What is agape Love?

The Apostle John uses the word “love” over 30 times in his first letter. 1 John itself can be seen as an expansion on the greatest commandment that Jesus speaks of:

And He said to them, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.”

Matthew 22:37-40

Love seems so simple to define, doesn’t it? It isn’t a word that I typically dwell on much because I know what love is. Don’t I? As I continue to be amazed at how frequently (and seemingly randomly!) the word love is thrown about, I want to know how God defines love and be able to use the word in a way that honors Him. While there are different kinds of love, I specifically want to understand and correctly use agape love, not just in my vocabulary but in my actions as well.

The descriptors below have been taken from Strong’s Concordance, which I recommend everyone buy if they don’t have it already! (sorry for the shameless plug)

The first thing mentioned about agape love is that it is “not drawn out by excellency in its object.” There is no reason to love what is being loved. From God’s perspective, love is “an exercise of the divine will in deliberate choice, made without assignable cause save that which lies in the nature of God Himself.” God loves because of who He is. He is love. The following Scripture should humble all of us.

For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth. It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the LORD set His love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the LORD loves you and is keeping the oath that He swore to your fathers, that the LORD has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

Notice how it does not say “it was because God loved you,” but rather says, “it is because the LORD loves you.” It is a constant love that never waivers or ceases. This constant love was most perfectly expressed in the man Jesus Christ and magnified brightest on the Cross at Calvary. Who did He come to save? Each and every sinner who calls on the name of Jesus Christ for salvation.

but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.

Romans 5:8

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.

John 3:16

Consider these two verses carefully. I’m reminded of the song lyrics “Amazing love, how could it be that you my King should die for me?” Even the word “amazing” fails to describe God’s love for us! The Good News is we get to spend eternity learning how much God loves us.

So how does this love manifest itself in believers?

As I grow in fellowship with God, my love for Him grows more and more. It is inevitable that it grow because God is Faithful and True. I cannot help but love God more and more as I continue to experience more of His love for me.

Strong’s says that “Christian love has God for its primary object, and expresses itself first of all in implicit obedience to His commandments.” To obey God because we love Him...what a thought! Non-believers see it as following a bunch of boring, inhibiting rules, don’t they? This is the reason why I believe it is so important to have a defense as Peter speaks of (1 Peter 3:15). Don’t stop at “I don’t drink” and expect anyone to just come jumping onto that bandwagon! Finish the thought! “I don’t drink because I see that it is detrimental to my walk with God and I don’t want anything to compromise my relationship with my first love!” That’s love! I often pray asking God to grow my love for Him, and I see that increased love in the motivation of my obedience.

Another thought that Strong has is that love “is not an impulse of the feelings; it does not always run with natural inclinations; nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered.” I’ve heard that marriage teaches this principle very well. Relationships in general teach it too. There are definitely times that I am not motivated to love others. There are times that I know my time and energy are being taken advantage of. Yet, my charge remains constant. Love.

I like Strong’s statement that “it does not always run with natural inclinations.” This idea is impossible for a non-believer to understand, isn’t it? The world says that love should only be expressed when you are getting your needs met in a relationship. People say things like “we were in love once, but now we are different people.” Is anyone naive enough to think that a person will not change over time? I think a much more truthful statement would be “I was infatuated with this woman when we got married, but now that feeling has worn off and I don’t feel like staying committed to something that isn’t exciting and passionate because I didn’t really mean ‘till death do us part if it meant that I had to love without any expectation of returned love.’” It goes against our natural inclinations, but when we don’t harden ourselves to this idea, we see God! We see how He loves us in spite of the fact that our sin is so detestable in His sight.

As my love for God grows, I see only one thing left to do. I must devote myself to loving others. Chaps said it well last night in his sermon on love. He said that faith and hope can be dangerous in the wrong hands. They are powerful and can move mountains. They are powerful and they can provoke extremists to crash planes into American buildings. Without love, faith and hope can be devastating. He went on to say that love is the rudder that gives faith and hope direction.

As my faith in Christ builds on the overwhelming reality of Jesus’s death and resurrection and my anticipation and eager expectation (hope) for His return have me dreaming of Heaven, my love moves me to love others and share the hope of Jesus Christ with them. My love for God compels me to admonish believers, pray for strangers on the street, cry out for friends I see going the wrong direction, wake up at 3 in the morning to comfort someone in mourning, and continue to renew my devotion and commitment to the lives and well being of others.

What is agape love? Pouring oneself out completely as a sacrifice for others without any rhyme or reason apart from having experienced the love that Jesus Christ has for us.