What Is Love?
Let’s rule out what love is not right from the start – lust is not love. Lust is an open and unrestrained, usually sexual, desire that wants to be immediately gratified. Lust, when manifested, is very destructive. As Christians, we need to keep lust under control and maintain our focus above on heavenly things that are pleasing to the Lord, not on fleshly things below here on earth. I had a lot of learning to do as a young Christian, and I am still learning every day. We will highlight different aspects of love from the Bible using the various Greek words used to express the one word “love” we use in the English language.
Eros - a physical love, a physical attraction, as between a husband and wife.
Storge - family love. Family love and Christian love is to love one another. This type of love is the fondness we share for our parents, children, siblings, and other relatives.
Philia - affectionate love. We are attracted to be around certain people because something about them resonates with us. It is a warmhearted affection, liking, appeal, and friendship. We do not have this type of affection for everyone because of different personality types, but through Jesus and His example, we can strive for kindness towards others that may develop into this type of affection.
Agape - love of choice, is called a divine love because it is what God wants – He wants us to choose to love Him and others. Even if others do not appeal to us, God wants us to have an agape love for them and to treat them properly with respect, having a compassionate heart. The King James version of the Bible uses the word charity, because charity is love in action.
We should have agape and philia love, both of which the world lacks greatly. I look at myself who is not perfect. God loved us while we were yet sinners and unloving. How much more should we love others? We are to love one another, for we are in God’s family, and we should stand together to defeat satan’s plan of separation. We must reach the world with the love God has for us to bring people into His love. Standing together gives us strength to reach the lost and dying world.
The gift of love is one of the most important to have. It is one of the characteristics of God. When you love as He does, you will never be offended, for love covers a multitude of sins. The love of God for us is so much deeper than we can comprehend. I encourage you to spend time thinking about how our Heavenly Father has expressed his love for you in your life. You will be pleasantly surprised!