Our love must be as God's love.

[Derek1955]

Agape love is the only kind of love which makes us Holy, and without Holiness no man shall see God. (Heb 12:14) 'Follow peace with all men, with holiness, without which no man shall see the Lord.'

The love Paul describes in his first letter to the Corinthians is not the emotional and sentimental versions poured out non-stop by today's media but is a true Agape love which is a self-giving and self-sacrificial kind of love and it is this love which he reveals as being 'A more excellent way'.

Agape love is the highest level of love known to humanity. It is a selfless love that is all-embracing, universal and unconditional that transcends and persists regardless of circumstance and is passionately committed to the well-being of others.

Paul instructs that if we are without agape love we have nothing and our words, even when speaking in tongues, are as sounding brass or tinkling symbols. Worthless, in fact. Prophetic gifts mean nothing without love and neither does faith or good works or charitable giving because without love, all we do becomes self-serving.


The task of all Christians is to embrace the self-sacrificing and self giving agape love which flows from God through Christ and the Holy Spirit and to make it our own, and thereby follow a more excellent way of life that leads us unerringly into the kingdom of God. The perfect example is the agape love of Jesus when He willingly sacrificed himself for the sins of the world.


The 1 Corinthians 13 which follows is authored by Paul the Apostle and Sosthenes in Ephesus. This chapter perfectly covers the subject of agape love and in the original Greek, the word ἀγάπη agape is used throughout.


Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long, and is kind; love envies not; love vaunts not itself, is not puffed up, Does not behave itself unseemly, seeks not her own, is not easily provoked, thinks no evil; Rejoices not in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails: but whether there be prophecies, they shall fail; whether there be tongues, they shall cease; where there be knowledge, it shall vanish away. For we know in part, and we prophesy in part. But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away. When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child: but when I became a man, I put away childish things.

 

[Webers.Home]

.
● Heb 13:1 . . Let brotherly love continue.

The Greek word for "brotherly love" in that passage is philadelphia (fil-ad-el
fee'-ah) which refers to fraternal affection. Philadelphia is different than the
neighborly love required by Matt 19:19 and Matt 22:37-40.

The Greek word for "love" in those passages is agapao (ag-ap-ah'-o) which
doesn't necessarily contain the element of affection; rather, it's an
impersonal kind of love exemplified in behaviors like courtesy, kindness,
sympathy, civility, good will, deference, and consideration. In other words,
you don't have to be especially fond of your neighbor in order to comply with
Matt 19:19 and Matt 22:37-40. (cf. Matt 5:43-48)

Philadelphia love is difficult because it requires the involvement of one's
affections, viz: one's feelings rather than only their manners. A really good
example is located at John 16:27 where Jesus stated:

"Father himself loves you because you have loved me and have believed
that I came from God."

For those of us who grew up deprived of affection; that passage is nigh unto
impossible to believe that God is actually, and truly, fond of us in any way at
all.

● 1John 3:1 . . Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon
us, that we should be called the sons of God

The manner of love that a normal father feels for his own children is far
more sensitive, than the love he might feel for his neighbor's children. A
normal father's love for his own children is down in his gut, viz: his
affections.

There's no fondness expressed in passages like John 3:16; which speaks of
benevolence but not necessarily fondness and affection. God cares for the
world, yes, but that doesn't mean that He likes the world. In point of fact,
God quite despises the world; it disgusts Him and He'd really like for the
world to give Him reason to improve His opinion.
_

 

[soberxp]

That's right. At first, the way I was understanding the Bible was from the perspective of hating the enemy. Now I think about how naive it is,

Matthew 5:46
If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?

Matthew 5:47
And if you greet only your brothers, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that?

Matthew 5:48
Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Luke 6:32
"If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' love those who love them.

Luke 6:33 。
And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' do that.

Luke 6:34
And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even 'sinners' lend to 'sinners,' expecting to be repaid in full.

Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

Luke 6:36
Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.