The Meaning of Love

Part 1 of series on Love

The theme of last week’s sermon was love, which centered around the identifying marks of a Christian: love for God, love for the strangers, love for each other, and love for our enemies. Without love, or the semblance of it, one cannot be considered to be a Christian in the truest sense. How can we claim to be a Christian if we do not first love God, and then love those He loves and said to follow Him in love towards?

Gary Chapman said there are 5 love languages, and that everyone “speaks” love in their own unique manner. According to him, these 5 languages are: Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Gifts, Acts of Service, and Physical Touch. And to be sure, each of us can relate to no less than one of these methods of love that we show to others, as well as which ones we long to receive to feel loved. But love is so much deeper than just outward expressions. And the truth is, the Scriptures tell us virtually nothing about making sure that we are being loved, or that love is communicated properly to us, but there are hundreds if not thousands of words in the Scripture that show us not only that we should be loving, but also how to show love more effectively.

The Greek word for a sexual or romantic love is eros. It is not a “naughty” love, although it can also be used in such a manner. This is a love that takes. And again, it’s not inherently a bad thing, but it’s a love that seeks to be fulfilled.

Another Greek word used occasionally in the Scriptures is phileo and it is used to indicate a friendship or “brotherly love.” It’s from that word that we get “Philadelphia,” or “the city of brotherly love.” This love requires give and take.

But the Greek word used in the New Testament and the Septuagint for the type of love God shows to us and that we are to show to Him and other people is agape, and it signifies a love that is unaffected by reciprocity or the lack thereof. It is a love that gives with no expectation. This, of course, means that whether or not the love is deserved or returned to us, we love because we love the Lord. This is the love we see in 1 Corinthians 13.

Since immeasurable time past, Christians have called this passage the “Love Chapter.”

Let’s read the first 3 verses:

1 Corinthians 13:1–3 KJV 1900

Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.

We have here a perfect example of why the original languages are superior to English. We’ve already seen that there are 3 distinct Greek words for “love,” and they have very distinct applications. Now in the King James Version, the word that is translated from agape in this passage is “charity,” while virtually all other versions use “love.”

Charity may have been universally understood in the 17th century to be agape, but today it is a much narrower meaning. It’s most common application is in reference to acts of service or gifts: on our tax forms we see a line for charitable giving; when we give money to someone in need or put them up in housing or give them food it’s called acts of charity. If we give of our time and money, it’s often said that we are charitable. Now all of those things may very well be done because of an agape love, with no regard on whether we may receive something in return, but the meaning of agape in the life of a Christian is much deeper than that.

The Canadian theologian, J.I. Packer, wrote:

The Greek word agape (love) seems to have been virtually a Christian invention -- a new word for a new thing (apart from about twenty occurrences in the Greek version of the Old Testament, it is almost non-existent before the New Testament). Agape draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God in Christ. It is not a form of natural affection, however, intense, but a supernatural fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). It is a matter of will rather than feeling (for Christians must love even those they dislike -- Matt. 5:44-48). It is the basic element in Christ-likeness.

So, with that in mind, think back on all of the verses about LOVE you can remember.

in Matthew 22 and in Mark 12, when Jesus says we are to love God and love our neighbor, it is agape

in 1 John 4, the apostle says anyone who does not agape does not know God, for God is agape

John 15:13 Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.

In Galatians 5, the first fruit of the spirit mentioned is agape

at the end of this chapter, it says the greatest thing among faith, hope, and love is...LOVE agape

This form or embodiment of love is a sacrificial, unassuming, for all the right reasons form of love.

During the 17th century, Oliver Cromwell, Lord Protector of England, sentenced a soldier to be shot for his crimes. The execution was to take place at the ringing of the evening curfew bell. However, the bell did not sound. The soldier's fiancee had climbed into the belfry and clung to the great clapper of the bell to prevent it from striking. When she was summoned by Cromwell to account for her actions, she wept as she showed him her bruised and bleeding hands. Cromwell's heart was touched and he said, "Your lover shall live because of your sacrifice. Curfew shall not ring tonight!" 

We’ve seen now what love is, at least in the context of this passage, and we have looked at the concept of love being without strings attached. But is love important? How does it rank in the order of importance in the lives of Christians? Well, if we look back at our passage today, we will see that it ranks at the very top of the list.

The apostle leads with 3 statements that should cause each one of us to stop right here and examine ourselves, lest we be guilty of what he warns us about.

Powerful Proclamations are Pointless without Love

1 Corinthians 13:1 “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.”

no great sermon or speech, nor meaningful conversation, nor impressive declaration stands a chance of being impactful if there is no love involved

all that we have to say is as distracting and offensive to the ears as a gong that is being beaten or a cymbal that is being scratched

think of nails on a chalkboard

fork across a plate

this is not only to the ears of others, but to the ears of God

1 Peter 3:7 “Likewise, husbands, live with your wives in an understanding way...so that your prayers may not be hindered.”

Proverbs 21:13 “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.”

Prophetic Perception is Powerless without Love

1 Corinthians 13:2 “And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries, and all knowledge; and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing.”

Many people obsess over the spiritual gifts of prophecy, wisdom, faith, understanding mysteries, but fail to love

Jesus said if we have just a small amount of faith, we can command mountains to move into the sea

but what good does that do if we don’t have love for our fellow man?

and we already know that if we do not love our fellow man, we do not love God...for God is love

“No one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.”

— Attributed to Theodore Roosevelt

Profound Philanthropy is Profitless without Love

1 Corinthians 13:3 “And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.”

lend your memory to the rich, young ruler who Jesus commanded in Matthew 19:16-22 “If you would be perfect, go, sell what you possess and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow me.”

the first believers in Jerusalem took this to heart, as we saw in Acts chapters 4 and 5

the churches at Corinth, Galatia, Rome, and Macedonia all gave sacrificially to help the church in Jerusalem

many other disciples throughout history have quite literally given their bodies to be burned, maimed, torn, and destroyed

in other words, if I do all kinds of ACTS of charity, but I do not possess a HEART of charity, it profits me nothing. All that I do is in vain unless true, unfeigned love is at the root of it all.

None of these things that were mentioned are unimportant!

It is no small thing to do these beautiful works that Paul mentions in this passage: speaking powerful, beautiful words of proclamation; prophesying and understanding the mysteries of God; having a powerful faith; being generous to the poor and self-sacrificial giving of goods and our own bodies. But to do any of these things without a genuine love for others is utterly pointless. If you’re not going to have love, you might as well be an old miser like Ebenezer Scrooge, because your greatest acts of benevolence are ugly and miserable in the eyes and ears of both man and God.

So let us be generous and benevolent. Let us give sacrificially to the Lord. May we cheerfully lend our finances and talents to the spreading of the Gospel, by our deeds and by supporting those who do the deeds. But first, let us love one another, the stranger, our enemies, and most of all, our Lord.