Let me propose to you one great but simple question -

What is it that is to be loved in Christ? Why are we to hold him dear? I answer, there is but one ground for virtuous affection in the entire universe, but one object worthy of cherished and enduring love, whether in heaven or on earth, and that is Moral Goodness. 

I make no exceptions. My principle applies to all beings, to the Creator as well as to His creatures. The claim of God to the love of his rational offspring rests on the rectitude and benevolence of His will. It is the moral beauty and grandeur of His character to which alone we are bound to pay homage. The only power which can and ought to be loved is a beneficent and righteous power. The creation is glorious, and binds us to supreme and everlasting love to God, only because it sprung from and shows forth this "energy of goodness"; nor has any being a claim on love any further than this same energy dwells in him and is manifested in him. I know of no exception to this principle. 

I can conceive of no being who can have any claim to affection but what rests on his character, meaning by this the spirit and principles which constitute his mind, and from which he acts; nor do I know but one character which entitles a being to our hearts, and it is that which the Scriptures express by the word Righteousness; which in man is often called Virtue -- in God, Holiness; which consists essentially in supreme reverence for and adoption of what is right; and of which benevolence, or universal charity, is the brightest manifestation." William Ellery Channing.