AM I LOVING BEYOND MYSELF?
Gal 5:22a (NIV) “…the fruit of the Spirit is love…”
There are three Greek Words for “Love”
There is "Eros" love--which is sexual love (This word never appears in the NT)
There is "Phileo" love which is friendship love.
There is "Agape" love which is selfless Love
Examples of Phileo love is, according to Luke 14:10, a love that gives up your seat—it hold others in high esteem); In Luke 15:8-9 it is a love characterized by a shared experience (tas philas which means “female friends”)—obviously her “girls” knew she had lost her coin—shared her distress and “the joy of one became the joy of all” In Luke 21:16 Jesus warned that a friend is capable of betrayal (fear of betrayal should never keep us from making friends but, for the case of our study, its important to realize that this kind of love can sour). Luke 23:11-12 shows us a common desire/goal can make people “friends”—in this case Herod and Pilate. An important characteristic of Phileo love is adoption of like interests.—James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was “Philos” of God—Does the Scripture infer that Abraham and God were chummy?—Hardly. It teaches us that Abraham adopted God’s interests as his own. In the case of Herod and Pilate the common interests were evil in nature—the catalyst for friendship is not always positive.
Have you made ever made a friend for the wrong reasons?—joined together to hurt someone else?
None of these qualities describe the kind of “love” FIRST on the list in the Fruit of Spirit. This divine love stands in a class all its own. Agape always flows from what is right and best. Agape flows from the very heart of God. It is selfless—it always puts others first. It gives and gives and gives. It is fueled by the needs of others rather than the desires of self.
Agape is impossible for us. —None of us posses the innate ability to love like this. Agape flows through us it doesn’t originate in us. Like a piece of conduit, we are only carrying the current that God’s love provides. Its God’s love flowing through us! —Consequently, “agape,” can only authentically be expressed by those who have surrendered to God.
How else could we possibly “love” our enemies? Agape loves the unlovely—it loves even (and maybe especially) those who have hated us and hurt us. You can’t Agape unless you have experienced AGAPE—Only Christians can Agape—they’re the only people who know what it is!
1 John 4:19 (NIV) “We love because He first loved us.”
1 John 3:16 (NIV) “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down His life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.”
1 Cor 13:4-8a (NIV) “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…”
The Greek word for “protects” in the previous verse means to cover over in silence—in other words, it does not expose the faults of others—it is the idea of covering an individual with a cloak of love so that the fault cannot be seen!—ISN’T THAT BEAUTIFUL? (if I am quick to notice a fault I know I’m not exercising agape!).
John 13:34-35 (NIV) “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 (NIV) “…these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Whats love got to do with it? EVERYTHING!
No comments:
Post a Comment