AC 3796, 3798 - Acknowledging Affection for the End Use

AC 3796 [2-3]

The genuine affections of truth and of good
which are perceived by people
are all from a Divine origin, because from the Lord;
but on the way, as they descend,
they diverge into various and diverse streams,
and there form for themselves new origins;
for as they flow into affections
not genuine but spurious,
and into the affections of evil and falsity in the person,
so are they varied.
In the external form
these affections often present themselves
like the genuine ones;
but in the internal form
they are of this spurious character.
The sole characteristic from which they are known
is their end;
if as regards their end
they are for the sake of self or the world,
then these affections are not genuine;
but if as regards their end
they are for the sake of the good of the neighbor,
the good of societies, the good of our country,
and especially if for the good of the church
and the good of the Lord's kingdom,
then they are genuine,
because in this case
they are for the sake of the Lord,
inasmuch as the Lord is in these goods.

It is therefore the part of a wise person
to know the ends that are in him.
Sometimes it appears
as if his ends were for self
when yet they are not so;
for it is the nature of a person
to reflect upon himself in everything,
and this from custom and habit.
But if anyone desires to know
the ends that are within him,
let him merely pay attention to
the delight he perceives in himself
from the praise and glory of self,
and to the delight he perceives
from use separate from self;
if he perceives this latter delight,
he is in genuine affection.
He must also pay attention to
the various states in which he is,
for the states themselves
very much vary the perception.
A person can explore these things in himself,
but not in others;
for the ends of each person's affection
are known to the Lord alone.

AC 3798

. . . no one can see and acknowledge
the interiors of the Word
unless he is in good as to life.