The way of love
- Without love, I’m just noise.
- Paul shows that spiritual gifts, eloquence, and even great acts of sacrifice are meaningless without love. Love gives substance and value to everything else. Without it, our words and actions become empty sounds.
- Love is more than a feeling, it’s a fight.
- Love in Scripture is active and costly. It is a choice that requires persistence, sacrifice and endurance. True love demands we fight against selfishness, bitterness and pride.
- The measure of our maturity is love.
- Spiritual maturity is not measured by knowledge, charisma, or giftedness, but by the capacity to love like Christ. The more we grow in Christ, the more our lives are marked by patience, kindness and selflessness.
- Look always to what lasts always.
- Faith and hope are essential, but love is eternal. Spiritual gifts and earthly achievements will pass away, but love remains forever. This is why love is the greatest pursuit and the highest calling of the believer.
Greek words for love
- Eros
ἔρως- Romantic or passionate love, often associated with desire and attraction. Though not explicitly used in the New Testament, it was well known in Greek culture.
- Storge
στοργή- Familial love, the natural affection between parents and children or close family members. It describes a bond rooted in familiarity and kinship.
- Philia
φιλία- Brotherly or friendship love. It emphasizes mutual affection, trust and companionship.
- Agape
ἀγάπη- Selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. This is the highest form of love, the love God shows toward humanity and the love believers are called to reflect in Christ.
Insight
- 1 Corinthians 13 calls believers to prioritize love above all gifts and accomplishments.
- John reinforces this by showing that God’s love defines us as His children and is most clearly demonstrated through Christ’s sacrifice.
- Agape love is the foundation for Christian living and the evidence of true spiritual transformation.
Love without truth is sentimentality; it supports and affirms us but keeps us in denial about our flaws. Truth without love is harshness; it gives us information but in such a way that we cannot really hear it. God’s saving love in Christ, however, is marked by both radical truthfulness about who we are and yet also radical, unconditional commitment to us. The merciful commitment strengthens us to see the truth about ourselves and repent. The conviction and repentance moves us to cling to and rest in God’s mercy and grace.
- Tim Keller