Elder St Paisios on Pure Love…
In order for a sacrifice to be directed towards God, it must be free of human elements, self-love, pride and so forth. When one sacrifices himself humbly, it means he has love, and then, God is moved. When I speak of love, I am speaking of true love, authentic love, which has a noble bearing. Although one might take solace in thinking that he has love because he gives everything, he, however, does not have love, because within his love is his own self in other words, he hits mi eye on his own personal interest. For our love to be genuine, we must purify it; we must take our self out of our love. And when everyone lakes their own self out of their love, then each one of us is in the other, and we become one, ever united by the one love of Christ. Moreover, within Christ all of our difficulties are resolved because the love of Christ dissolves all difficulties.
– ‘Passions and Virtues’