All you need is love

I remember the line from the movie “Independence Day” when Julius Levinson, the father of Jeff Levinson says, “All you need is love. John Lennon. Smart man. Shot in the back, very sad.”

The month of February is always about focusing on love.

In the Scriptures there are three types of love mentioned:

Eros.

Phileo.

Agape.

But what are the three types of love and what do they mean to us?

Eros love is the love that a person feels for another person. It is very intimate in its nature. However, Eros love is not found in the Scriptures but is referred to in the Greek translation of the Old Testament Scriptures.

The gospel does affirm the concept of marital love. In Genesis 2:24, the author says, “Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and then they’ll become one flesh.”

This passage is also referred to by the writer of Matthew’s gospel in the 19th chapter and the Apostle Paul and his letter to the church at Ephesus.

But perhaps the best known example of eros love is found in the Song of Solomon. Some even argue the imagery is so visual in description that it should not be included in the Bible.

Secondly, phileo love is the love one feels for another person such as a brother or a sister, or mother and father to a child. Most often it is called “brotherly love” or “sisterly love.” It is a love that is generous and seeks to make other people happy. It is a love that cannot be commanded but can be developed over time between people.

1 Samuel 18:1 is a perfect example of David and Jonathan’s friendship love. “Now after David’s talk with Saul was ended, the soul of Jonathan was joined with the soul of David, and David became as dear to him as his very life.”

Least but not last, agape love, according to the Scriptures, is a love by action or actions that God shows us through the cross of Jesus. Agape love is unselfish, unconditional and willing to give up something for others. Agape love is often described as the highest form of love.

God’s love for us is unwavering.

It is characterized by patience and giving grace to others.

It is a love that shows empathy to others and is understanding. Agape love also incorporates forgiveness, which leads us to the next point about love.

Agape love is a love that does not retaliate or hold grudges against other people but forgives. As I think about the forgiveness aspect of love, I remember growing up in the seventies. “Love Story” was a movie based on the Eric Siegel novel, “Love Story.” The movie is a source of one of the most famous sayings ever to come out of Hollywood, “Love means never having to say you’re sorry.”

Growing up, I was always told you should apologize when you hurt another person. I was also taught to forgive the other person if the apology was heartfelt and regretful. So why is it you don’t have to apologize when you hurt the ones you love?

There is one eternal principle which will be valid as long as the world lasts. It is the principal is forgiveness. Forgiveness is a costly thing. Human forgiveness is costly. A son or daughter may go wrong. A father or mother may forgive, but that forgiveness has brought tears. There was a price of a broken heart to pay.

Divine forgiveness also is costly. God is love and God is holiness. God least of all can break the great good laws on which universe is built. Sin must have acknowledgment or the very structure of life breaks down. God alone can pay the terrible price that is necessary before all can be forgiven. Forgiveness is never a case of saying it’s all right, it doesn’t matter.

I’ll never forget forgiveness is the most costly thing in the world.

During this month of love, let us remember, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that everyone who believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16-17.

God did not come into the world to condemn the world but to love the world back into wholeness through Jesus’s life, teaching and ultimate death on the cross to show us his redeeming love.