During the early weeks of February we see many of our shops full of red hearts enticing us to buy cards and gifts to declare our love for that one special person. Maybe it's a bit of over-commercialised fun, but everyone wants, and probably needs, to feel loved.
You're probably aware of the different types of love, which take their names from Greek. We have STORGE which is family love, PHILIA which is the love between good friends, and EROS which is romantic love. But the one I'm focusing on today however is AGAPE. Agape love isn't so much about how you feel about a person but how you treat them. Agape love is the unconditional, unmerited, selfless and sacrificial love that we read of in the Bible. It is the love that God gives; it's the love we read of in 1 Corinthians 13. It's the love we see in probably the most famous verse in the whole Bible:
For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)
Love is spoken about so much in the Bible. We are commanded to love one another, to love our enemies, to love those who persecute us... that's a big ask!! And that is one of the big differences with agape love. It is a love that values, respects, and honours another person because of their intrinsic value and worth rather than being based on their behaviour, attitudes or attributes. And it's not necessarily reciprocated - it is not based on whether they like you or not. Agape love is a choice, and it requires effort.
Whilst many of us are blessed with loving families, that does not go for everyone. Many of us have loving friends, but many others - even within churches - don't. Yet we all, undeserving as we are, have equal access to vast unconditional love from our living and loving God. Why would we not want to share that love with others?
As winter gives way to spring - a season of buds and new shoots - look for ways of growing in God's love for each one of us, and search too for ways of sharing His love with others.
Nigel