Page:The Doctrines of the New Church Briefly Explained.djvu/133

Rh charity does; and this consists in acting sincerely and justly in every occupation, in every transaction, and in every work, from an interior and thus from a heavenly origin; and such origin is inherent in such a life when a man acts sincerely and justly because it is according to the Divine laws. Such a life is not difficult; but a life of piety separate from a life of charity, is difficult; yet this life leads away from heaven, as much as it is believed to lead to it." (H. H. n. 535.)

The New Church believes and teaches that love to the Lord and the neighbor is the essential thing in heaven and the church; that the degree of heavenly life, and consequent happiness, in any individual, depends on the degree in which this love is developed or received (for man is only a recipient subject), and the measure of its intensity. Love is life; and the stronger and more disinterested the love, the nobler and more exalted is the life—the nearer does the individual approach to the moral likeness of God himself, and the sweeter and more abundant his spiritual joy.

The great end of all God's dealings with us—the end of all his chastisements as well as his blessings—the end for which He reveals to us the laws of the soul's higher life—is, to develop within us a heavenly character—a pure and unselfish love;—to re-create us in his own Divine likeness.