Agápe

Love can mean many things to many people.  We tell each other love stories in movies and books, in which two protagonists fall in love with each other by the end.  ‘Love’ is used to describe feelings as shallow as “I love this song!” to a commitment as deep as a parent’s unwavering love for their child.  We even acknowledge it as a strong, yet platonic bond – two buddies clasping arms and saying “I love you, man.”

Why is this important?  The Bible has a lot to say about love, especially when describing the heart and mind of believers.  Biblical interpretation can be a tricky thing – and additional care should always be taken when examining critical passages.

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.  (1 John 4:7-8)

The above passage is critical for two reasons – first, because it gives an absolute description of God’s nature, and second, because it gives an absolute description of a true believer’s heart.  In this, understanding what ‘Love’ means in this passage is critical for us to be able to understand who God is and how our hearts should be.  Misinterpretation would be disastrous.

It’s important to remember that, while the Bible is infallible and inerrant, our interpretations of it can easily be mistaken if you’re not careful.  Anyone not familiar with the original Greek would be surprised to learn that the Greek language has four different words that are commonly translated as ‘love’, with different definitions.  In this context, the word used is “Agápe.”

Agápe is different from the kind of romantic feelings and sexual attraction that a man typically has for a woman.  Agápe is a spiritual, selfless love; a giving love.  Strong’s Concordance (which we can take as an authority on this matter) describes it as “brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence”.  But mostly, we learn about agápe from how it appears in the Bible:

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.  (Ephesians 5:25)

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.  (John 15:13)

But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the evil.  (Luke 6:35)

Agápe is the kind of love that desires to help others solely for the benefit of helping others.  It is a kind, giving, selfless, sacrificial love.  Furthermore, it is indiscriminate; it causes us to do good to even those who may cause us harm, solely for the desire of doing good.  In this, the difference between agape and éros (the romantic, sexual love) is clear – a man will both agápe and éros love his wife, but will only agápe love his neighbors.

Consider, then, our passage last week, from Matthew:

And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.  This is the great and first commandment.  And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself.  On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”  (Matthew 22:37-40)

Agápe is not a physical action.  Giving to a charity or helping a neighbor fix his roof is not in itself agápe love, but it is an example of the effects of it.  Just like how having true belief in Christ leads one to do good works, having agápe love for others causes you to act in their benefit and to try not to cause them harm.  So do not be overly concerned and legalistic about the law.  As all the commandments depend on having agápe love for God and your neighbor, you cannot truly fulfill them without love, and you cannot wholly avoid them with love.  If you truly love God with all your heart and love your neighbor as yourself, all else will fall into place.

for His glory!

Mark