What Love Is
May 14, 2017 Morning Service
Immanuel Baptist Church, Wagoner, OK
Rick Boyne
Message Point: We must love God with all our hearts and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Focus Passage: 1 Corinthians 13:1-13
Supplemental Passage: Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. The one who does not love does not know God, for God is love. (1 John 4:7-8 NASB)
Introduction: The ancient Greeks were … sophisticated in the way they talked about love, recognizing six different varieties. They would have been shocked by our crudeness in using a single word both to whisper "l love you" over a candlelit meal and to casually sign an email "lots of love." (1)
1. Eros, or sexual passion
2. Philia, or deep friendship
3. Ludus, or playful love (which referred to the affection between children or young lovers)
4. Agape, or love for everyone
5. Pragma, or longstanding love
6. Philautia, or love of the self (narcissism vs self worth) (2)
I. Eros
a. Romantic Love associated with marriage
b. The Greeks didn't always think of it as something positive. In fact, eros was viewed as a dangerous, fiery, and irrational form of love that could take hold of you and possess you. (3)
c. The word love (eros) can almost be substituted with lust.
II. Phileo
a. Brotherly love associated with friendship
b. It was about showing loyalty to your friends, sacrificing for them, as well as sharing your emotions with them. (4)
c. Also associated with a love from a parent to their child and vice versa. (5)
III. Agape
a. Unconditional Love – demonstrated by God,
b. Agape was later translated into Latin as caritas, which is the origin of our word "charity." (6)
c. Loving someone doesn’t mean that you must approve of their choices or their decisions
d. When Jesus asked Peter if he loved (agape) Him, Peter responded, Lord, You know I love (phileo) You!
Application/Invitation: "Because lawlessness is increased, most people's love will grow cold. (Matthew 24:12 NASB)
References:
1. http://www.yesmagazine.org/happiness/the-ancient-greeks-6-words-for-love-and-why-knowing-them-can-change-your-life
2. ibid.
3. ibid.
4. ibid.
5. ibid.
6. ibid.
