is for fear of losing standing. This love hides hatred of the
Lord deeply within it because deep in it is the desire to be God, for it
worships and adores itself alone. Hence if anyone honors it, even to
saying that it possesses divine wisdom and is the god of the world, it
loves him with all the heart.

[11] It is otherwise with the love of distinction and wealth for
usefulness' sake; this love is heavenly, for, as was said, it is the same
as love of the neighbor. By uses goods are meant, and by doing uses doing
good is meant, and by doing uses or good, serving and helping others is
meant. Although those doing so may possess distinction and wealth, they
regard these only as means for doing uses, thus for serving and helping.
They are meant in these words of the Lord:

Whoever would be great among you, must be your minister; and whoever
would . . . be first, must be your servant (Mt 20:26, 27).

It is these also whom the Lord entrusts with ruling in heaven. For ruling
is to them the means of doing uses or good, thus of serving; and when
uses or good deeds are their purpose and their love, they do not rule;
the Lord does, from whom is all that is good.

[12] Fourth: _Man hardly knows the difference between the two loves._ For
most men of distinction and wealth also perform uses, yet do not know
whether they do so for their own sake or for the sake of usefulness. They
know this the less because love of self and the world has more fire and
ardor for doing uses than have those who are not in love of self and the
world. The former do uses, however, for the sake of fame or gain, thus
for their own benefit; but the latter, doing so for the sake of
usefulness and what is beneficial, act not from themselves but from the
Lord.

[13] The difference between the two loves can scarcely be recognized by
man, for he is ignorant whether he is being led by the devil or by the
Lord. Led by the devil he does uses for his own sake or the world's; led
by the Lord, he does them for the sake of the Lord and of heaven. All who
shun evils as sins do uses from the Lord; all who do not shun evils as
sins do uses from the devil, for evil is the devil, and use or good is
the Lord. Only so is the difference in question recognizable. Outwardly
the two loves look the same; inwardly they are wholly unlike. One is like
gold with dross in it, the other like gold with pure gold in it. One is
like artificial fruit, looking outwardly like the fruit of a