Fruit of the Spirit - Love

“…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” – Galatians 5:22-23    

                  Over the next several days I will be looking at the Fruits of the Spirit. Today we’ll take a look at ‘love’. There are 4 different types of love in God’s economy. I’ve often said that if you ever want to know the definition of ‘love’ you can go to chapter 13 of 1st Corinthians. That is God’s definition of ‘love’, spelled out in detail. I will look at that another time. 

Today I wish to touch on the four unique forms of love that are found in the Bible. They are communicated through four Greek words: Eros, Storge, Philia, and Agape. We'll briefly explore these different types of love characterized by romantic love, family love, brotherly love, and God's divine love.

 

Eros – Sensual or romantic love between a man and a woman

Storge –Familial love between a mother and her child

Philia – Brotherly love that united believers

Agape – God’s love for his creation

 

                  There is such a thing as ‘lust’, which is an “Intense sexual desire” ^[1]. That is ‘eros’ gone awry. It misses the mark established by God. At no point are we talking about ‘lust’, for that is romantic love that has gone off the rails. In extreme cases it shows a serious lack of self-control. The enemy presents us with tempting videos or pictures that we normally wouldn’t look at, but they tease us into looking. It is my understanding that while looking is not what we should be doing, looking is not where the sin lies. It is in the doing. If you are incited to follow your ‘seeing’ of it with action, THAT is where the sin lies.  Man is generally unable to cope with temptation effectively without someone or something to lean on when the heat is turned up.  Might I suggest the Holy Spirit. The Lord gave us the person of the Holy Spirit to dwell within us upon salvation. The Holy Spirit can lead, guide, instruct, and warn us regarding impending danger. Our aim should be to avoid temptation, not invite it in.

                  The four types of love are appropriate and even necessary for a healthy, happy life. Without ‘eros’, a couple is bound to be unhappy, because intimacy is a goal of marriage. It is a way to express your deep, abiding love for your spouse. Without ‘eros’ the chances of any affair to feed that need get ratcheted up and THAT is not acceptable.

There are too many horrific stories of ‘familial love’ (Storge) failing, many times because of one or both of the parents ignoring their child or children. The child / children then may begin to seek love on other fronts. Could that be areason why there are so many teenage pregnancies? Perhaps. The enemy has made major inroads in the destruction of the family, tearing it down slowly thru the past few decades.

Have you noticed how people seem to have ceased looking to establish a brotherly or sisterly relationship with someone at church or in their community. This is brotherly love (Philia). Now that is a broad, sweeping generalization that obviously isn’t true throughout the country or even the world. High tech has replaced talking face to face and phones have become a necessity to the point of distraction. Addiction is not too strong of a word to use in this case. It has occurred to me that society as we know it might just collapse if phones were taken away from people or if the power grid went down for an extended period of time.  ‘Philial’ love is a healthy love for a brother or sister in Christ. It can also exist in secular circles as well. 

‘Agape’ love is the unconditional variety. It’s God’s love for his creation. His deep affection for His own is spoken of throughout scripture. Without it there would be NO GOD. What and who God is happens to be spelled out in the Bible, therefore, He exists and loves every part of His creation. 

Love is just a word by itself. Defining it gives it life. It is an ACTION word. There is no quarter for love to exist in any other form than what is established in 1 Corinthians 13:4-7. “Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.” This is what it IS and what it IS NOT. This would be an important portion of scripture to memorize, so you can remember it whenever necessary. Remember, LOVE ALWAYS WINS!

 

Until next time, walk with the King & be a blessing.

In His Name & for His Glory,

Richard Keller

Bread of Life Ministries

^[1] American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. (2011).