I have a t-shirt I often wear that says, “LOVE LIKE JESUS”.
But what does that even mean…
To love like Jesus?
Well… let’s start by digging a little deeper into our English translated Bibles.
There are four different types of love in Greek (some argue there are more) but in our English Bibles these different loves are most often times translated in our English Bibles as just “love”.
In English we use the word “love” a lot!
Like,
“I love my new car”
“I love my husband”
“I love my new hair style”
“I love lasagna”
Even though I would use the same word to express my love for my husband & for food, they are far from the same type of love.
The Greeks understood that there are many different types of love & came up with at least four different words to describe it. (Greek was the prevalent language of the day, the New Testament was written in Greek.)
The four different types of love in the Bible are:
- Eros
- Storge
- Philia
- Agape
While not all of these are actually found in the Bible, the concepts behind all four are present.
C. S. Lewis explored these four types of love in his book, The Four Loves (1960). He also did a radio series on this with the BBC a few years prior to the book’s release. I am sure that there are many other books & resources on these four loves, but this is the only one I know of at this time. If you have recommendations to readers, please leave a comment on this post.
While I won’t go super deep into these in this post, I hope that this introduction to them will inspire you to dig deeper in your studies & broaden your biblical understanding.
“Eros” (pronounced AIR – ohs) is the Greek word that is used to describe romantic love between husband & wife. Though the word itself is not in the Bible, examples of God-given romantic love are everywhere from Adam & Eve to the entire book of the Song of Solomon.
(The book of the Song of Solomon is about a man & woman professing their Eros love for each other, it is a celebration of Eros love within marriage).
“Storge” (pronounced stor-JAY) is a Greek word that is used in Christianity to mean family love, the bond among mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters, and brothers. While the word itself is not found in the Bible, variations of it are.
There are many well-known stories in the Bible that display this family love: Issac & Jacob, Mary & Martha’s love for their brother Lazarus, Noah & his family, & Abraham & Sarah.
“Philia” (pronounced FILL-ee-uh) is the Greek word that means close friendship or brotherly love. It is a selfless love that puts others before ones self.
Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart…
1 Peter 1:22
Philia is a family love that unites believers. As members of the body of Christ, we are a family. God is our Father & we are all brothers & sisters. We are called to have a warm love for one another that attracts non-believers, a unique expression of love that is so attractive that it draws others into the family of God.
& then there is the “Love like Jesus” love.
“Agape” (pronounced Ah-gah-PAY) is the highest of loves in the Bible. This term defines God’s immeasurable, incomparable love for us. It is a divine love that comes from God. Agape love is perfect, unconditional, with no strings attached, & pure.
Agape is referenced in the New Testament over 200 times.
“This love is our chief aim, the unconditional love of the Father given to us through his Son.” – C.S. Lewis.com
Agape love is not a feeling; it’s a motivation for action that we are free to choose or reject. Agape is a sacrificial love that voluntarily suffers inconvenience, discomfort, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return. We are called to agape love through Christ’s example: “Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God” (Ephesians 5:1-2). -Compelling Truth
We can’t “love like Jesus” on our own.
Agape love does not come natural to us, but it does come natural to God & is an integral part of Him. By drawing closer to Him & experiencing His love, we can begin to understand what this real love is & means. Only through Him can we experience agape love & it is only through Him that we are able to love others like He loves.
13 If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. 3 If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned,[a] but have not love, I gain nothing.4 Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant 5 or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful;[b] 6 it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. 7 Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.8 Love never ends. As for prophecies, they will pass away; as for tongues, they will cease; as for knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when the perfect comes, the partial will pass away. 11 When I was a child, I spoke like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I gave up childish ways. 12 For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I have been fully known.13 So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13
“There is no safe investment. To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly be broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket – safe, dark, motionless, airless – it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable. The alternative to tragedy, or at least to the risk of tragedy, is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers and perturbations of love is Hell.”
