Love is not the feeling or emotion I have when I sin, or when I hurt, or when I have a feeling of sweetness in my heart. This is why Saint Maximos says, “When the mind – not the heart – begins to make progress in the love of God. Love is that element that unites us with God. Love distances me from myself and binds me closely to God. And my deeper being, that tends toward God, and which can draw together with it the whole of the human person, is my spirit. The human spirit is similar to God in the sense that it can draw near to God, and can be united with Him. If, then, my sprit loves God then my mind will also be absorbed by God, and then I can say that I love God, and my mind will bring with it my body, and my soul.

Elder Aimilianos of Simonopetra