BIBLE 101: IT's GREEK TO ME

IT’S GREEK TO ME!

by Dr. Neil Christians (neilc@lordoflife.org)

In the middle of writing the July Summer Stretch curriculum, I was listening to music on

Bible 101 Spotify. The curriculum’s theme is “loving” and the song: What’s Love Got to Do with It? by Tina Turner randomly came on. It got me thinking—what does love have to do with it? This is actually a really good question. There are many kinds of love. The love I have for my family is different than the love I have for chocolate; but we only have one word for love. In Greek (the language the New Testament was written in), however, there are distinct words for various kinds of love. Let’s learn about them!

• Eros (pronounced AIR-ohs) is used for romantic love.

Eros was the name of the Greek god of love. You may be more familiar with his Roman counterpart, Cupid.

When thinking of this kind of love, imagine all of the commercials and displays around Valentine’s Day.

While eros does not appear in the New Testament, this kind of love is found in the Old Testament, especially in the book Song of Songs, or Song of Solomon. • Storge (pronounced STOR-jay) is love among family members. Again, this isn’t found in the New Testament, but this kind of love is apparent in Genesis 22, when it talks about Abraham’s love for his son, Isaac.

• Philia (pronounced FILL-ee-uh) is warm affection or love between friends. In fact, the Greek word for a beloved friend is “philoi.” You can see the connection between these two words, as well as Philadelphia, “the city of brotherly love.”

• Finally, we have the word agape (pronounced Uh-GAHpay). This is an unconditional love. It’s the kind of love

God has for us. I John chapter 4 verse 10 says, “This is love: not that we loved God, but that (God) loved us.”

God loves us unconditionally. We can’t do anything to make God love us any more or do anything to make

God love us any less. God loves us just the way we are.

This is also the kind of love God says we are to have for one another.

At Lord of Life, we end every worship service with the words, “We are children of God, loved beyond measure, sent to serve the world.” God has this unconditional agape love for us because we are God’s children. And because we experience this great love in our lives—it spills over to those around us. God’s love flows out of us to those we encounter throughout our day. This is what it means to be “sent to serve the world.” We serve, not for what we might get out of it, but because we are so overcome with God’s love that we want to share this love with others. We want everyone to know they, too, are loved beyond measure. What’s love got to do with it? Everything!

reflection

• How does it feel to know God loves you unconditionally? • How does knowing God loves you make you want to help others know this kind of love in their lives?

• How might sharing the message of God’s love make a difference in the lives of others?

• What’s one way you can share the message of God’s love with someone today?