We can usually tell when you're in love with someone else -- but how can
anyone tell when you're truly in love with G-d? There are ways. You'd be
known to truly love G-d, to begin with, if you're always
caught "renouncing things ... that distract you from (Him)".
You'd also be known to love Him when "the look of fear and dread of G–d is
on your face" all the time, we're told. But don't get thrown by that,
though, and ask how "fearing" or "dreading" G-d would indicate that you
love Him, because there are two sorts of fear when it comes to G-d: "the
fear of punishment and tribulation", which is a rather low and primitive
one, and then there's "revering His glory, exaltedness and might", and
it's the highest level one could ever attain to, as well as "the most
profound form of longing for Him" there is. It's the latter that's closely
tied-in with truly adoring G-d (see the introduction to this gate).
There are many other signs of such love. One is "it being one and the same
to you whether people praise or insult you for fulfilling G–d's will";
another is your willingness to sacrifice everything in order to fulfill
His wishes; another is "your having the name of G–d on your lips in
praise, gratitude, and exultation all the time"; another "is your making
everything you do or say ... contingent upon G-d's will"; another "is your
guiding and instructing others in how to serve G–d", which is so important
because "if you only improve your own soul, your merits will be small, but
if you improve your soul and the soul of others as well" you'd have done
something momentous; another sign "is the fact that your (only) source of
happiness and joy is the merits you'd have accrued" and the closeness to G-
d that would result; and another "is your prostrating yourself at night in
deep devotional prayer", for after all, isn't nighttime an occasion
for "lovers to devote themselves to the one they love"?.
And, finally, a clear sign of your loving G-d "is your joy and glee in G–d
Himself, in the knowledge of Him, in the longing to please Him, in your
delight in His Torah, and in your affinity with all (others) who worship
Him".
