Agape. That is the way one says the word in English. It is one of a number of words in Greek that is translated “love.” There is words meaning a platonic love or a more brotherly/sisterly love or an erotic love. The word “agape” is the perfect love which comes from God.
How does one “love one another in the same way that Jesus has loved us”?
I am not perfect. No one but God is. So, how can I even begin to mimic the love that Christ first showered upon me?
Well, how does one love God? Can you wrap your arms around Him and give Him a great big hug? Can you or I shower Him with gifts or other means of expressing our feelings directly to Him?
The best way to love God is to love one another. “When did we see you hungry and feed you?” someone once asked Jesus. Remember what He said? “Whenever you fed the least of these, you were feeding Me!” (See Matthew 25) WE BEST LOVE God when we love one another. That’s perfect!
The best way to live out “agape love” is the way that God has lived it out for us. He is with us always (again, see Matthew 28:19-20). The most perfect love we can offer to another is to be with them through thick and thin; to hang tough with them in any circumstance. That is Christian love at its highest and best.
The only way to copy God’s love is to be there. Period. You don’t have to know what to say; you don’t even always have to know what to do. Being there is so important.
God is that way as well. He is always there, even when it seems He doesn’t say or do anything. By virtue of what the Bible teaches, He is in our presence all the time. I like that about Him; as I get older, I appreciate that about Him more and more.
He never ever said that He would protect me from pain or hurt or loss. He said, “…but, I’ll be there for you…no matter what”
Give thanks for an ever-present God whose love knows no bounds. Give thanks for a Lord who comforts even when we do not realize it. Thank Him for His Son who gave His life so that we might live life abundantly!
Give thanks!
God loves you and so do we!
Pastor Jim