agape

The Written Word: Agape Love

September 26, 2018 By Author John Leave a Comment

Fourth of Four Greek Words for Love

The Written Word

Over the last few weeks we have looked at three of the four Greek words for love; eros, the love shared between lovers; storge, the love shared within a family; and philia, the love of affection, of friendship. And for any who may not have read the previous blog posts, I would once again note that when I refer to the written word, I am referring to words put in writing, whether God’s words (the Bible) or the written words of this blog or my books, etc. And my desire in writing this blog is to pique your interest and stimulate your mind.

The Fourth of the Four Loves

Although we are looking at agape love last, it is the highest of the four loves. Not eros? Not the love of family? Not friendship or affection? How can agape possibly be the highest of the loves? How can it not be the highest of loves since as I John 4:8 and 16 clearly state, “God is love”?

When I googled agape love it gave this definition: “Agape love is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. It is the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.” Wow! Even Google got it right! I believe their definition was taken from this article at thoughtco.com.

In that agape is “selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional” it is a love of choice, choosing to put others first, choosing to sacrifice for the benefit of others, and choosing to put no conditions on one’s love for another. It was agape love that sent Christ to Calvary: John 3:16 – “For God so loved [agape] the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” And Jesus told His disciples, “Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one’s life for his friends. You are My friends…” (John 15:13-14) Pretty awesome!

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The Written Word: Family Love

September 12, 2018 By Author John Leave a Comment

Second of Four Greek Words for Love

The Written Word

The response to last week’s post was encouraging. To begin with this week, I would once again note that the written word refers to words put in writing, whether God’s words (the Bible) or the written words of this blog or my books. And my approach will be to develop a “brainwave” that will hopefully be of interest to my readers. I started last week with a series on the four Greek words for love.

Revisiting the Four Loves

As previously mentioned, three of the four loves are found in the New Testament. Last week we looked at eros. Although eros does not appear in the New Testament like the other three, I felt that understanding its nature had value. Readers appeared to agree.

The other three loves are storge (family love), philia (affection or friendship), and agape (a selfless, sacrificial love of choice).

Here are links to several of articles on the four loves: truthortradition, faithgateway and mcleanbible

The Second of the Four Loves

Storge, as with eros, is not chosen as second in order because it is more important than philia or agape. It is important in its own right but is not as important as the latter two. Furthermore, storge is not used on its own in the New Testament, but rather as a compound with other Greek words that expand on its meaning. Also, the negative form of the word, astorgos, is found in Romans 1:31, the idea being without family affection, hard-hearted, unfeeling. The negative form also appears in II Timothy 3:3 as heartless or without family affection. The passage tells us that a lack of storge will increase in the end times, which is certainly food for thought.

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The Written Word: The Four Loves

September 5, 2018 By Author John Leave a Comment

The Four Greek Words for Love

The Written Word

On Facebook I asked what people what kind of articles they would like me to do for my blog. The response was meager, but for the most part those who responded wanted me to return to writing something on the order of a thought for the day. I am doing an adaptation of that concept. The written word refers to words put in writing whether God’s words (the Bible) or the written words of this blog or my books.

My approach will be to develop a brainwave (thought) that I think might be of interest to my readers. I will start with the four Greek words for love, and take them one at a time over the next four weeks. I trust you will find the posts relevant.

Introducing the Four Loves

Three of the four loves (related article) are found in the New Testament. The first that we will consider, eros, is not found in the New Testament. However, considering and understanding its nature has value.

The other three loves that we will be looking at are storge (familial love), philia or phileo (affection or friendship), and agape (a selfless, sacrificial love of choice).

The First of the Four Loves

Eros is not chosen as first of the four loves because it is the highest form of love. Agape is the highest and eros the lowest. That is perhaps the reason it is not used in the New Testament. Before you argue the point read further.

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