This is the final post in a three-part series entitled:” Three Things Remain.” The purpose of this series is to learn the meaning of the three greatest Christian virtues: faith, hope, and love.
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
Love is one of the most commonly used words in the world; it’s something everybody understands. Many songs, poems, stories have been written about love, and it is at the core of human existence.
But what is love? People flippantly use it to express their attachment to things or people. For example, loving your friends, your car, or your new haircut. The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines love as “strong affection for another arising out of kinship or personal ties.” And the Oxford Dictionary defines love as “an intense feeling of deep affection.” .
However, love in the Bible is more than just feelings or emotions. Biblical love is an action based on choice. It may involve emotions, but acts always follow.
For further understanding of Biblical love, let’s look at the original Hebrew and Greek words.
Love in Hebrew
Love first appears in the Old Testament in Genesis 22:2 “take your son, your only son Isaac, whom you love, and offer him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains of which I shall tell you.” The Hebrew word used for love is ahavah. According to Strong’s Dictionary, ahavah means to have affection, sexually or otherwise, love, like, to befriend, to be intimate.
Ahavah comes from the root word ahav, which means to give or to love. Strong’s dictionary says ahav means “to provide and protect what is given as a privilege” and “to have an intimacy of action and emotion.” Ahav appears 240 times in the Old Testament compared to ahavah, which appears 40 times. Both words are translated into love in English Bibles.
Ahavah and ahav are used throughout the Old Testament to portrait different kinds of love. For example, it is used to express God’s love in Deuteronomy 7:8; brotherly affection in 1 Samuel 18:3; family love in Genesis 25:28; and passionate love in Song of Solomon 1:7.
In conclusion, love in Hebrew means to give. It is a verb and a noun, emotion, and action. To love in the Old Testament means giving and providing to others without thinking of the benefits in return.
Love in Greek
There are four Greek words for love: eros, storge, phileo, and agape.
Eros
Eros is romantic or sexual love. It delineates physical attraction, sexual desire, and physical love. Though the word eros is not in the Bible, eros love is in it. For example, the Song of Solomon is primarily about the passion of eros.
Storge
Storge is familial love, the kind of love one has for a parent, sibling, or child. It is the unique bond that naturally arises between family members. Many people had storge in the Bible, such as Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. However, the word storge only appears a couple of times in compound words only. For example, astorge in Romans 1:31, which means without natural affection. And philostorgos in Romans 12:10, meaning tenderly loving.
Phileo
Phileo is brotherly love. It means affectionate friendship, to cherish or regard with affection. Strong’s Concordance defines it as “to show warm affection in intimate friendship, characterized by tender, heartfelt consideration, and kinship.”
Phileo is the kind of love that develops between friends. An excellent illustration of phileo in the Bible is that of David and Jonathan “…the soul of Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul” (1 Samuel 18:1). Phileo appears about 25 times in the New Testament, such as in John 11:3, John 15:19, John 21:15, and Titus 3:15.
Agape
Agape is the love of God or from God. It means goodwill, love, charity, benevolence, and esteem. It comes from agapao, which means to love, to wish well, take pleasure in, and to prefer.
Of the four kinds of love, agape is the highest. Agape is the word used in John 15:13 “Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one’s life for His friends.” It appears 115 other times in the Bible in verses such as in Matthew 5:43, Romans 5:8, Romans 8:35, 1 John 3:16, and of course, 1 Corinthians 13:13.
Agape is an unconditional love that involves choice, self-sacrifice, and goodwill towards others.
Putting it all together
Biblical love is sacrificial love. It is choosing to do good to others, seeking their well-being, and putting them before oneself. To love biblically means to serve others, and to give without expecting anything in return.
John 3:16, which is arguably the most famous verse of the Bible, is a perfect picture of love. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life” (emphasis is mine).
God’s love moved Him to choose to sacrifice His Son by giving Him up to the world, without expecting anything in return from us. For the believer, to love is to choose God, and to obey Him. It is giving up ourselves for others regardless of the cost.
Why love is the greatest
The three greatest Christian virtues are faith, hope, and love. However, love is higher than the others. And it isn’t because there are four kinds. Some reasons why are:
1. Without love, faith and hope are worthless
Without love, there is no real faith. Paul said in 1 Corinthians 13:2 “… and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have no love, I am nothing. ” Not only is faith is meaningless without love, but it expresses itself through love (Galatians 5:6).
Likewise, there is no genuine hope without love. Hope means confidently wait for something, and we cannot hope for something we do not love.
2. Love is eternal
Love will last longer than faith and hope. When Jesus returns, our faith will become sight, and our hope will be fulfilled. However, our love will not cease but will continue eternally and perfectly.
3. Love benefit others
Faith and hope are intrinsic qualities for our benefits. While love is an external trait for others to experience and enjoy. And giving is always higher than receiving. As John Calvin said, “love is the greatest because faith and hope are our own; love is diffused among others.”
4. God is love
Lastly, love is the greatest because it is the essence of God’s nature. John 4:8 says that God is love. Everything that God does is one out of His great love. And we are most like God when we love like Him, not when we have faith in Him or hope in Him. As Mike Mazzonglo says in this article, “faith believes what God says, hope expects what God promises, but love does what God does.”
Biblical attributes of love
The Bible is often referred to as a love letter from God and says a lot about His love. 1 Corinthians 13, also known as the love chapter of the Bible, and 1 John have the most information on love. Some of its essential attributes are:
1. Love is from God
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
1 John 4:7-8
2. Love is perfect
Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
3. Love covers every sin and fulfills the law
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
1 Peter 4:8
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law
Romans 13:10
4. Nothing we do matters if isn’t done in love
If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
5. The most important commandment is to love
Jesus answered, “The most important is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.”
Mark 12:29-31
6. Loving others show we are Christians
By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
John 13:35
7. We are to love with our actions
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
1 John 3:17
8. Love eclipses fear
There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.
1 John 4:18
Love is the most crucial gift in our lives; we are commanded to do everything in love (1 Corinthians 16:14) and to show love to others. People will see Christ by our love, and God’s love will ultimately draw out the unsaved. In the words of John Lenon, “all you need is love.”
Recommended Sources
Four Types of Loves In The Bible
[…] previously did a word study on love and learned that biblical love is mostly action. The question now is, what actions […]
That was so refreshing! Thank you. There truly is no greater love than God’s love. Amen to you, and keep sharing!
Thank you, Jamie! I am glad you enjoyed it!
I love how in depth you have broken down all 3 of these words and their meanings. Having separate articles leaves room for so much more information. I appreciate how thoroughly you researched to make sure the information that was factual was accurate. Thank you for sharing and can’t wait to read more!
Thank you, Haley! it was a labor of love. I learned a lot when researching for the posts and I am thankful for the opportunity to share what I have learned.
Sometimes in the busy-ness of our days, while we’re out there promoting ourselves, our businesses, taking care of our families, working just to keep food on the table and roof over our heads, it can be difficult to remember that “the greatest of these is love”. Love conquers all, love heals all. Thanks for a great message on helping me to stay focused on what matters most, and all the rest will follow in line.
Thanks for reading! It really makes a difference when we put God first and remember that He cares more about us loving Him and others than our to-do lists.