ARE THERE REALLY FOUR KINDS OF LOVE?

The answer is a resounding YES! According to the Greek language there are four distinct words for four types of love: storge, eros, phileo, agape.

I’m sure that you are wondering what the differences are, and this is a good time of the year to wonder. The four loves can be divided into two categories called “need-love” and “give-love.” If we are really truthful with ourselves, we would have to say we love because we need loving back. So we both need loving and then give love back when loved by someone first. However, as we will see, love has its moods and transitions too. Storge is simply defined as “affection” and can be applied to the affection a person has for a pet dog or cat. It is also the beginning attraction that can lead to any kind of relationship with another person. It is the first step toward getting acquainted.

Storge can lead to eros which is erotic or sexual love. Eros is the kind of love most people talk about and want, but it is not really fulfilling or personally satisfying if it is not followed by phileo or steadfast love. Phileo is a steadfast kind of love between real friends who are not lovers. Lovers are normally face to face, friends are side by side. This is the kind of love that can be trusted and built upon.

Agape or divine love is considered to be the most mature, satisfying kind of love there is. We talk about true love and this is it! Agape love is the love God has for us when he says “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son.” Divine love loves first and always without need of having to be loved back. It is truly a gift-love. I John 4:10 says that “this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”

The real question here is, can we love like God can? The answer is again a resounding, Yes! But the hang up is that we must allow God to love us and interact with us until we experience His love in our hearts. Then and only then can we love others as God loves us. The next verse after I John 4:10 is “Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.” You see, Jesus came into the world to show us how to love and to be loved. Listen to the words between Jesus and God the Father in John 17:26: “I have made Your name known to them, and will make it known, so that the love with which You loved Me may be in them, and I in them."

The moral of this story is that we cannot truly love unless we allow God to love us first! Won’t you let God love you today? Ask Him and I know that He will respond to you as no one has ever responded to you before. You will never be sorry. I know.

Adrian W. Rosa, Pastor
Hilltop Chapel