Make Yourself at Home
Wednesday, May 23,
2018
What is love?
As
Christians we are called to love. “Your love for one another will prove to the
world that you are my disciples. “ John 13:35 The ancient Greeks had three
Eros- romantic love,
philia brotherly love and agape sacrificial love.
Eros-
this is not used in the New Testament but it describes most people’s
understanding of love; it is romantic love and not the kind of love Jesus
commanded Christians to have for one another.
Philia-philia
love is encouraged as it is brotherly love but not commanded. Philia love is
emotional responsive love. This also includes affection mutual respect, and
camaraderie. Philia love is beautiful, inspiring, and touching it is also
friendship. But is not the kind of love Jesus commanded Christians to have for
one another.
Agape- love
that is commanded love and is uniquely Christian love It promises meaningful
relationships and not the emotion based love of philia. It is an act of the
will. It is characterized by acts of sacrificial service. And agape love
consistently seeks the benefit of another person. It is always giving! Agape
love may be hard to define but we know it when we see it.—Jesus agape loved us
so much he gave himself for us!
Early
Christians believed in agape love—All the believers were together and had
everything in common. They sold property and possession to give to anyone who
had need.” Acts 2:44-45
Love is
central to Christianity—God is love (I John 4:16) God does not ‘do’ love- God
IS love! The goal for us as believers is to love from a pure heart. Wherever love is true—God is there.
REFLECTION:
What is your understanding of ‘love’? By using the Greek
translations of love we can redefine who and what we are to love and how close that
loving relationship should/ ought to be. When we are in church community the
love we experience is because of the love we each have for Jesus and so we want
to share it with others. And it is in this loving relationship we remember who
we are and what we can be with and for each other. Have you told others in your
church that you love them?
A short song has these lyrics: “I love you with the love of the Lord. Yes I
love you with the love of the Lord. I can see in you the glory of my King and I
love you with the love of the Lord.” Would
you be comfortable singing this song with your church family? This song
expresses the love we are commanded to have with each other as brothers and
sisters in Christ. Are we willing to share it?
PRAYEER
God you command us to love each other. Help us to do this
when it seems to difficult to reach out and share our love for you with others.
Enable us to do this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Resource: (based
upon) Kay Swatkowski “Make Yourself at Home: Discovering the Heart of the
Church” Discovery House Publishers, Our Daily Bread Ministries, 2016 (ch.2)
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