Agapέ

So most of you know that I am not a writer... I guess I am trying to get out of my comfort zone, because two posts in one day is really not like me. :) A couple years ago, Dennae, Allie, and I kind of started a bible study. Dennae challenge us to become love. We looked at I Corinthians 13 and prayed for each other to make those characteristics part of who we are. Now for some reason I think we only got through patience and kindness, and although we never got to the last 13–those first two still had a pretty big impact on me. I decided recently to try to go through them all. I started getting things from different resources about the characteristics as well as the chapter. My challenge to you is to become love, to put it on every day. Many people do not think about what love really is. If you really love someone, you will be patient around them, kind to them, gentle towards them, etc. I am starting to type up all of the stuff I have been using. I will post it as I do, just so it will be there in case anyone wants to use it. Most of it is not from me, but mostly just commentaries and God’s Word. An example of how I have been using it is to take one week (or longer if I felt I needed it) and I asked God to give me more patience. Then I started my day by reading over what I had wrote out about patience. I also picked a few of those verses to memorize during the week. Then when I felt I was ready, I moved on to the next characteristic, and so forth. I cannot tell you how challenging it has been. Be prepared, if you ask God to test you so that you can grow... He will! This is how the chapter starts:

"...And yet I show you a more excellent way. Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become a sounding brass, and a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing." (1 Corinthians 12:31-13:3)

The message says that without love "I’m nothing but the creaking of a rusty gate." I also like how it words the ending of that passage. It says, "... So, no matter what I say, what I believe, and what I do, I’m bankrupt without love."

God is so clear about the importance of love. In Greek, there were three different words for love. When you say you"love" ice cream, you do mean something different then when you say you "love" your parents. Here are the definitions for the words for love:

Greek words for "LOVE":
1. Eros: erotic, sensual (does not appear in the New Testament)
2. Phileό: tender affection, love that is reciprocal, brotherly love. (Appears about 415 times in the New Testament–about half of those times it is used negatively. See John 21:15-17)
3. Storge: natural affection, like that felt by parents for offspring. (Rarely used in ancient works, and then almost exclusively as a descriptor of relationships within the family).
4. Agapέ: does not arise from our feelings. It is a command. It does not always coincide with our natural inclinations, nor is it concerned only with those for whom we have some natural affinity. It is costly (John 3:16). It demands the care and welfare of the loved one regardless of whether that welfare involves hurting or healing–it always involves helping. It is the love of the Father for the Son (John 17:26), of His love for the human race (John 3:16), and of His love for His own (John 14:21). It is Godlike, Devine, and a fruit of the Holy Spirit in the life of a believer (Galations 5:22 and Ephesians 5:9). It is NOT based on emotion, but on will. (Appears about 320 times in the New Testament and is rarely used as a negative.)

You probably figured out that in this passage Paul used the word agapέ. Really think about what that word means. He was not just saying to love. He was saying to be a servant to those around you, no matter how they treat you, what kind of response you receive, or how much it hurts. Loving can be VERY uncomfortable. Here is my summary of John Phillip’s commentary on these first few verses of the love chapter:

The acid test of genuine Christianity is not language, prophecy (Matthew 7:22-23), miracle-working faith (Matthew 10:1-8), or charity based on duty; but LOVE. Without love the most glorious gifts are no account to us, of no esteem in the sight of God. Doing good to others, will do none to us, if it is not done from love to God, and goodwill to men.

Thanks for letting me share with you guys! :)