Agape

 Love comes in many forms.  There is philia which is love for one’s neighbor.  Eros is the love one has for his or her mate.  Mania is a mentally excited, excessive and persistent love. This type of love is like an obsession or craving. Storge is the love parents have for their children.  The highest love is agape, the love God has.  Agape love is the most powerful force in all of creation.  The old song says love can pick up and put you can put you down, take your world and spin it all around. There is nothing in the world stronger than love. 

It was love that kept Jesus on the cross.  It was love that raised Jesus from the grave. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. John 3:6(KJV)

When the Church at Corinth had disputes over different attributes, the Apostle Paul stressed love.  Paul called love the queen of graces.  The church has many attributes and talents, but love is the greatest.  Paul preached Jesus.  Jesus is God’s greatest expression of Himself to mankind.  Love is the motive for ministry.  Love never changes.

When I was a small boy, I would go to the wood yard with daddy.  I love the smell of cut pine.  There at the mill were huge saws cutting and sizing the logs.  The men were fun to watch chewing their tobacco, wiping sweat, and telling tales. 

Daddy got out of the logging business, and I did not go to the wood yard for many years.  When I did, I noticed that things had changed, but one little man did not.  Some of the old hands were fatter, gray haired, bald, and wrinkled, but the named Mr. Bob looked the same.  He wore the same hat, drove the same truck, and spit tobacco the same way.  I thought I had gone into a time warp.  The last time I saw Mr. Bob he looked the same with the exception that he drove a new pickup truck.  Mr. Bob seemed to never change, but he did.

Unending love is always the same because God never changes.  It is His nature.  Love spoke all creation into existence.  It is the expression of God’s being.  There is no love apart from God.  Love will last as long as God and that is a long, long time.  Love is forever.  And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity. I Corinthians 13:13 (KJV)

God wants us to demonstrate His love to a world that has perverted love.  This Valentine’s Day give more than a fancy card, fine chocolates, and flowers.  Share the love of God.

 

Have a Happy Valentine’s Day

 

PS:  Guys don’t forget the fancy card, fine chocolates, and flowers!