Four Kinds of Love in Scriptures

Four Kinds of Love in Scriptures

This blog post will help you explore the four types of love in the Bible. You will realize that not all love that you feel is one and the same. You will learn that God deserves your love more than anything or anyone else. This is Valentine’s blog post to prepare your hearts in the love month.

We are inspired to talk about love not only because it is the month of hearts but our business and ministry encapsulates love. Love is more than lip service, it is shown. Let us now discuss the four kinds of love in Scriptures.

There are four Greek words signifying four different types of love.

1. Eros

Eros is the Greek mythology character, the God of love, physical attraction, sexual desire, passion, and romance. We are more familiar with Cupid, its Roman counterpart.

Erotic love is between two people who are in love and demonstrating physical love towards each other. This is the type of love that we almost always see in films, commercials, and other forms of media.

Eros is not found anywhere in the Old Testament except when it was vividly portrayed in the Songs of Solomon. In the New Testament, Paul faced obstacles in planting churches in Greece as promiscuity and immorality are rampant in their culture. The Bible clearly prohibits sex outside the confines of marriage to keep the marriage vows and bed pure and holy for spouses.

2. Storge

This form of love in Scriptures is family love or the love between parents and children and brothers and sisters in the family. Most of the families in the Bible have strife or unresolved conflict but there are examples of Storge like the love of Martha and Mary towards their brother, Lazarus, Hannah towards her son, Samuel, and Jacob (Israel) towards his children.

In Romans 12:10 –

10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honor preferring one another;

Philostorgos in that verse, a compound word in Greek is the combination of Storge and Philia.

3. Philia

This is the brotherly love towards believers in the Lord and even to persons who are in need. It teaches about love, honor, respect, compassion, and concern for each other.

Jesus teaches for us to love one another as He has loved us in John 13:34-35 KJV

34 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.

35 By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

Philosophy is love of wisdom. It is from the etymology Philia and Sophia.

4. Agape

Agape is God’s unconditional, incredible, unfathomable, and amazing love. The entire universe and mankind are created because of this incomparable love. The ultimate expression of God’s agape or divine love is when God the Father sent His Son, Jesus Christ to the world to teach about the kingdom and die on the Cross of Calvary to pay the penalty of all our sins retroactively – past, present, and future.

When Jesus lived on earth for 33 years and spent three years in ministry, He worked the works of God and showed agape love to everyone especially to those who are lost, sick, broken, and in need of God’s healing and saving knowledge. He carried the weight of the sins of mankind in His death and it did not end there…He resurrected from the dead showing how He overcame our death, sin, sickness, and hell.

This Valentine’s Day, we want you to reflect upon God’s agape love above all more than the chocolates, roses, and romantic dates. Tell people that God is love this love month by wearing one of our God is Love shirts or giving them to your loved ones and friends.