thou fount of life! This is progression in love again parallels my own experience in salvation and I hope yours. 15:28) if in man there is left anything at all of himself? Our restless spirits yearn for thee On Loving God by BERNARD OF CLAIRVAUX, Saint LibriVox . I love me for my sake. So we pray daily. As Thou our prize wilt be; Blest, when our faith can hold Thee fast. Is it even possible in this life? Among his most popular writings is a treatise called On the Love of God. Nevertheless, it is wisdom to know what you can do by yourself and what you can only do with God’s help to keep you from offending God by sin. Yes. Loving Yourself For Your Own Sake (Selfish Love) The love of self, as St. Bernard observes, “is not … Your email address will not be published. How good to those who seek! But truly if this love, natural as it is, begins to be too precipitate or too lavish and is not at all satisfied with the riverbed of necessity, overflowing rather widely, it will be seen to invade the fields of pleasure. Ah, this This is a little 240 second (240s) reflection I did on the Four Degrees Of Love by Bernard Of Clairvaux. This is to love those things that belong to Jesus Christ, even as Christ sought our interests, or rather sought us, and never looked after His own [interest]…, Blessed are those who can attain the fourth degree of love. Because he is God and because he is good. Man’s human nature and individual identity will remain, transfigured.” When will all this happen? He promises that He will, of His own accord, give whatever is necessary to him who restricts himself in superfluities and loves his neighbor. In it he presents his famous Four Degrees of Love, which are a model for spiritual development in Christlikeness. Bernard Of Clairvaux’s Four Degrees Of Love. 1,000,000 de Visitas en el 2015 — ¿Cuáles Son las 10 Mejores. Yes and no. 1 day ago. Posted on January 10, 2015 by hawksince78. The love of Jesus, what it is, Altar of Promise Genesis 12:6–7 _____ _____ An altar is a statement of your values, which extends into your future and bends your life around God. And thirst our souls from thee to fill! The third degree “is to love God on His own account, solely because he is God” (19). Jesus, our only joy be Thou. What, then, will the Lord be to those who seek His presence? Let’s respond with the psalmist, ” O, give thanks to the Lord, for He is good” (Psalm 118:1). The other thing we can do to grow into greater degrees of the wonderful and beautiful love of Christ and of God our Father is to meditate on the lyrics to Bernard’s inspiring hymns of devotion to God until our soul begins to sing we are drawn to take heart for God from him. For if we say, “Early shall my prayer come before Thee” (Psalm 5), yet all prayer would still be lukewarm unless it were animated by Thine inspiration…. Change ), by an Anglican disciple of Christ & Vicar, Frequently Misused Verses: the fear of the Lord, The love of Power versus the love of the Powerful. Clairvaux’s Degrees of Love. We need to be awakened to love for God by hearing his commands and observing his acts of love toward us. 3 On Loving God St. Bernard of Clairvaux St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Fourth Degree of Love. God in His prevenience does this. [In heaven] the fourth degree of love is attained forever. Altar of Provision Genesis 12:8 _____ _____ 3. While his life is quite a mix of goodness and strangeness, this piece has always been one of the richest pieces of spiritual formation literature I’ve come across. “Bernard of Clairvaux understood what it means to be a friend to oneself. It is, however, a sort of prudence to know what you are able to do by yourself, and what you are able to do with God’s help, and to preserve yourself guiltless for Him who keeps you unharmed.”. It is impossible to love in God without first loving God (1 Thessalonians 2:1-11). « Previous Unit Next Unit » Dan Wilt. And there is nothing on earth that I desire besides you. At once its overflow is held in check by the commandment that opposes itself to it: ‘You shall love your neighbors as yourself’ (Matt. Then will my spirit be at one with God (1 Corinthians 6:17), saying, “My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever” (Psalm 73:26). Early on, he describes four levels (or degrees) of loving God. How blessed is he who reaches the fourth degree of love, wherein one loves himself only in God! Glad, when Thy gracious smile we see, His works profoundly influenced the likes of Martin Luther and John Calvin whose reading of Clarivaux helped spark the Reformation. 5:29). (Psalm 100:5) The final degree of love Bernard says is very rare. In other words, we love God because of who he is. And yet there is a more perfect way, St. Bernard describes. “Four Degrees of Love” from the Treatise “ On the Love of God,” by Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153) You ask me, “why should God be loved?” I answer: the reason for loving God is God Himself. For more resources like this, visit: www.danwilt.com Or like a bar of iron that is heated and red-hot and becomes like the flame itself, so is this return to divine love. And how great was this love of His? And thru eternity. However, this is carnal love… selfish… [This] love does not come as a precept, it comes naturally, for “no one ever yet hated their own flesh” (Ephesians 5:29). But sweeter far Thy face to see Soul Shepherding. A sweeter sound than Thy blest name, And, as St. Bernard says, “when once His sweetness has been tasted, it draws us to the pure love of God more than our need impels.”, The 3rd Degree: Loving God for God’s Own Sake (Intimacy with God), “Just as in the case of the Samaritans who said, speaking to the women who had announced that the Lord had come, ‘We no longer believe because of your word, for we have heard for ourselves and we know that this is the Savior of the world’ (John 4:42), similarly, I say, we too, following their example, speaking to our flesh we may justly say: We now love God, not from your necessity; for we ourselves have tasted and know how sweet is the Lord.”. It is righteous, because it gives as it receives. 8. To them that find Thee, All in All! The person who is at the second degree of love will give thanks to God when He has shown him kindness. St. Bernard of Clairvaux on the Fourth Degree of Love. Then they will love themselves only in God! In his own contemplations, Bernard of Clairvauxs says that his representation of the degrees of grow may not be the best but are surely the sweetest of the answers to the question of what love is because they match what we all crave, the wonder of love in its basic forms. For to so lose yourself that you are reduced to nothing is a dive experience and not a human sentiment (Philippians 2:7)…, In God all our affections should center, so that in all things we should seek to do only His will and not to please ourselves. The fourth degree is loving God alone, with no regard for our self on the one hand or God’s gifts on the other. His writings had a profound influence on Martin Luther, who called him “the best monk that ever lived,” and John Calvin. In this video, Dan Wilt reflects on the “four degrees of love” of Bernard of Clairvaux, and how “loving ourself for God’s sake” can be a game-changer in the one life we have to live. Let us restrain our own self-love if we would avoid becoming transgressors. Yet it is natural for this love to grow excessively, and like a strong current, burst the banks of self-control, flooding the field of self-indulgence. It doesn’t say God is good to me; God just is good. Especially in the worship of the Church, where we receive Christ through His Word & Sacrament, we “taste and see how good is the Lord” (Psalm 34:9). The 1st Degree: Loving Yourself For Your Own Sake (Selfish Love), The love of self, as St. Bernard observes, “is not imposed by a command but it is implanted in nature, for who ‘ever hated his own flesh?’ (Eph. He was an eloquent speaker and considered by many to be one of the holiest individuals who ever lived. Cuando duele. Again, as the psalmist says, “You open your hand and satisfy the desires of every living thing” (Psalm 145:16). 2. Bernard of Clairvaux (Latin: Bernardus Claraevallensis; 1090 – 20 August 1153), venerated as Saint Bernard, was a Burgundian abbot, and a major leader in the revitalization of Benedictine monasticism through the nascent Order of Cistercians.. Thy truth unchanged hath ever stood; Razones Por Las Cuales Líderes Cristianos Fracasan. The fourth degree of love is one Bernard believed existed, but felt it is rare compared to the first three degrees. So it was God who loved us, loved us freely, and loved us while yet we were enemies. Four Degrees of Love | Bernard of Clairvaux 1. Then you will follow the teaching of the apostle: “But if we have food and clothing, we will be content with that” (1 Timothy 6:8). Especially seeing the non-Christian first degree and the impossible-to-reach fourth degree, we are reminded that God has a plan for us that began before we even knew Him, and will continue even beyond this mortal life! Only then can we love our neighbor. Then you will not find it a burden to share with your neighbor what you have held back from your enemy [of your selfish passions]… So what could readily be a selfish love can become truly social when it can extend to include others. It looks at Bernard's intellectual debt to William of Champeaux on issues of sin and grace, and to William of Saint-Thierry for ideas about how amor evolves into caritas. We love justly… This love is also pleasing because it is spontaneous. Thy righteousness standeth like the strong mountains, O Savior of mankind. (I Cor.13.5). Saint Bernard, the founding abbot of Clairvaux Abbey in Burgundy, was one of the most commanding Church leaders in the first half of the twelfth century as well as one of the greatest spiritual masters of all times and the most powerful propagator of the Cistercian reform. To them that seek Thee, Thou art good, The person who loves like this, truly loves the the things of God… without self-interest (1 Corinthians 13:5). Our progress through this second degree love, comes from frequent time spent before God. “Give praise to the Lord, for He is good,” Psalm 118 begins. Dan Wilt, M.Min. This level of love no longer seeks gain from God, but only to enjoy Him. Our prayer will be “Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10). The third degree of love St. Bernard describes closely follows and flows from our walk with God in Christ throughout our life. Summary by Kirsten Ferreri. Bernard’s devotional classic, The Love of God, explains what divine love is how we grow and develop in the perfect love of God which has come to us in Jesus Christ. Un asociado de Yet it is still love for your own benefit, not God’s own sake. It is far better to divide your enjoyment with your neighbor than with your enemy [passions]. 10. Let’s take a look at them. He was sent to found a new abbey at an isolated clearing in a glen known as the Val d'Absinthe, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) southeast of Bar-sur-Aube. His fourth stage of maturity is a surprise! 4. The substance, indeed, will remain, but in another form, another glory, another power. ( Log Out /  Why? Now we love God for what He really is. It is true love, because it is not just wordy, but it is demonstrated by deeds (1 John 3:18). He spoke of four stages in the spiritual life, beginning with learning to love oneself for one’s own sake. Where’er our changeful lot is cast; No tongue nor pen can show To those who fall how kind Thou art! The 2nd Degree: Loving God for Your Own Blessing (Dependence on God), St. Bernard describes the second degree as loving “God but still for a time for one’s own sake, not for God’s. It is higher than adoration because even … This twofold work of God’s law (restricting our sinfulness) and God’s grace (tugging at our heart) brings us to the second degree of love. Posted by. Shed o’er the world thy holy light! Abstract: This paper examines the thinking of Bernard of Clairvaux about love in relationship to the ideas of his two famous contemporaries, Peter Abelard and Héloise. This is not a confession of being good to the Lord, but of the Lord being good to us. “Happy is he who has deserved to attain as high as the fourth degree where a man does not love even himself except for the sake of God.” This doesn’t mean we cease to care about our own existence, exactly, nor does it presume that we somehow become so important to God that he needs us. Our love is pure, and we obey out of a pure heart and in loving obedience (1 Peter 1:22). “Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven” (Matthew 6:10)…, To reach this condition is to be godly. God, as the source of all goodness, is the source of our ability and disposition to love others…. Or just as air becomes so radiant with the light of the sun that it appears to be the very sunlight itself, so it is with the saints whose human love is transmuted by the will of God Himself…, Not until death is swallowed up in victory (1 Corinthians 15:54), and eternal light overwhelms all darkness, and takes full possession so that glory alone shines in their bodies, can our souls be entirely set free to be given wholly to God. However, if we are to love our neighbor with absolute righteousness, we need to acknowledge God as our motive and cause. And so, in a spiritual and immortal body (as promised in 1 Cor. He chose to live in a primitive hut in a marshy valley rather than a wealthy Benedictine monastery nearby. Here is a marvelous thing, for it is impossible to seek the Lord unless one is already found of Him… O God, You may be sought and found, but no one can [accomplish this on their own.] 3. “Love is the fountain of life, and the soul which does not drink from it cannot be called alive.” These are the ancient words of Bernard of Clairvaux (1090 – 1153), a great lover of God and considered the last of the Church Fathers. So too we tell our flesh, “we love God, not because of your needs, for we have tasted and known for ourselves the sweetness of the Lord” (see Psalm 34:8)…. Bernard of Clairvaux says, “We love because we are loved. The 4th Degree: Self-Love for God’s Sake (Being United with God’s Love). For this love is a mountain of great elevation that is fertile and rich. ¿Cómo puedes confiar en Dios? 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