Love, what does it mean? Is it described best in the romantic, heartbreaking, songs that we hear on the radio. Or is it portrayed by the many movies or Disney cartoons, where the guy always gets the girl or vice versa? Or is it in the many self-help books, (I have read a few), that try to tell you the steps that must be followed to achieve it?
Love is a feeling that has different intensities in our lives and is spoken about in the Bible in four distinct ways, Agape, Eros, Storge, Philia. These are the forms from which Jesus meant when He said to love one another.
Eros (AIR-ohs): This is the romantic, sensual love that is felt between husband and wife, It was the love that the Song of Solomon was meant to portray. To me the Song of Solomon is the most romantic book in the Bible. When I read this I picture myself and my husband and how our courtship went in a similar way. I much prefer to read this book then any top fictional romance anyday.
Storge (STOR-jay): This is used to describe familial love. The natural love between parents and children, and sisters and brothers, I remember when my brother and I were younger we were inseparable. He had to miss out on summer camp one year because he had to get a cyst removed from his throat. I was so worried about him that I asked the camp counsellors if I could call home everyday to make sure that he was still alive. I would have been devastated if he did not make it out of surgery, thankfully he did. This was the kind of love that Mary and Martha had for Lazarus, they loved him and felt lost when they believed they had lost him.
Philia (FILL-ee-uh): This is the intimate love that we feel for one another in Christ, it also is the love that we have for our fellow humans including those that are not saved in Christ. This is the love I recieve when I get chocolate cake from Mary, or when Lynne makes me a chocolate pie. This is the love you get when a prayer chain is sent out to those who will pray for you. It's the care you get when you are at home and someone drops by with a meal, just because. It’s this love that converts the non-believers. It is also the way the people know that we are Christians. John 13:35 (NIV) By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
Agape (Uh-GAH-pay): This is the highest love shown to us by God. Agape is perfect, sacrificial, and unconditional love He has for all his creation. It is this love that you were created, saved, and will die to eternal life. It is by which we should remember 1 John 4:8 (NIV) Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Yours in Christ
Heather
Reckless Love - Cory Ashbury https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc6SSHuZvQE
What Love is This - Kari Jobe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SsgUdVDfaoM
The Proof of Your Love - for King and Country https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b-2dKOfbC9c
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