Four unique forms of love are found in the Bible. They are communicated through four Greek words: Eros, Storge, Philios, and Agape. We'll explore these different types of love characterized by romantic love, family love, brotherly love, and God's divine love.
Philios – Brotherly love that united believers.
C.S. Lewis wrote a book titled The Four Loves. “Philios (philíos, Greek: φιλία) is the love between friends as close as siblings in strength and duration. The friendship is the strong bond existing between people who share common values, interests or activities.” Lewis immediately differentiates friendship love from the other loves. He describes friendship as "the least biological, organic, instinctive, gregarious and necessary...the least natural of loves". “Our species does not need friendship in order to reproduce, but to the classical and medieval worlds it is a higher-level love because it is freely chosen.”*
It is not a natural thing to be selfless, which means it is difficult to treat others as of greater importance than yourself. Brotherly love is something that isn’t a suggestion, but rather a command. We won’t go to hell if we keep to ourselves, but it’s not what the Lord knows is best for us. Brotherly interaction is the key to loving one another. You must spend time with your brethren to cultivate a loving friendship. In the OT, David and Jonathan had what would be considered a perfect example of brotherly love (1st Samuel 18-20).
“Brotherly love friendship springs from a strong, tight-knit bond. Friendship shares mutual affection and love for one another. Friendship demands selfless sacrifice.”(1) These are things, as I mentioned above, that do not come easy, especially for men who try to be as autonomous as possible, even as believers. We value our private time and times when we can do whatever we want. Being selfless can mess with our comfort level and cause us to do things we normally wouldn’t do even though we are told by God that this is what a follower of his should be doing. We may love a brother or sister in Christ reluctantly, but once again it all comes down to seeing others the way God sees them. Striving for selflessness in ones life is the absolute way to go. Let go of the wheel and let God drive. You’ll not regret it. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing! rlkeller
* Wikipedia entry re: Philios love
1 comment:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
gave a sermon on the subject,
but only talked about 3 kinds
of love: Eros, Philios & Agape'
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