Agape Types Of Love

Love-the Word...the Power | Joshua Resource Center

Love is a frequently used word.  Daily we hear people say, “I love you”, whether it be to their spouse, children, friends, or someone who has helped them get what they want.  The fact of the matter is that the word love is overused and often times under-valued.  Many people don’t think of how powerful using this word really is.  So often the word love is used loosely and recklessly, thus the importance of what it really means to love has been diminished and the value behind the word has been lost.

In Scripture God uses love as what we are called to most importantly-to love Him and to love one another as we love ourselves.  To me this seems to be a very grand call, not something to be used or taken lightly. 

God refers to Himself as “love”-thus proving the importance of this word, the emotion, the Spirit behind it to be so much more than what we have come to know in modern day.  Godly love is AGAPE love, which means love without conditions-love that sacrifices; basically it’s a love that we don’t quite understand but should all strive for. 

Now that we’ve established what Godly love is, we can discuss a few other forms of love.  Some other forms of love that are found in the Bible include familial love (Storge), sensual love (Eros), and friendly love (Philia).  Each of these types of love is expressed in different ways.  Familial love is protective and often times what some people have termed as “tough love” i.e. parents having to teach lessons to their children.  Sensual love is the type of love you find between spouses-it is an emotional and physical love and often times the most misused love.  And friendly love is what Christ calls us to in the Bible; a love for one another just because God loves each and every person He made, thus He requires the same from us.  Each of these forms of love is very distinct from one another.  It is important to not blur the lines between these types of love, because once this occurs many issues arise that cause people not to understand love, and the importance behind this word. 

Many people, especially women have suffered from a fundamental misunderstanding of love and what it means to them.  Women who have gone through abusive situations struggle with understanding love and what it means coming from each person that utters that word.  But with a firm understanding of the different types of love and a conscious decision to use this word carefully and correctly, women can work toward resolving many of the issues that currently plague them.

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