This week many will celebrate love or at least their interpretation of it. It has been said that in the English language there is only one word for love and that is…you guessed it, love. So I could say that I love my wife and family, but I also love chicken and dumplings. So which do I love the most if love means the same thing?
However, in other languages there are different words to describe different types of love. I never took Greek in College but now we have the internet to look up and explain the meaning of things so this is where my definitions come from.
Philautia is “self-love.” The ancient Greeks saw as a healthy, necessary love of one’s self that made it possible to give and receive love from another. Jesus Himself explained that the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, mind, and soul and the second is like it to love your neighbor as you love yourself. This kind of love is not pride where one is in-love with him or herself, but a healthy love that helps one to have a healthy self-esteem.
Pragma is a mature type of love typically only found in older people because it takes time to develop after going through troubles and trials and standing the test of time together. Truly holding true to their vows as husband and wife; for better or worse, for richer or poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and cherish until death do us part.
Storge is a love for family, but it does not always mean only biological family, it can be a kinship for people who feel like family. 2 Timothy 3:3 translates it as having a “natural affection.” Philia is a friendly love. It is a highly affectionate feeling shared with people, objects, places, and ideas. This kind of love “comes and goes,” but it is also the love between close friendships.
Eros is that love that gives you butterflies in your stomach when you see someone you are “in love with.” This love is what romance builds from. The Ancient Greeks also believed this type of love could be powerful and yet feared, because it could elicit a loss of control. Ludus is a playful love or what some would call “puppy-dog love or a crush.”
The best kind of love to share or experience is Agape. It is the term for love in the Greek New Testament most mentioned. It is a selfless and unconditional kind of love. Those who are selfless, and self sacrificial for the sake of strangers, family, or even nature are sharing agape love. God is love and this is the type of love that He is, so we can’t know or show this kind of true love without knowing Him.
2/11/24
~TRS
Rays of Hope 