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 3:16 KJV

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.   John 15:13 KJV

We use the word love or should I say, we overuse the word love. We use it to describe our love for each other. But we also use it to describe our love for everything from fashion to food.

The ancient Greeks had different words to denote different types of love. Agape love is the love Jesus is speaking of in our Scripture passages today. This is a type of brotherly love characterized by charity. This is the type of love God has for us and the type of love we should have for God.

Eros love refers to a passionate, sexual, romantic type of love. This is the type of love we would have for a spouse.

Philia refers to love between friends. This denotes a love between those who are equals like the love of a close friend.

These are the three most commonly used, but there are also a few others. Storge means a love between parents and children.

And the term Ludus refers to a playful love or flirting.

I don’t know about you, but I have found the more Agape love I have in my heart, the easier it is to have those other types of love. Agape love comes from total trust and surrender.  We often talk about trusting and obeying God. You must trust in order to obey. We don’t like to be obedient to someone we don’t trust, right?

As we approach Valentine’s Day, the word love will be thrown about like a football in the Super Bowl. But we need to think about what we are saying. Love is a very powerful word. It’s a very powerful action.

Do you have love in your heart for Jesus? He loved us enough to die for us. My friend, that is true love. He had a choice. He could have called a multitude of angels to come down from heaven and save Him from that mockery of a court, the beating, the taunting and the death on the cross. But He chose to die and to take on the sins of this world to save dirty, miserable sinners like you and Me.

He loved us that much. He loved us while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). He died for those who love Him and those who hate Him so that all may have the chance to be forgiven of their sins and freed from the bondage of sin should they choose to do so.

What or who do you love that much? Is it another human being? Is it an activity? Is it a pet sin? I don’t know if it’s humanly possible for us to love God as much as He loved us, but I’ve decided to try my best.

Of all the types of love, His love for us is the greatest love we will ever know. Do you have Agape love for Him? Or is it just that Ludus type of love where you are being playful or flirting with Christianity?

My friend, I encourage you to love Him with all your heart as He told us to do in Matthew 22:37. He loved us with all His heart even until death on that cross. He gave His life to save us from our sins, are you willing to surrender your life to Him even if it means giving up some of those things you love?

Have a great day!