God is love
Open your heart wide and get ready!
For the next seven days, I want to walk with you through the most powerful theme of all. It is so profound that if you truly grasp its meaning, it will be life-changing. It is Love.
Not the love this world offers— fragile, fleeting, and conditional — but a love that is divine, eternal, and beyond comprehension. For this kind of love, there is no word in the English dictionary, and therefore I resort to using the Greek word for it: Agápē love.
Let’s start by discovering its roots.
Koine Greek is an ancient language in which the original New Testament was written.The word agápē (pronounced ah-GAH-pay) in Greek simply meant love, but in a broad sense.
But in the New Testament, the word took on a specialised, sacred meaning distinct from other Greek words for love, like Eros (which refers to romantic or passionate love), Philia (for friendship and brotherly love) and Storagē (for familial love between parents and children). Agápē was used to refer to divine love that is selfless and unconditional. It is not dependent on the worthiness of the receiver but comes from a giver who chooses to love no matter what. It is mostly one-sided.
Agápē is the very nature of God, perfect and eternal.
“because God is love (agápē).” – 1 John 4:8
At its core, Agápē is love with no strings attached. It is sacrificial — because it seeks nothing in return. And it is transforming — because it changes not just the one who receives it, but also the one who gives.
In Mark 12:29-31, Jesus called this love the greatest commandment of all:
“The most important one is to love (agápē) the Lord your God with all your heart.and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love (agápē) your neighbour as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
As we begin this journey into the depths of God’s Agápē, my prayer for you today is this: that you may not only know this love with your mind, but encounter it with your heart; that you may be filled to overflowing, until it pours out of you and touches everyone around you.
