Claim. True love — not knowledge, power, or wealth — is God’s fundamental motivating force for creating heaven and earth.
Elaboration. SMM names love as the cause, not merely the purpose, of creation: “True love is God’s fundamental motivating force by which He creates; this is why He likes true love more than anything” (CSG 15.1 §1, 212-295, 1991.1.8). The section grounds this in God’s solitude: “God cannot possess love by Himself, nor can He feel it on His own… as the flower needs the wind, God, too, needs an object partner who will stimulate Him” (210-223, 1990.12.23). And: “Why did God begin to exist? He began to exist because of love, and He exists in order to love. Had there been no concept of love, there would not have been a need for God to come into being” (203-103, 1990.6.17). The implication is sharp: love is prior to God’s choice to create; once love is the standard, creation follows necessarily.
See also. divine-constraint