§390 what angels do 223
b. Loving our neighbor is loving not the role but what is in our neighbor and is the source of our
neighbor: 5025 , 10336. People who love the role rather than the substance and source of the person
love the evil just as much as the good: 3820 ; and help evil and good people equally even though
helping evil people is hurting good ones, which is not loving one’s neighbor: 3820 , 6703 , 8120.
Judges who punish evildoers in order to correct them and to keep them from corrupting and
harming good people are loving their neighbor: 3820 , 8120 , 8121. Every individual and community,
the country and the church, and in the widest sense the Lord’s kingdom, are all “our neighbor,”
and helping them out of a love for their welfare and according to their state is loving our neighbor:
this means that their welfare, which is to be focused on, is our neighbor: 6818 – 6824 , 8123.
smaller details, and so on. These matters are ranked just as uses are
ranked in the divine design. This also means that importance is attrib-
uted to each role in keeping with the importance of its use. Angels, how-
ever, do not claim any importance for themselves but ascribe it all to the
use; and since the use is the good that it serves and everything good
comes from the Lord, they ascribe it all to the Lord. This means that if
people think about respect for themselves fi rst and for their use second-
arily instead of for the use fi rst and for themselves secondarily, they can-
not hold any offi ce in heaven because they are looking away from the
Lord, putting themselves fi rst and their use second. To say “use” is to
mean the Lord as well, since as just noted use is something good, and
good comes from the Lord.
This enables us to determine what rankings in the heavens are like, 390
namely, that we love, value, and respect the functionaries the way we
love, value, and respect the functions that are associated with them, and
also that these functionaries are loved, valued, and respected to the extent
that they do not attribute their use to themselves but to the Lord. To that
extent they are wise, and to that extent they fulfi ll their uses from good
motives. Spiritual love, value, and respect are nothing but love, value, and
respect for the use in the role, respect for the role because of the use and
not for the use because of the role. If we look at people from a spiritually
true perspective, this is the only way to see them. Then we see one person
as much like another, whether their rank is great or small. The only dif-
ference we see is a difference in wisdom, and wisdom is loving use, which
means loving the welfare of our fellow citizens, our community, our
country, and the church.
This is also what constitutes love for the Lord, since everything good
that is effectively good comes from the Lord. It also constitutes love for
our neighbor, since our neighbor is the welfare that is to be loved in our
fellow citizens, our community, our country, and our church, and that is
to be fostered for their sakes.b