Ordering Loves According to St. Augustine’s Theology

True satisfaction and fulfillment are found only when God is placed as the ultimate love in the human heart. This principle, rooted in the teachings of St. Augustine, asserts that when God is the highest love, all other loves and desires assume their proper place and meaning.

Human beings universally seek satisfaction, often pursuing perishable things such as success, family, and pleasure with the hope that these will bring lasting contentment. However, these pursuits are inherently fleeting and incapable of providing enduring fulfillment. Jesus warns against relying on such impermanent sources of satisfaction, likening them to "spoiled bread" ([01:25]). When these created things become the ultimate source of happiness, they lead to disappointment and inner turmoil because they disrupt the proper order of loves. Loving created things more than the Creator results in a disordered heart, causing frustration and emptiness. This misplacement of love can "bite" and cause dysfunction in relationships and inner peace ([07:52]).

The solution lies in properly ordering loves, with God as the supreme love. When God occupies the highest place in the heart, other good things—family, career, success—gain true meaning and satisfaction because they are rightly related to Him. Good things are indeed meant to bring contentment and satisfaction, but if they are sought as the ultimate source to satisfy a deep hunger, disappointment inevitably follows ([07:52]). Augustine’s teaching confirms that only by loving God supremely can loves be rightly ordered, leading to genuine and lasting satisfaction.

Loving God transcends intellectual knowledge; it involves experiencing His sweetness and desirability. Jesus’ declaration, "I am the bread of life," reveals that He Himself is the ultimate source of fulfillment ([11:11]). God’s incarnation—being born in Bethlehem, the "house of bread"—signifies His purpose to satisfy humanity’s deepest hunger. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, where His body was broken and His blood shed, is the definitive act that restores the heart and aligns loves properly. When God is perceived as sweet and desirable, the heart is captivated, and all other loves become more meaningful because they are rooted in Him ([12:56]).

Believers are called to recognize their hunger and desire for imperishable bliss, even amid moments of contentment. When God is the greatest love, the good things in life become more beautiful and satisfying, experienced within the context of loving Him first. Younger individuals may be tempted to seek satisfaction in worldly achievements, yet the longing for eternal fulfillment persists throughout life. This deep hunger invites surrender to Christ, the Bread of Life, who alone can fully satisfy it ([16:22]).

Properly ordering loves by placing God as the ultimate love transforms human pursuits from fleeting and disappointing to lasting and joyful. Loving God above all else brings true meaning to other good things and fulfills the heart’s deepest desires, rooted in the eternal sweetness of Christ.

This article was written by an AI tool for churches, based on a sermon from Notre Dame Parish, one of 4 churches in Clarendon Hills, IL