1 Corinthians 13:13 –
Three things will last forever—faith, hope, and love—and the greatest of these is love.
I have been ready to read this chapter for a while, I literally almost highlighted the entire chapter and was considering taking the “easy way out” on writing this morning and just post the entire chapter and say “’nuf said”. Love is one of the biggest questions in our languages. Love can mean so many things from love for one’s spouse to love for family to love of neighbors. One would hope the love you feel for your wife would not be the same as a neighbor, or we are dealing with some sins in the “top 10!”
The Greek has many words which get defined as love in the Bible. Eros is the traditional “love” that one feels for another in passion. This is the “love” that one feels for their romantic partner. Philia is very different as a dispassionate virtuous “love” of loyalty to friends and community. Storge is the natural affection like that of a parent’s love of their children. And finally the Greek have Agape (which this chapter describes) which is the unconditional “love”.
Agape is deeper than all the others and is best described in, well, this chapter. It’s a “love” that will do anything for the one of their affections. Agape is beyond and inclusive of all the other types of “love”. Each other form of “love” is included in agape, but parts may be excluded in some cases. Eros would not be included in your agape “love” of your children, as the dispassionate storge “love” would not be included with your agape “love” of your spouse.
The Greek many times clarifies the passion and difference between the various forms of “love” described in the Bible. It’s safe to apply agape love to most of the instances it’s used, but many times I search the Greek just to clarify. This is a chapter to read and re-read at least once a month! Just to never forget our main focus in this world, show Gods unconditional agape “love” for every person. Spend this week dwelling on how agape love works in your life and how you can personally show it to at least one person.