More… Love Series

More love to thee…

As we continue this journey on MORE we are reminded of our desire for community but this week we are going to talk about our greatest desire as human beings…and no its not banana pudding…or ribeye steak…its to be loved…when I first remember Leslie she was taking my order at McDonalds in Abingdon VA…she didn’t even give me a second thought…in fact, I don’t think she even saw me other that the money I handed her for my Big Mac…

I however, couldn’t get her out of my head…I had friends call her I asked her out…I found myself eating at MCDonalds a lot…if she was working the drive thru and I went in I would order get my food then go through the drive thru for my apple pie…

I asked her out for months before I finally got a MAYBE…I didn’t know it but I was seeking her love and I was finding myself obsessed about it…

Love has a strange power on us doesn’t it? And God knew it would because he created us to have the desire for to receive love but unknowingly that means that we must give love to truly receive it…

I will get back to that thought in just a moment…first lets talk about how God views love…

Of all things love appears in the bible very often…

Love appears -

310 times in the King James Version.

131 times in the Old Testament.

179 times in the New Testament.

348 times in New American Standard Bible.

551 times in New International Version.

538 times in New Revised Standard Version.

57 times in the Gospel of John, more than the Mathew, Mark or Luke gospels.

46 times in the First Epistle of John.

The command ‘love one another’ appears 11 times in the New Testament, including 3 times from Jesus himself and 4 times ‘love each other’ command with Jesus uttering it twice. This is from the New International Version.

The New King James version mentions the presence of the command ‘love one another’ 5 times.

The number of appearance of love in different translations of the Bible varies from 514 to 810 times.

The bible uses different kinds of love…

EROS: this Greek word was not used in the New Testament. It refers to sexual love and probably derived its name from the mythical god of love. This form is found throughout Song of Solomon…

STORGE: This is the type of love signifying the natural affection between kinfolk. This word appears only occasionally in the New Testament and only in compound form… Romans 12:10

10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.

PHILEO: This Greek word for love signifies, “…spontaneous natural affection, with more feeling than reason” (Elwell, p. 1357). John 5:20 describes phileo: “For the Father loves the Son and shows him all he does. Yes, and he will show him even greater works than these so that you will be amazed.” Picture the father, tenderly and lovingly showing his son what to do, and how to do it. The verse describes a progressive action of a father helping his son along.

AGAPE: This Greek word for love is by far the one that appears most frequently in the New Testament. It is, “…generally assumed to mean moral goodwill which proceeds from esteem, principle, or duty, rather than attraction or charm… [it] means to love the undeserving, despite disappointment and rejection…Though agape has more to do with moral principle than with inclination or liking, it never means the cold religious kindness shown from duty alone, as scriptural make clear” (Elwell, p. 1357).

AGAPE AND PHILEO are similar yet different it is not a helping action but deep profound affection of the heart that isn’t easily broken…John 17:27, we read, “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and I myself may be in them.” The Father had Agape for his son. It is also the love that the Son has for us.

Love is one of the most powerful emotions we have. The actress Joan Crawford once said “Love is a fire but whether it warms your heart or burns your house down, you can never tell!”

Love can motivate, give pleasure, hurt even destroy.

It can make us do bold, even stupid things.

During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound.

The soldier’s fiancé had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking.

When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell’s heart was touched and he said, "Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!"