A BRIEF LOOK AT SOME OF THE KEY WORDS IN THE BIBLE
Bible Corner - No. 20 LOVE
Love is a many-faceted word with various shades of meaning. Consequently we often have to qualify it with additional words, speaking of 'maternal love' or 'romantic love' or 'sexual love' and so on. The Greeks were more specific, having a number of words for different aspects of love. This meant that when Christians began to write for Greek-speaking audiences and wanted to tell of the love of God they had about five words to choose from. The one they chose was agape , probably because it suggested a love that always wants to help and does not seek to use others for its own purposes.
There are many passages in the New Testament that amplify our understanding of Christian love and one of the most challenging is in Matthew 5:43-48. This indicates that love is not a form of liking and is more about the mind and will than feelings or natural inclinations. God, says Jesus in this passage, wants nothing but people's highest good, no matter what they are like - and Christians should try to be the same! Thus William Barclay defines love as 'unconquerable benevolence, invincible good will' and A. M. Hunter calls it 'caring practically and persistently for all whom we meet on life's road' (see Luke 10:25-37).
Commenting on the hymn in praise of love (1 Corinthians 13:4-13) James Moffatt reminds us that it is not only a lyric but a lancet, because it cuts our conscience when we realise how far short of the ideal we fall. Our hope of improvement lies in the amazing inner work of the Holy Spirit, who keeps reminding believers of the wonder of the love of God himself (Romans 5:5).
Howard Rady
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