Many Bible scholars think there is little distinction
between the various words for ‘love’ in the Bible. The main difference is only
one of them is used in verses that tell Christians to love one another. This
Greek word is agape and its variations.
It can mean care, affection and loyalty. This includes the attitude of the Pharisees
for about their popularity and prominence; they loved (agape) their privileges.
However, it is mostly used in verses like these:
“A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another.” (John 13:34)
“By this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.” (1 John 3:16)
In other words, the love I’m to have for other believers
is to be like the love Jesus has for me: self-sacrificial, wanting my eternal
well-being, thoughtful in every way, even willing to give His life for me. This
love is not about anyone deserving it. It is unconditional rather than being
about my enjoyment of someone or something. My Bible dictionary says it means to have a strong, non-sexual affection and
love for a person and their good as understood by God’s moral character;
especially characterized by a willing forfeiture of rights or privileges in
another person’s behalf.
Regardless of dictionary meanings, the best way to
understand this word is in each context where it is used. John 3:16 says God loved the world and the rest of the
verse describes how He demonstrated that love:
He gave His Son that we might not perish but have everlasting life.
This is a powerful kind of love. It was in the heart of
God before the world was created. Some say He created humanity to have an
object for His great love — people made in His image upon which to love!
Most of us don’t love like that. Our love may flow out of
kinship or attraction, or from compassion or empathy. It is rare to see anyone
willing to die for their friends, never mind make the ultimate sacrifice for people
who have rejected them, yet Jesus did that. His love is eternal and knows no
bounds. The new commandment He gave was not new as far as agape goes, but it is new in that we have a new way to define it —
its meaning is found in Jesus Christ.
“Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God abides in us and his love is perfected in us.” (1 John 4:7–12)
^^^^^^^^^
Jesus, You are my example of how to love AND my source for
the power to be able to do it. I realize my sinful nature is selfish and not
interested in sacrificing much of anything for someone else. Without You in my
life, this is not merely difficult, but impossible. Giving up my plans and so
on is not so difficult when I do it for family or friends, but You loved us and
made the ultimate sacrifice that we might have an eternal inheritance — while
we were sinners who had no value or qualities that made us loveable. Help me be
less choosy and more like You!
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