With the zealous fulfillment of the will of God, as the fruit of true Christian love for God, there appears in the soul of a Christian an abhorrence of worldly sinful defilement, which should be understood as the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life (3:146). He places all his hope and consolation in the one God, and all the goods of the world will become like rubbish for him. If he had great material values at his disposal or if he had high power, then in this case he remains faithful to his duty and uses the goods given to him for the glory of God. All the concern of such a person comes down to one goal: to do the will of God and to be useful to those around him and to society as a whole (1:85).

A Christian can have a heart inspired by love for God only when he completely breaks all connection with sin by bringing sincere repentance (4:355). And without this, there can be no true love for his Creator in him, but only feigned hypocrisy (3:165). If someone loves God, constantly cares about the fulfillment of His holy will, and carefully watches that his heart does not cling to anything earthly, he will naturally always remember God and have Him in his heart. So it is among people: if someone loves someone, he constantly thinks about him (5:235). For example, "a good son loves his mother or father, because he loves them heartily, often remembers them when he does not see them or is far from them" (2:277). It is the same with a person who loves God. All his thoughts, desires and heartfelt sighs are always directed to God, as "a flame of fire strives for high" (2:104; 2:23). The constant remembrance of a loving heart about God consists, according to the Wonderworker of Zadonsk, in uninterrupted thanksgiving for His infinite mercies to sinful man (2:302), in prayerful conversation with Him and contemplation of God (1:159).

As St. Tikhon shows, the feeling of gratitude is born from contemplation of God's blessings; Since these blessings are "not only innumerable, but also incomprehensible to the mind," the feeling of gratitude in a loving person should never dry up (2:303). "Wherever we look," says the Holy Father, "wherever we turn our eyes and minds, everywhere we have sufficient opportunities to glorify the goodness of God" (2:308). And this gratitude on the part of man is a God-pleasing means, attracting into his soul the grace-filled streams of Divine life.

And vice versa, he who clings to worldly and vain things does not have the love of God, because "God's love and worldly love cannot be contained in one heart as surely as fire and water. For God is jealous, He desires that man should love Him with all His heart, and not with half of Him" (1:159). Attachment to the sinful passions of the world has such a pernicious effect on the life of a Christian that under their influence he can renounce Christ in his heart (3:147). Whoever does not constantly care to have God in his heart and does not exercise himself in prayer (1:86), who is blinded by self-love, which does not allow him to see the blessings poured out from above, is deprived of God's mercy. That is why ingratitude is a grave sin, which testifies to a lack of love for God and cries out to heaven for vengeance (2:310-318).

"The Name of God in itself is both holy and glorified"; it does not require our glorification, but all this is necessary for man. Just as the sun, "whether praised or reproached," always remains bright and sends out rays to the whole universe, so the glory of God "is not diminished by the blasphemy of men, nor increased by glorification" (3:73). But the true "lover of God seeketh the glory of God in all things... and prays that the Name of God may be glorified: hallowed be Thy Name, O Heavenly Father, as Christ taught" (2:277). In his work "On True Christianity," St. Tikhon shows how a believer should glorify the Name of God. Thus, according to him, God is glorified when the Holy Scriptures, preached by the holy prophets and apostles, are accepted by faith without doubt as a great gift of God; when true faith in the Son of God, the Lord Jesus Christ, flourishes; when a believer patiently endures difficulties and sorrows, oppression and persecution for the truth, honor and glory of God (3:77). Finally, the Name of God is glorified when a Christian does good deeds not for the sake of praise or reward, but for the glory of God: "Thus let your light shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father, Who is not in heaven" (Matt. 5:16) (3:78-79).

While glorifying God, a Christian at the same time feels in his heart a constant influx of new grace-filled forces that spiritualize him and direct him to the closest unity with the heavenly world. And this mood of a loving soul is expressed by the saint in the words: "A true lover of God desires to unite with the Beloved with all earnestness, which is why he often prays, sighs, weeps, crying out with the Prophet's heart: "In the same way that the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for Thee, O God" (Ps. 41, 2)" (2:277). Whoever loves God with all his heart and strives to unite spiritually with Him is not afraid of any obstacles and even death; together with the Apostle Paul, he would like to "be departed and be with Christ" (Phil. 1:23). A clear example of this is the holy martyrs, who "deigned to suffer the most cruel tortures and more sorrowful deaths, rather than to be separated from the beloved Son of God" (3:147). But often in the life of Christians it happens that many of them wish to be with the Lord and receive glorification and blessedness in His Kingdom, but they do not want to do what He (Christ) commanded, and to lead a life according to these commandments, justifying themselves by the impossibility of fulfilling them. This testifies to "that their heart is wrong, and they do not truly love Christ... they love themselves more than Christ... A true friend in misfortune is known... Thus is the true lover of Christ, who here in this world abides with Christ and clings to Him in his heart, and endures suffering or the cross with Him without complaint, and desires to be with Him inseparably in the age to come" (5:236).

From these arguments of St. Tikhon it follows that the consequence of true love for God is the uncomplaining endurance by a Christian of all the sorrows and trials of life, permitted by the good will of God (2:277), in order to strengthen him in patience and direct his spiritual strength to the acquisition of sincere love for God (2:300-301). And those who do not strive to acquire this "godlike virtue" are like a shadow that is near its object only during the sunshine, and as soon as the latter begins to move, the shadow moves with it. But when there is no sunlight, then the shadow recedes from the object. So it is with those "who... in prosperity they think to thank God, but in adversity they murmur; they do not tolerate it and turn to enlist help from the creature, in order to get rid of the misfortune that has found them" (3:142).

A zealous Christian, striving to acquire true love, directs all his efforts to imitate God and His saving morals (2:277), i.e. tries to be meek, patient, gentle, merciful, and all for the sole reason that such is the Lord, Whom he loves, Whom he strives for and wants to be like, and this assimilation will open the way for him to be even closer to his Creator (1:91-92).

According to St. Tikhon, a clear sign of love for God is heartfelt joy. "As honey delights our throat when we taste it," says the Holy Father, "so does the love of God gladden our hearts when we taste and see how good the Lord is" (5:235). Just as there is no love without joy, so there can be no true joy without love, for what a man loves, he rejoices in (3:421). Both love for God and the spiritual joy that accompanies it should be present in a Christian under any circumstances of his life, both in prosperity and in misfortune. According to the saint, sorrow, when a person loses the object of his love, is a determinant, a touchstone of the truth of love and joy of a Christian. Indeed, will a person grieve and grieve for what he did not love and with which he was not comforted? (3:248–250). On the other hand, excessive sorrow over the loss of something temporary indicates that the believer's heart is still attached to earthly things and has not reached the fullness of spiritual love. Only one who is attentive to his spiritual life will notice this discrepancy between his aspirations and reality and will make an effort to eradicate from the heart the obstacles that hinder true love of God. Of course, a Christian, like any other person, is also characterized by ordinary everyday joy, for example, "for the blessing of the air, for the abundance of the fruits of the earth, for the health of oneself and for one's neighbors, and so on. But even this joy... has a beginning from God... For God's good is the testimony of God's goodness... and as the rays of the eternal sun descend upon us and warm us, and raise our mind and heart to Himself, and exhort Him to love and rejoice in Him" (3:251).

Finally, the most essential sign, fruit, and consequence of love for God is love for one's neighbor (1:86, 162; 4:275). Love for one's neighbor is a complete reflection of love for God. And from this it is evident that he does not love God who does not love his neighbor. Quoting the words of the Apostle John the Theologian: "If anyone says that he loves God, and hates his brother, it is a lie. For thou shalt not love thy brother, whom thou hast seen, God, but Whom thou hast not seen, how can thou love? And this is the commandment of the Imam from Him, that thou love God, and love thy brother also" (1 John 4:20-21), St. Tikhon says that a Christian who does not love his brother is dead in soul, for as the body is quickened by the soul, so the soul is quickened by the Spirit of Christ, and where there is no Christian brotherly love, there is no Spirit of Christ (5:236). When the Spirit of Christ is absent in a person's soul, another spirit inevitably dwells in it, the spirit of the devil, which captivates the soul, defiles and eradicates in it all that is good and holy. In the words of the Holy Father, where there is no love, spiritual death reigns, after which "eternal death will follow, when the soul is not resurrected by true repentance" (2:339). In order to avoid this death, a Christian in his life must be lenient towards the people around him, forgive the sins they commit, not be angry and not hide revenge in his heart, because "he who avenges himself from the Lord will find vengeance" (Sir. 28:1) (3:223). Only in this case will the Lord show mercy to the infirmities of the Christian himself. In other words, the absolution of sins, and consequently the salvation of a Christian, is directly dependent on his attitude to the people around him (5:187). Without love for them, God does not accept any sacrifice from a Christian (2:338; cf. 1:164), moreover, such a sacrifice, instead of propitiation, offends and angers the Creator.

According to the conclusion of the saint, if all virtues end with the death of a Christian, then true love continues to exist in the life of the age to come. It begins here, and will be perfectly revealed only in eternal life, where "in the election of God they will love one another, rejoice in one another, and enjoy one another spiritually" (1:89).

If love between people flourished in the world, human society would not only be freed from many evils and all kinds of misfortunes, such as theft, murder, deception, slander, ridicule, etc., but would also enjoy well-being and divine peace. "Oh, love, love, the union of perfection — love! – exclaims the saint. "How many blessings do we deprive us when we do not have them... With you everything is good and prosperous, but without you everything is bad and unhappy" (1:164). The beneficial effect of true love, generously poured out from the loving heart of a person on others, occurs for the reason that it cannot remain hidden by its inner property, as having its origin in God (4:324), but manifests itself independently of the external position of a person. According to the saint, it can be compared to a warm stove that warms everyone who touches it. All people without exception are our neighbors, for we are all descended from one Adam in the flesh, having one nature with him, and therefore we need each other's mutual help, as members of the material body (2:336-337). But Christians are especially close to each other, who are enlightened by one faith, baptism, and the word of God, and confess and call upon the One God (5:238). A Christian must show his love for his neighbor not only in words, but especially in good deeds, imitating his Redeemer and Saviour, Who, seeing the fall and the wounds inflicted by the enemy of the human race, the devil, "was created to our neighbor," came down from heaven, took the form of a servant, "bound our strings, pouring oil and wine, and thus healed us, and departing into heaven, He delivered us over to the gifts, the apostles and their successors, the pastors, that they might be diligent to us" (2:331-332).

Consequently, mutual love is a sign of a true follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, Who said: "Of this all men understand, that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one to another" (John 13:35). Embodying these words in their lives, many followers of Christ were vouchsafed the greatest gift on earth – union with the Source of love – God (1:164). On this occasion the Holy Father of the Church exclaims: "Oh, how great is the bliss of man to be united with the eternal most blessed Divinity! What can be the most desirable and joyful thing in this union? But abiding in Christian love will be vouchsafed such great blessedness" (1:92). And no matter what gifts a Christian possesses, and no matter what feats he performs, all this will not bring him any benefit if he does not make a firm decision in his soul to walk the salvific path of love (1:91).

Speaking about the fruits of love and their significance in the life of a Christian, the saint quotes the words of the holy Apostle Paul: "Love suffers long, is merciful, does not see love, does not exalt itself, is not proud, does not riot, does not seek its own, is not irritated, thinks no evil, does not rejoice over unrighteousness, but rejoices in the truth, loves everything, eats faith in everything, trusts in everything, endures everything. Lyuby nikolizhe falls away..." (1 Corinthians 13:4-8) and gives them a brief but at the same time clear explanation.