Love Is . . .

Love is . . .

Mark 12:30-31

February 13, 2022

If you’ve been to the stores since December 26, you’ve seen all of the displays. You can’t miss them, Valentine’s day is coming. Yet, as of Tuesday, it will be Easter stuff that is out, but good sales on candy!

With Valentine’s Day in mind, I wanted to look at love this week. Most of us would say we don’t need to go to the dictionary to look up the meaning of love. We know it. Yet, if I asked each of you to define love, we’d have lots of different definitions. There’s a multitude of definitions. Love can be a noun or a verb.

I don’t think it’s an easily defined word. Love has to do with God. It has to do with sex. It has to do with romance. It even has to do with tennis. There's a pretty wide range of what the definitions are.

Picture going on a romantic date and the guy wants to drop the L word.

You go to a nice dinner, walk around the lake, sit on a bench. It’s the perfect moment. But you wonder, will she really know the depth of your love. Saying “I love you” might not be enough. So, after looking in a dictionary, he looks into her eyes and says . . . “I have tender and passionate affections for you.” Somehow, that doesn't quite capture all that love is about.

In English we have only one word for love. That’s unfortunate. When you want to express the depths of your love, sometimes saying “I Love you” just doesn’t seem enough. You know what I mean?

The ancient Hebrews had the same dilemma. There was one Hebrew word. Everything about love in English and Hebrew has to be captured in the one word.

The Greeks had far more. There’s actually around 6 words. But I want to talk about 4 of them, then narrow it down to one.

Storge was a common word for love for Greeks. It may be the most frequently used word. It referred to the love between a parent and a child, especially between a mother and a child.

Then they had a different word for the love between really good friends. They used the word Phileo. It’s a word which expressed the depths of their friendship, care and compassion.

The Greeks had another word for a very strong passionate love: Eros. Eros means someone is drawn to another person sexually. This is where we get our word erotic. It’s the love between a husband and wife.

Then there’s the 4th major type of love. That’s Agape love.

Interestingly, this word was not used very much and was even lesser used in ancient Greek literature.

There’s really a huge difference in these types of love. Agape is not centered in the relationship to the other person or their attractiveness. Agape is centered on the person who does the loving.

Agape love is more than a feeling oriented love. When the Greeks used the word they talked especially about action, doing something that is for the benefit of another person.

In storge, phileo and eros - we gain something from that relationship. But agape love is different.

Agape is rooted in the person who is doing the loving. Agape love is great to receive. And it is supernatural to give. It’s great to receive because everyone loves to be loved. We may not all admit it, but I believe there’s a universal desire to be loved by all people.

Some want to be hugged. Others are glad to be touched. Others want to be known, to be thought of as important. We want it to matter whether we come in late or don't come home at all. We want to have someone who will believe in us. The problem with all of these things is that we have been made to believe that so much is dependent upon our desirability.

If we look good, if we have the right look, if we conform to societies norms, maybe we’ll have friends who want to be with us. Some are seeking their parents love if they meet their expectations. They hope to find love by being a workaholic.

But wouldn't it be great to just to be loved because you are you!? You don’t have to look good. You could be a mess. You don’t have to be politically correct. You don’t have to live in certain places. You don’t have to have a certain amount of money. You can be whatever size you are. You don’t need power and prestige. You don’t need any of that in order to be loved.

Wouldn't it be great just to be loved for being you? Even if someone knew everything about me? Even when I make strange comments or sounds. Wouldn't it be great to just be loved "as is?"