Greatest Love

Do you ever feel rejected, pushed away or mistreated?

On our separate journeys in this human race, each one of us looks for love and acceptance whether it’s sub-consciously or openly. No matter who you are it’s like we all desire to be loved.

Love is a complex thing and it is hard to explain but if you don’t feel loved, it could have a dramatic impact on your outlook in life. This will effect the way you think about yourselves and what you do, how you are made and how you will treat others.
In general loving isn’t easy and the kind of love we receive from people can vary.  The Bible talks about love; it’s a theme that runs throughout its context. There are four kinds of love mentioned in the Bible but the Greek terms aren’t necessary used but the examples of love are all there.

Eros Love:  is the physical, sensual love between a husband and wife. Although this Greek term does not appear in the Bible, Eros, or erotic love, is portrayed in the Old Testament book, The Song of Solomon. An example would be in 1 Corn.7:8 & 9

Storge Love: is family love, the bond among mothers, fathers, sisters and brothers. As with Eros, this Greek term does not appear in the Bible. However, many examples of family love are found in Scripture. One example would be in Exodus 20:12

Phileo Love: means close friendship or brotherly love in Greek. It is like an emotional connection to those who are close. It is one of the four types of love in the Bible, Roman 12:10.

Agape Love: is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love, the highest of the four types of love in the Bible. A great example of this love is in Romans 5:8: But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners.”

Agape love is the kind of love I will focus on here since this is the love I think we would struggle with the most and it is the greatest of loves.

In a world where people strive for perfection….when we get it wrong we usually reap the results of that. It’s a judgemental world.  When you mess up the world gives you what you deserve. So of course you may think that you aren’t loved. But there is a greater love beyond the love that humans can give.

We can’t do anything to get the love of God. God pays attention to you no matter what you have done. It’s not about what we deserve or because of what we think we are worth or the value we have. As well we may often think that God would use us only if we have things together but God loves us regardless. God’s love is not depending on anything you do…it’s just because He is Love and He loves. He has so much grace and His love is unconditional.  If you understand how much God actually loves you, you will be confident and you will be satisfied knowing that. “…may you have the power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge—that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.. Ephesians 3:18 & 19.

No one is perfect and Satan will condemn you but God cares for you. God’s love is expressed in action, not by feeling. “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.” 1 John 3:16. God is perfect and only He can truly love us unconditionally. He wants us to love and obey him. “But to all who believed him and accepted him, he gave the right to become children of God. They are reborn—not with a physical birth resulting from human passion or plan, but a birth that comes from God.” (John 1:12-13, NLT) If you love and obey God you will know love.

This Is Love:
Love never gives up.
Love cares more for others than for self.
Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
Love doesn’t strut,
Doesn’t have a swelled head,
Doesn’t force itself on others,
Isn’t always “me first,”
Doesn’t fly off the handle,
Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
Puts up with anything,
Trusts God always,
Always looks for the best,
Never looks back,
But keeps going to the end.  
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 the Message (a Biblical Paraphrase)

If you love… others will love you. If we don’t have love we have nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 ESV says:
“If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. And if I have prophetic powers, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give away all I have, and if I deliver up my body to be burned, but have not love, I gain nothing. Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful.
So is it all about you? You can’t give away what you don’t have. You need to know that you are loved unconditionally. Because of the love of God in us we will seriously care about people. God loves and we are asked to love others…we may not like to but we are asked to. We love because he first loved us. 1 John 4:19 ESV

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.” 1 John 4:8 ESV
God’s unconditional love is the Greatest Love that we can know. As human as we are, may we strive to love like God loves us!

How will you show your love to others on Valentine’s Day or throughout the year?

More Greatest Love Verses:
http://www.openbible.info/topics/the_greatest_love
For more information on the different love we find in the Bible check this link: http://christianity.about.com/od/biblefactsandlists/tp/Love-In-The-Bible.htm