First of all, this devotional is not going to be a deep theological dissertation on all the various meanings in the passage above. Someday perhaps we will do that, but not today. I am only using it to illustrate what love means.
Both of the types of love mentioned in the Bible can be found in the above passage. The Bible commonly uses two different Greek words, with quite different meanings. The two words from the Greek which are translated love are, “agape” and “phileo.”
The above passage goes something like this:
- Peter, do you agape me? Yes Lord, you know I phileo you.
- Peter, do you agape me? Yes, Lord, I phileo you.
- Peter, do you phileo me? Peter, mildly put out, replies, Lord you know I phileo you.
As I said, here we are not going to analyze that passage; it just works well for what we are going to do briefly, which is explain just what love is.
- Agape love is the kind of unconditional, sacrificial love which God the Father has for us. It is not based on feelings or based on if the recipient deserves it or not. It is the kind of love that is willing act and sacrifice even when another is totally undeserving. It is the kind of love both God the Father and Jesus Christ displayed when God sacrificed His Son for us, even though we did not deserve it. Agape love is the kind of love we are commanded to practice towards our fellow humans.
- Phileo love is the kind of love we might have for a friend, or brother or anyone who we are fond of. This love is feeling based; in other words, this is based on whether we actually like a person or not. It might be sacrificial in some circumstances, but only insofar as it meets the needs of the person sacrificing.
Jesus commanded us to love our neighbor as ourselves. The kind of love He commanded was not phileo love, but agape love. Because we are not commanded to love just those we actually feel something positive for; we are commanded to love our neighbor. Who is our neighbor? Stay tuned for a future post on that very subject!
December 28, 2017 at 08:53
I sure wish that future Bible translators would stick to the original language (Greek or Hebrew) when attempting to translate the English word “love.” It would actually be easier to understand. English tends to be too squishy.
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December 28, 2017 at 09:14
Squishy. That’s a very non squishy way to make the point! Thanks Don
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December 28, 2017 at 11:04
I also understand agapeo to be connected to the ability of the one giving the love, not related to the loveable-ness of the recipient. Or even to the desire of the one to whom the love is directed to receive the love offered! Such love is not within my ability to give; it must be supernaturally produced within me. But then, why would God ask me to do something I could do on my own???
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December 28, 2017 at 11:39
That’s very interesting! I think I just learned something. Thanks sister
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December 29, 2017 at 18:50
The use of agape and phileo is always fascinating to me…good post
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December 29, 2017 at 19:04
Thanks brother. One doesn’t have to speak Greek to do basic word studies. Sometimes the results are amazing
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December 29, 2017 at 19:14
Amen!
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December 30, 2017 at 07:29
Hey, brother. I just sent you an e mail if you have a sec.
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December 30, 2017 at 12:55
Got it, just replied to you
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