A Look At Love

Sermon: A Look at Love

Specific Purpose: to explain love’s scriptural descriptions with an emphasis on agape

Delivery style: start with information and end with passion

As pastors, we do our best to explain some point in God’s Word in each sermon. That means we must first dig into the Word deeply, searching thoroughly for what it has to say about our topic of the week. This week’s sermon will cover one word whose understandings are central to Judeo-Christian beliefs: I will explain one English word, Love. Why? In the first century, followers of Christ wrote the New Testament mostly in Greek. The Greek language has six different words for Love: Philia. Philautia, Storge, Xenia, Erose, and Agape.

In English, we can say, “I love hot dogs.” or “I love my wife.” or “I love America.” “My neighbor loves automobiles.” Now loving hot dogs is nothing like loving my wife nor like loving America and certainly not like loving automobiles. Unlike English, the Greek language recognizes that there are different kinds of love. Their language has six words to describe what English translators often translate as Love. In addition, other Greek word variants also relate to the meaning of love. So, how did translators go from one of several Greek words to one English word, Love, and convey as closely as possible the original meaning of Love in particular scriptures? We will first examine the different kinds of love used in Greek and see how important getting into this detail can be.

The first word often translated from Greek to love in English is Philia. Philia is very affectionate love. It means warm regard, friendship, familiarity, and enjoyment of activity with one another. The root word Philia is in Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love; Philanthropy is the love of humankind. Philia is saying I like you because; it is a feeling of fondness. You will find it translated love in John 20:2, “Then she runneth, and cometh to Simon Peter, and to the other disciple, whom Jesus loved, and saith unto them, they have taken away the Lord out of the sepulchre, and we know not where they have laid him.” Here, “whom Jesus loved” is written philia in Greek. “The other disciple, whom Jesus loved” meant that Jesus enjoyed being with that disciple; Jesus was close to him. Translators used philia in John 11:3 and 11:36 concerning Jesus’ friend Lazarus and in Matthew 10:37 to indicate love for father, mother, son and daughter (we are to “love Jesus more than these”). We must enjoy being with Jesus more than we enjoy being with our father, mother, son and daughter.

The next word is Philautia, self-love, regard for one’s happiness. The Greeks further divide this self-compassion into beneficial and egotistical, healthy and unhealthy, selfish and unselfish. In II Peter 1:5-7, Peter uses philautia in ranking Christians’ healthy self-love, and growth in one's positive attributes. “And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; and to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.” We find amour-propre philautia, the unhealthy self-love, in Matthew 26:20-22, “When it was evening, he reclined at table with the twelve. And as they were eating, he said, ‘Truly, I say to you, one of you will betray me.’ And they were very sorrowful and began to say to him one after another, ‘Is it I, Lord?’”

Next is Storge. Storge is love naturally formed between parents and children, love within a family. You will find storge used once in the New Testament. There we find it used in combination with philia in Romans 12:10. “Be kindly affectionate one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another…” “Kindly affection” is expressed storge. “Brotherly love” is expressed philia. Together, they refer to the special family relation of God’s people one to another.

Then we have Xenia, meaning hospitality, the friendship offered to guests. It means generosity and reciprocity. Xenia also expresses hospitality toward guests and foreigners. In Romans 12:13, we find xenia expressed this way, “Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.”

After that is the Greek word many Americans unfortunately translate as Love, Erose is carnal desire. It conveys sexual passion. The Greeks used erose to refer to the initial emotion a person may feel when they see a sexually attractive person, physical beauty that leads to erotic cravings. You will find eros translated in Hebrews 13:4, “Marriage is honorable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge.” The Greek eros expresses the uncontrolled sexual lust of “whoremongers and adulterers”. In 1 Corinthians 7:1, we find another example, “Now for the matters you wrote about: ‘It is good for a man not to have sexual relations with a woman.’” Here, “sexual relations” is expressed eros in the Greek. Paul was saying that sex with any other woman other than one’s wife is immoral, and unfaithfulness. Read 1 Corinthians 7:1-5.