Sermon Central
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Love
Contributed by Kenneth R. Jenkins on Jan 24, 2024 (message contributor)
Summary: Love is the most overrated word ever. Poets and artists use this word to express themselves while songwriters wrote songs on it, but this small but powerful word lost its meaning.
There are four Greek words for love:
EROS: sexual love or a passionate way of showing love. “EROTIC” arrived from this word. This is a love between a man and his wife. “Wives, submit yourself unto your husbands, as unto the Lord” Ephesians 5:22.
PHILEO: which means “to have a special interest in someone or something, frequently with focus on close association; have affection for, like, consider someone a friend. The Proverbs writer wrote, “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity” Proverbs 17:17.
STORGE: this is brotherly love, a fondness through familiarity, especially between family members or people who have otherwise found themselves together by chance. There was love and mutual protection between Noah and his wife, their sons and daughters-in-law in Genesis, the love of Jacob for his sons; and the strong love between the sisters Martha and Mary in the gospels had for their brother Lazarus.
There is a love that’s greater than the other three mentioned which is the BIG picture of things….
AGAPE: the love of God. This is the type of love Jesus was talking about to the lawyer in our Scripture. This is the love that’s everlasting and it will never ever get old, and this is what Jesus is instructs us to love one another as God bless His Church.
And so, what have we learned about love? Let’s hear what Apostle Paul has to say, “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrong. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails…And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love” 1 Corinthians 13:4-8; 13.
One more thing, share love, it’s the best gift to mankind to share. No matter the distance or how near, we just share love.
The late Tina Turner asked the musical question, “What’s Love Got to Do With It?” Well Ms. Turner, God’s love has everything to do with it because all we need is love, share AGAPE love with someone today, Amen.
