Love comes in different forms. The world around us assumes that it understands what love is. It is very common to hear most anybody express the term “I Love You” as they are parting for a short time. And undoubtedly most people are very sincere and assume that it is a good meaning in the way they are talking. But few people understand that there are different meanings to love.

Different Meanings to Love

In English, we just have one term that is used in various ways. Perhaps it would be good to compare that with the Greek understanding.  We have named one of our cities Philadelphia which means City of Brotherly Love. That gives us clarification of the Greek word “phileo” (brotherly love). We all probably are acquainted with the term erotic. This comes from the Greek “eros” which is talking about sexual love. But there is another word “agape” which gets around quite a bit but is often misunderstood, or wrongly used.  Agape is self-sacrificial. In other words – love for the benefit of the recipient. This is not subjective. This is not dependent on feelings.

How many marriages are only based on emotional love? Certainly, we do not want to separate ourselves from emotions in a relationship. Yet, because all of us carry a self-satisfying germ, called sin, we cannot avoid that completely. But we must regularly remind ourselves what God’s intentions are when we talk about agape. John 3:16 tells us that God so loves (agape) the world that He gave His Son. God’s love is automatically involved with giving, and God’s love is unconditional. He loved us before we were born. He expects nothing in return – just accept the gift He has given, and for the reason He has given it. His love is one way. How does your love measure up?