Love is a boundless word woven into the tapestry of humanity, a subjective word that can transcend beyond borders, so unique that it can create intense emotion that’s both humane and spiritual.

            Love is as old as time, flowing like ebbs of the tide, so calm like a morning breeze or fierce like a raging storm. It can be so gentle like the perch of a dove or intense like a furnace of consuming fire. Love is absolute beyond description, a faceless entity that can produce a diverse range of emotions.

            As a subjective entity love means different things to different people. To some people, it is an intense feeling of deep affection. In contrast, some people see it as a selfless thing that involves caring and giving to others or making the well-being and interest of other people a priority.

            Love is subjective and diverse as well, it could be a platonic relationship between parents and children, siblings and family members or a romantic between couples or lovers. It can be so intense that it affects lives positively or negatively. It can be unconditional or conditioned on certain requirements to be meant. Love can feel so real like the very heart that beats in your chest or fake like a unicorn horn.

Love involves a lot of sacrifices, trust, loyalty, and commitment and comes with a whole lot of responsibilities. Love is meant to be reciprocated, appreciated, nurtured and treasured.

            From the Biblical perspective, love “…suffers long and is kind; love does not envy, love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails…” 1 Cor. 13: 4-8, NKJV. From this biblical perspective, love is seen as pure and divine;  an infallible entity wrapped in glorious perfection. The question now is, from a human perspective, how truly so?

Now, considering the depth of the fall of human nature and its attendant corruption the biblical perspective of love above is HARD to stomach--hard to take in. Logically, how can a person “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things?” This sounds foolish if not outright stupid! Human nature has always conflicted with love since the fall of mankind to sin, and even the redemptive power of salvation that has saved us from the power of sin and death has not eroded this part of our nature. We tend to question the validity of love and tend to be selective (pick which part of love to exhibit and which not to) in the name of ‘being wise’. Yes, the Bible admonishes us to be wise as a serpent and innocent as a dove, likewise, it admonishes us to ‘love as God loves’. so here is the conflict, how can we love as God loves and still be wise as a serpent? Naturally, we tend to act on the safer side of love (wisdom demands it), we tend to believe that if we love ‘too much’ people will take the love for granted. Well, there is merit in this logical reasoning but are we going to say that Christ ‘loved too much’ by giving up his life for the salvation of humankind? Did God love ‘too much’ by releasing His precious Son, Jesus Christ for our salvation? Well, the truth is none of us has attained this highest stage of love that “bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things”. Some of us are striving to attain this stage while many others are satisfied with the low level of love they have. Now, can this highest stage of love be attained by a child of God? Yes, with the help of the Holy Spirit and unconditional surrendering to God, but humanly speaking no, we can’t attain this highest stage of love even if we give up our lives to save others. How long can you endure if somebody keeps spitting in your face whenever you are not handicapped? How long can you endure if someone keeps smacking you on your cheek persistently when you are not disabled? There goes your answer.  

            Love is presented in the Bible in four kinds: Eros, Philia, Storage and Agape. Eros is derived from a Greek word which sees love from a physical or sexual perspective. It involves romance, lust and/or passion as exhibited by lovers or married couples.

Philia is also a derivation of Greek, it’s a kind of platonic love or brotherly love that is inhibited in friendship. It is cordial, affectionate and not sensual. It is also the most common type of love in the Bible. Besides friendship, it encompasses care for other people, love for your fellow human, respect for other people and compassion for people who are in need.  The Bible admonishes this type of love  as found in the following verses:

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind. (1 Peter 3:8, ESV)

And godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. (2 Peter 1:7, ESV)

Now concerning brotherly love you do not need for anyone to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love one another... (1 Thessalonians 4:9, ESV)

Let brotherly love continue. (Hebrews 13:1, ESV)

Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honour. (Romans 12:10 ESV)

"By this, everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." (John 13:35, NIV)

Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart ... (1 Peter 1:22, ESV)

Storage (Familial) is a Greek term that depicts love within the family. It’s a kind of love parents show to their children such as mother to child, father to child, among siblings (brothers and sisters), near or distant cousins, grandparents to grandchildren, uncles and aunties, all within the large or small family.

Agape is a divine kind of love. It is unconditional, sacrificial love. It is a selfless love someone feels for a stranger or humanity that could make them sacrifice even their lives to save the person or humanity. It is the love God felt for humanity, it is also the type of love that motivated Jesus Christ to lay down his life to save humanity from the power of sin and death. 

Love is a defining attribute of Christianity, it is the core aspect of our faith without which we will not please God or live by His divine will for us. These four kinds of love, especially Philial and Agape are the strongest we have to imbibe for us to live a genuine Christ-like life.

Generally, there are four more types of love in Greek terminology, which fall on the negative side of humanity, which a child of God should abstain from Mania, Ludus, Pragma and Philuatia.

Mania is an obsessive love that leads to mental illness. For instance, it is the kind of love a stalker feels for his or her victim. It is a kind of love that reaches the point of madness (which can directly lead to crime or hurt someone). A jilted lover can become obsessive and extremely jealous to the stage of madness. Mania is what gives meaning to the English word ‘Maniac’. It is not good at all.  

Ludus is originally from Latin terminology, it’s a playful and noncommittal love such as flirting, seduction and casual sex. It sees love as a game, not seeking a committed relationship or seeing sex as a prize to be won. Another common term for this love is ‘friends-with-benefits”, where neither partner is interested in a committed relationship. In the long run, it can finally lead to Eros.

Pragma is a practical love which is generally an ‘arranged love’, based on duty, obligation or logic. It’s a businesslike love you might find in arranged marriages, political, throughout human history. In this affair, practicality takes precedence over romance, sexuality or affection. People are in it because of political reasons, money or because one or both partners have a lot to lose if they separate.

Philuatia is a self-love. Love you feel for yourself, your look or your body. The modernized version of this love falls under self-esteem (which is good) or hubris (which is bad). It’s good to pride in yourself but the dark side of it can see you feel better than everyone else or pride in yourself too much to your downfall.

Generally, love is a complicated subjective entity with many faces. The Bible projects four types of love which two (Philia and Agape) are the most we as Christians should prioritize in our relationship with God.     

Read more on: https://christwriters.net/the-concept-of-love/

Samuel is a prolific and talented writer and media artist and a minister of the Gospel of Christ Jesus. He has built a career as a professional writer, content creator, graphic designer, web designer, photographer, videographer, and computer tutor. https://trilovemedia.com/samuel-olusegun-akinola/