"The soul is a creature in God which has the same properties as God."
Julian of Norwich
"God made them like Himself."
James 3:9 (ICB)
We are made in the image and likeness of God, which means we are by nature like God, who is pure Love. Love is our core and essential virtue. It is our natural state and our natural response to others. Trauma, harsh teachings, self-hatred may make us think we are not loving by nature, but that is not true. The flow of love is always there within us, like an undercurrent in the sea, like a breeze blowing in the trees. Christ comes to show us we are loving by nature just like God our Father, and He breaks the hold of lies, trauma, and fear, and we find that the love we have desired to show is already at our center, and that in the deepest sense that love is truly Christ Himself in us. He is the source of the love in us. That is how we know our love is pure. We have pure love for others. This love is spreading more and more as we wake up to Him within us, loving us, loving all, in and through and as us!
A Thought: I naturally want to love people. I am not naturally selfish but kind.