01/05/2019
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Love as a word describes an emotion with vastly differing degrees of
intensity. We can say we love ice cream and chocolate, and we can pledge our
love to a husband or wife until our dying breath.
Love is one of the most powerful emotions we can experience. Humans
crave love from the moment of existence. And the Bible tells us that God is love. For Christian believers, love is the true test of genuine faith.
Four unique forms of love are found in the Bible. They are communicated
through four Greek words: Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape.
We'll explore these different types of love characterized by romantic love,
family love, brotherly love, and God's divine love. As we do, we'll discover
what love really means, and how to follow Jesus Christ's command to "love
one another."
Eros (Pronounced: AIR-ohs) is the Greek word for sensual or romantic love.
The term originated from the mythological Greek goddess of love, sexual
desire, physical attraction, and physical love. Even though the term is not
found in the Old Testament, Song of Solomon vividly portrays the passion of erotic love.
Storge (Pronounced: STOR-jay) is a term for love in the Bible
that you may not be familiar with. This Greek word describes family love, the
affectionate bond that develops naturally between parents and children, and
brothers and sisters. Many examples of family love are found in Scripture, such
as the mutual protection among Noah and his wife, the love of Jacob for his sons, and the strong love the sisters Martha and Mary had for their brother Lazarus.
Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh) is
the type of intimate love in the Bible that most Christians practice toward
each other. This Greek term describes the powerful emotional bond seen in deep
friendships. Philia is the most general type of love in Scripture, encompassing
love for fellow humans, care, respect, and compassion for people in need. The
concept of brotherly love that unites believers is unique to Christianity.
Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay) is the highest of the four types of
love in the Bible. This term defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for
humankind. It is the divine love that comes from God. Agape love is perfect,
unconditional, sacrificial, and pure. Jesus
Christ demonstrated this kind of divine love to his Father and to all
humanity in the way he lived and died.
Discover God's Loving Nature in His Word
The Bible says God is love. Love is not merely an attribute of God's
character, love is his very nature. God is not just "loving," he is
love at his core. God alone loves completely and perfectly.
If you want to know more about the meaning of love, the Word of God
contains a treasure trove of Bible verses about love. We find passages that
speak of romantic love (Eros), brotherly love (friendship), and divine love (agape).
This selection is just a small sampling of
the many Scriptures about love.
Love Triumphs Over Lies
In the book of Genesis, the love story of Jacob and Rachel is one of the most captivating episodes in the Bible. It is the story
of love triumphing over lies. Jacob's father Isaac wanted his son to marry from among his own people, so he sent Jacob to
find a wife among the daughters of his uncle Laban. There Jacob found Rachel,
Laban's younger daughter, tending sheep. Jacob kissed Rachel and fell deeply in
love with her.
Jacob agreed to work for Laban seven years to earn Rachel's hand in
marriage. But on their wedding night, Laban deceived Jacob by substituting Leah, his older daughter. In the
darkness, Jacob thought Leah was Rachel.
The next morning, Jacob discovered he had been tricked. Laban's excuse
was that it was not their custom to marry off the younger daughter before the
older one. Jacob then married Rachel and worked for Laban another seven years
for her.
He loved her so much that those seven years
seemed like only a few days:
So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was
so strong that it seemed to him but a few days. {Genesis 29:20}
Bible Verses About Romantic Love
The Bible affirms that within the bounds of marital love, the lovers are
free to forget life's cares and delight in the intoxication of their love for
each other:
A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may
you ever be captivated by her love. {Proverbs 5:19}
Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more
delightful than wine. {Song of Solomon 1:2}
My lover is mine, and I am his. {Song of Solomon 2:16}
How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more
pleasing is your love than wine and the fragrance of your perfume than any
spice! {Song of Solomon 4:10}
Upon Jonathan’s death David declared his
undying love for Jonathan.
I am distressed for you, my brother
Jonathan;
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.{ 2 Samuel 1:26}
You have been very pleasant to me;
Your love to me was wonderful,
Surpassing the love of women.{ 2 Samuel 1:26}
In this succession of four amazing things, the first three refer to the
world of nature, focusing on the wonderful and mysterious way things travel in
the air, on land, and in the sea. These three have something in common: they do
not leave a trace. The fourth thing highlights the way people fall in love. The
previous three things lead up to the fourth. The way adolescents act the way
they do is an expression meaning sexual intercourse. Romantic love is
wonderful, mysterious, and perhaps the writer suggests, impossible to trace:
Three things amaze me,
no, four things I’ll never understand—
no, four things I’ll never understand—
how an eagle flies so high in the sky,
how a snake glides over a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
why adolescents act the way they do.
how a snake glides over a rock,
how a ship navigates the ocean,
why adolescents act the way they do.
The love expressed in the Song of Solomon is the absolute devotion of a
couple in love. The seals over the heart and arm symbolize both possession and
undying commitment. The love is so strong, like death, it cannot be resisted.
This love is eternal, transcending death like the love Christ Jesus has shown
through His death and resurrection:
Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love
is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like
blazing fire, like a mighty flame. {Song of Solomon 8:6}
Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were
to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned {Song of Solomon 8:7}
Love and Forgiveness
It is impossible for people who hate each other to live together in
peace. By contrast, love promotes peace because it covers, even forgives the
faults of others.
Love does not hold on to offenses but
covers them up by forgiving those who do wrong. The motive for forgiveness is
love:
He who covers and forgives an
offense seeks love, But he who repeats or
gossips about a matter separates intimate friends… {Proverbs 17:9}
Above all, have fervent and
unfailing love for one another, because love covers a multitude of sins [it
overlooks unkindness and unselfishly seeks the best for others]. Be hospitable
to one another without complaint. Just as each one of you
has received a special gift [a spiritual talent, an ability graciously
given by God], employ it in serving one another as [is appropriate for] good
stewards of God’s multi-faceted grace [faithfully using the diverse, varied
gifts and abilities granted to Christians by God’s unmerited favor]. {1 Peter 4:8-10}
Love Contrasted With Hate
In this curious Proverb, a bowl of vegetables represents a simple,
common meal, while steak speaks of a luxurious feast. Where love is present,
the simplest of foods will do. What value is there in a sumptuous meal if
hatred and ill-will are present?
A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with
someone you hate. {Proverbs
15:17}
Love God, Love Others
One of the Pharisees, a lawyer, asked Jesus, "Which is the
great commandment in the Law?" Jesus' answer came from {Deuteronomy
6:4-5}. It can be summed up like this: "Love God with everything you
are in every way possible." Then Jesus gave the next greatest commandment,
"Love others in the same way you love yourself."
Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your
heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and
great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your
neighbor as yourself." {Matthew
22:37-39}
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together
in perfect unity. {Colossians
3:14}
A true friend is supportive, loving at all times.
That friend develops further into a brother
through adversity, trials, and troubles:
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity. {Proverbs
17:17}
In some of the most striking verses of the New Testament, we are told
the supreme manifestation of love: when a person voluntarily gives up his life
for a friend. Jesus made the ultimate sacrifice when he laid down his life for
us on the cross:
Greater love has no one than .this that he lay down his life for his
friends. {John
15:13}
This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to
lay down our lives for our brothers. {1
John 3:16}
The Love Chapter
In {1
Corinthians 13}, the famous "love chapter," the Apostle Paul explained the priority of love over all
other aspects of life in the Spirit:
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am
only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all
knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I
am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the
flames, but have not love, I gain nothing. {1
Corinthians 13:1-3}
In this passage, Paul described 15 characteristics of love. With grave
concern for the unity of the church, Paul focused on love between brothers and
sisters in Christ:
While faith, hope, and love stand above all spiritual gifts, Paul
asserted that the greatest of these is love:
And now there remain: faith [abiding
trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal
salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me],
these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love. {1
Corinthians 13:13}
Love in Marriage
The book of Ephesians gives a picture of a godly marriage. Husbands are encouraged to
lay down their lives in sacrificial love and protection for their spouses like
Christ loved the church:
Husbands, love your wives {spouses} [seek
the highest good for her/him and surround her/him with a caring, unselfish
love], just as Christ also loved the church and gave Himself up for her, so that He might sanctify the church, having cleansed her by
the washing of water with the word [of God], so
that [in turn] He might present the church to Himself in glorious splendor,
without spot or wrinkle or any such thing; but that she would be holy [set
apart for God] and blameless. {Ephesians
5:25-27}
However, each man among you [without
exception] is to love his wife {spouse} as his very own self [with behavior
worthy of respect and esteem, always seeking the best for her {them} with an
attitude of lovingkindness], and the wife {spouse} [must see to it] that she/he
respects and delights in her/his husband [that she/he notices him and
prefers him and treats him with loving concern, treasuring him, honoring him,
and holding him dear]. {Ephesians
5:33}
Love in Action
We can understand what real love is by observing how Jesus lived and
loved people. The true test of a Christian's love is not what he says, but what
he does — how he lives his life truthfully and how he treats other people.
Little children (believers, dear ones),
let us not love [merely in theory] with word or with tongue [giving lip service
to compassion], but in action and in truth [in practice and in sincerity,
because practical acts of love are more than words]. {1
John 3:18}
Since God is love, then his followers, who are born of God, will also
love. God loves us, so we must love one another. A true Christian, one saved by
love and filled with God's love, must live in love toward God and others:
The one who does not love has not become
acquainted with God [does not and never did know Him], for God is love. [He is
the originator of love, and it is an enduring attribute of His nature.] {1
John 4:8}
Perfect Love
The basic character of God is love. God's love and fear are
incompatible forces. They cannot co-exist because one repels and expels the
other. Like oil and water, love and fear don't mix. One translation says
"perfect love drives out fear." John's claim is that love and fear
are mutually exclusive:
There is no fear in love [dread does not
exist]. But perfect (complete, full-grown) love drives out fear, because fear
involves [the expectation of divine] punishment, so the one who is afraid [of
God’s judgment] is not perfected in love [has not grown into a sufficient
understanding of God’s love].
{1
John 4:18}
So, as God’s own chosen
people, who are holy [set apart, sanctified for His purpose] and well-beloved
[by God Himself], put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness,
and patience [which has the power to endure whatever injustice or
unpleasantness comes, with good temper]; bearing graciously
with one another, and willingly forgiving each other if one has a cause for
complaint against another; just as the Lord has forgiven you, so should you forgive.
Beyond all these things put on and wrap
yourselves in [unselfish] love, which is the perfect bond of unity [for
everything is bound together in agreement when each one seeks the best for
others]. {Colossians
3:12-14}
“You have heard
that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor (fellow man) and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love [that is, unselfishly seek the best or
higher good for] your
enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may [show yourselves to] be the children of your Father who is in
heaven; for He makes His sun rise on those who are evil and on those who are
good, and makes the rain fall on the righteous [those who are morally upright] and the unrighteous [the unrepentant, those who oppose
Him]. For if you love [only] those who love you, what reward do you have? Do not
even the tax collectors do that? And if you greet only your
brothers [wishing them
God’s blessing and peace], what more [than others] are you doing? Do not even the Gentiles [who do not know the Lord] do that? You, therefore,
will be perfect [growing
into spiritual maturity both in mind and character, actively integrating godly
values into your daily life], as your heavenly Father is perfect.” Matthew
5:43-48
The greatest
love we can show towards our Savior is to love
as He loved. We owe everything we have and who we are to Christ Jesus for
His SELFLESS SACRIFICE on the Cross that we may be JUSTIFIED in the eyes of the
Father God. You see my friends it is through the LOVE from the FATHER that
JESUS CHRIST gave HIMSELF a LIVING SACRIFICE for our MULTITUDE of SINS.
In closing I
give you the JUSTIFICATION through Christ Jesus and the most EXCELLENT of LOVE.
Justification through Christ Jesus
Therefore, since we have been justified
[that is, acquitted of sin, declared blameless before God] by faith, [let us
grasp the fact that] we have peace with God [and the joy of reconciliation with
Him] through our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed). Through Him we
also have access by faith into this [remarkable state of] grace in which we
[firmly and safely and securely] stand. Let us rejoice in our hope and the confident assurance of
[experiencing and enjoying] the glory of [our great] God [the manifestation of
His excellence and power]. And not only this,
but [with joy] let us exult in our sufferings and rejoice in our hardships, knowing that hardship (distress,
pressure, trouble) produces patient endurance;and endurance,
proven character (spiritual maturity) and proven character, hope and confident assurance [of eternal
salvation]. Such hope [in God’s promises] never disappoints us, because God’s love has been
abundantly poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given
to us. While we were still helpless [powerless to provide for our salvation],
at the right time Christ died [as a substitute] for the ungodly. Now it is an
extraordinary thing for one to willingly give his life even for an upright man,
though perhaps for a good man [one who is noble and selfless and worthy]
someone might even dare to die. But God clearly shows and proves His own love for us, by the fact that while we were
still sinners, Christ died for us.Therefore, since we have now
been justified [declared free of the guilt of sin] by His blood, [how much more
certain is it that] we will be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies we were
reconciled to God through the death of His Son, it is much more certain,
having been reconciled, that we will be saved [from the consequences of sin] by
His life [that is, we will be saved because Christ lives today]. Not only that,
but we also rejoice in God [rejoicing in His love and perfection] through our
Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received and enjoy our reconciliation [with God]. Romans 5:1-11
The Excellence of Love
If I speak with the tongues of men and of
angels, but have not love [for others growing out of God’s love for me], then I
have become only a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal [just an annoying
distraction]. And if I have the gift
of prophecy [and speak a new message from God to the people], and
understand all mysteries, and [possess] all knowledge; and if I have all
[sufficient] faith so that I can remove mountains, but do not have love
[reaching out to others], I am nothing.If I give all my
possessions to feed the poor,
and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it does me no
good at all.Love endures with patience and serenity, love is kind and thoughtful, and is not jealous or envious; love does not brag and is
not proud or arrogant.It
is not rude; it is not self-seeking, it is not provoked [nor overly sensitive
and easily angered]; it does not take into account a wrong endured. It does not rejoice at
injustice, but rejoices with the truth [when right and truth prevail]. Love
bears all things [regardless of what comes], believes all things [looking for
the best in each one], hopes all things [remaining steadfast during difficult
times], and endures all things [without weakening].Love never
fails [it never fades nor ends]. But as for prophecies, they will pass away; as
for tongues, they will cease; as for the gift of special knowledge, it will
pass away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part [for our knowledge is
fragmentary and incomplete]. But when that which is complete and perfect comes, that which is
incomplete and partial will
pass away. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I
reasoned like a child; when I became a man, I did away with childish things.For
now [in this time of imperfection] we see in a mirror dimly [a blurred
reflection, a riddle, an enigma], but then [when the time of perfection comes
we will see reality] face to face. Now I know in part [just in fragments], but
then I will know fully, just as I have been fully known [by God]. And now there
remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident
expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out
of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of
these is love. 1
Corinthians 13
I pray you will decide to live your life
filled with the LOVE from our Heavenly Father through your love for Christ
Jesus and your fellow mankind through the POWER of the Holy Spirit.
In Christ Jesus Service,
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