Inborn Love For Hashem

וזה התירוץ האמיתי על קושית הרמב"ם איך שייך מ"ע ואהבת וכדומה דברים התלוין בלב

And this is the true answer to the question of the Rambam: how is it possible for there to be a positive commandment such as "And you shall love" (Devarim 6:5) and the like, namely things that depend upon the heart?

The Rambam asked how the Torah can command an emotion like love, since feelings are not under a person's direct control. The Sfas Emes resolves this here.

אך כי נטבע האהבה להשי"ת בלב כל איש ישראל

The answer is that the love for Hashem has been implanted within the heart of every single Jew.

The resolution is that the love of Hashem is not something a Jew must manufacture from nothing; it is already planted within every Jewish heart from the start.

אך ורק צריך האדם שלא להתדבק בתאוות למשוך אהבה לרע שעי"ז נסתר נקודה האמיתית

It is only that a person must take care not to attach himself to physical desires, which draw his love toward evil, for through this the true inner point becomes concealed.

Since the love is already there, the only task is the negative one of not letting cravings and physical desires pull that love toward the wrong things, which buries the inner point of holiness.

ובשמרו את עצמו יתמשך ממילא אחר הש"י בכל לבו ונפשו כנ"ל:

And when he guards himself, he will automatically be drawn after Hashem with all his heart and all his soul, as explained above.

Once a person simply guards himself from those desires, the inborn love surfaces on its own and he is naturally drawn to serve Hashem with his whole heart and soul.

Summary: The Sfas Emes addresses the Rambam's difficulty: how can the Torah command "And you shall love Hashem," when love is a matter of the heart and not seemingly within a person's control? He answers that the love for Hashem is already implanted within the heart of every single Jew, so the mitzvah is not to create a feeling from nothing. Rather, a person's only avodah is to avoid attaching himself to physical desires that draw his love toward evil and thereby conceal the true inner point. When he guards himself from those cravings, the inborn love rises on its own, and he is automatically drawn after Hashem with all his heart and all his soul.