Love in the English language is an overused word, that really losses it’s meaning quickly. We say things like I love French fries, then turn around and say that I really love my wife or mom. Obviously, we do not love French fries the same way that we love our wife or mother. In the Greek language there were four words that they used most of the time in the New Testament of the Bible. They were Agape, Phileo, Storge, and Eros. All four of these words have different meanings. Agape is a sacrificial type of love that is an unconditional chosen love. God used this word when He spoke in John 3:16, “For God so loved (Agape) the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” You see, God so Agaped the world that He chose to send His Son to die on the cross for our sins. This is how much God loves us. His Son was perfect and sinless, yet He died in our place to make us right with God. This is a supernatural type of love, the kind of love that a parent has towards their children and would die in their place if they could. Now the next kind of love is Phileo, and this is where we get our word Philadelphia, which means brotherly love. This is the kind of love that we have towards friends in which we choose to love. The next kind of love is Storge, this word means the kind of love that you have towards your family, how you love your brothers and sister for an example. Now the final word is Eros, this word is the word used for the erotic type of love. The sexual type of love that you want to express towards your spouse.

Since there are different words that are used throughout Scripture for the word love, I thought that I would let you know this, so if you want to do further study, you will find out how the LORD Himself placed them in Scripture. The word Agape is used a lot just to let you know, and most of the time it is when we are supposed to be dealing with our fellow man or God is speaking about how He feels about man. This Agape is an unconditional type of love that looks beyond the surface of man and accepts them for who they really are. I hope that you will see that throughout this study, that we are to treat our fellow man with an unconditional love that will show the world that we are God’s children. Another word that I want to address in this study is the word perfect. In Greek this word perfect can be translated mature, so keep that in mind whenever you are reading the text. For when God says that we are to be perfect as He is perfect, we know that we are going to fall short of this daily. But if we look at it and put the word mature in there instead, we see that this is our choice, and that is what God is looking for, not perfection. We only attain perfection, when we are in His presence and He gives it to us.

Now I want to talk about the love chapter in the Bible, 1 Corinthians 13. In this chapter we see that love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. Love will last forever…. I have heard many pastors say this throughout the years. Put Jesus’ name in the place of love through this passage and this is exactly how Jesus is towards all of us. He is patient and kind. He is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. He does not demand His own way. He is not irritable. He keeps no record of when He has been wronged. I think you get the picture. Now I have a question for you, put your name in the place of the word love and how do you line up with this passage? If you are anything like myself, you probably fall quite short very quickly. This is a good litmus test of where we are in our walk with the LORD. We need to put into action these very attributes into our lives to please God. All throughout this study you will see that God not only commands us to live our lives this way, but He expects us to live up to it. Now I know what you are going to say, this is absolutely impossible, and I agree. This is where we have to pray to God and let Him do His perfect work in us. He has to input this Agape type of love into us, so we can live for Him and do His perfect will for our lives. He never tells us to do something for Him that He does not supply the means. In Matthew 19:26 “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” So do not get discouraged, but keep praying to God and watch and see, what He does in your life. He will give you love for others that you never did have before. I am a living testament to this, I use to tell people before I became a Christian that I hated everybody equally, but now I tell people that I love everybody equally. This is definitely a gift from the LORD, for He is the one who gets the glory for that!!!!!! May God Bless You and keep you and may this study bless your life!!!!

1 Corinthians 13:1-8

If I could speak in any language in heaven or on earth but didn’t love others, I would only be making meaningless noise like a loud gong or a clinging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I knew all the mysteries of the future and knew everything about everything, but didn’t love others, what good would I be? And if I had the gift of faith so that I could speak to a mountain and make it move, without love I would be no good to anybody. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would be of no value whatsoever.

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. Love does not demand its own way. Love is not irritable, and it keeps no record of when it has been wronged. It is never glad about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

            Love will last forever…………

1 John 4:7-21

Dear friends, let us continue to love one another, for love comes from God. Anyone who loves is born of God and knows God. But anyone who does not love does not know God – for God is love.

God showed how much he loved us by sending his only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through him. This is real love. It is not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins.

Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and his love has been brought to full expression through us.

And God has given us his Spirit as proof that we live in him and he in us.

Furthermore, we have seen with our own eyes and now testify that the Father sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. All who proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God have God living in them, and they live in God. We know how much God loves us, and we have put our trust in him.

God is love, and all who live in love live in God, and God lives in them. And as we live in God, our love grows more perfect. So we will not be afraid on the day of judgment, but we can face him with confidence because we are like Christ here in this world.

Such love has no fear because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of judgment, and this shows that his love has not been perfected in us. We love each other as a result of his loving us first.

If someone says, “I love God,” but hates a Christian brother or sister, that person is a liar; for if we don’t love people we can see, how can we love God, whom we have not seen? And God himself has commanded that we must love not only him but our Christian brothers and sisters, too.

1 John 5:1-5

Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is a child of God. And everyone who loves the Father loves his children, too. We know we love God’s children if we love God and obey his commandments. Loving God means keeping his commandments, and really, that isn’t difficult. For every child of God defeats this evil world by trusting Christ to give the victory. And the ones who win this battle against the world are the ones who believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

Matthew 5:43-47

“You have heard that the law of Moses says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and on the unjust, too. If you love only those who love you, what good is that? Even corrupt tax collectors do that much. If you are kind only to your friends, how are you different from anyone else? Even pagans do that. But you are to be perfect, even as your Father in heaven is perfect.