LOVE
There is a great misconception among Christian people today, whether they be sincere or lacka-daicical, concerning love. What is love? It is a very much abused word, often used very loosely by those who have no conception of its true meaning. The word love cannot be defined in a simple statement, for it has many aspects. Most people today, saints or sinners, think of love as a warm, emotional feeling. But the love of god is much more than an emotional feeling. Love does that which is best for the object being loved; what is right according to god’s standards. The epitome of love was expressed in a verse in the Bible that is known to millions of people. “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life,” Jn 3:16. God’s love that caused Him to give so costly a gift, was not the result of emotional or sentimental feelings. No, it was practical. It was the only remedy to redeem man. THE COAST WAS THE HIGHEST PRICE EVER PAID FOR ANYTHING! Part of the price was the stress so extreme that Jesus sweat drops o blood; and because of our sins that He bore, the Father had to turn away from Him. There is no greater love! How often has this verse been read and memorized, and yet lightly esteemed as thought it was man’s right”
In the bible there are two Greek words translated love. One is phileo. This word is translated 21 times as love, and 3 times as kiss. Phileo means having affection for, or a matter of sentiment, or feeling. From phileo we get such words as Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love; philanthropy, good will to all men, philharmonic, the love of harmony or music, philosophy, love of wisdom.
The second word is agape, pronounced ag-ah-pay. Eighty-six times it is translated love; twenty-eight times it is translated charity, One time it is translated dear.
While phileo relates to the emotions, agape includes affection and benevolence but has a much broader definition, embracing especially the judgment, and the deliberate assent of the will as a matter of principle, duty and propriety. Christ bids us to agape (not phileo), because love as an emotion cannot be commanded, but can only be a choice. These definitions can be found in Strong’s and Thayer’s Greek English Lexicon. There is nothing wrong with a person having a phileo love as long is it does not express lust or an evil intent. Agape is not, and cannot be, used as sexual love. The sad thing is that phileo love is accepted today as the meaning in all scriptures that use the word love.
Millions of people fill the churches, sing hymns, pay tithes join in all the church rituals, programs, and profess to “love” God with all their heart. Many even do good deeds that it pleases them to do. Such things may give them a good feeling, and cause them to feel spiritually secure, but that is not love. There is no way to circumvent living according living according to God’s word ad stay spiritually alive, regardless of the popular teaching to the contrary. The fact remains that keeping the commandments that Jesus gave is the only acceptable evidence that we love God.
Christians today mistakenly accept an affectionate feeling for God, and an affectionate feeling for one another as fulfilling God’s demands for love. They seem to feel that all we need to do is just feel good toward one another. Although, this is good and well, as even God Himself has affection for His people, phileo has to do with emotions, and does not fulfill the requirements of the Lord concerning love. The agape love of God has to do with service. Affection is more closely related to sentiment than to love, but God is never sentimental. “As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten,” Revelation 3:19.