Friday, February 14, 2014

Valentine's Day and Thoughts of Love




Photo Credit: ChIandra4U

When people think of Valentine's Day, a picture of romantic love between a man and a woman dominates. Yet, love is not limited to romance.

Did you know that in Biblical Greek, there are several kinds of love and each has a different word to describe it? Phileo love refers to friendship. The city of Philadelphia is also called, "The City of Brotherly Love." Eros refers to physical love. Last, but not least, is agape, or God's love.

Within the structure of a book, characters can exhibit love. A friend takes a bullet to save the hero's life. A person discovers God loves them even though they've lived life blaming Him for their troubles.

Love is expressed through forgiveness. It manifests through sacrificial service to others. While many people love a good romance (including me), think about other ways love is expressed. It is not only an emotion, but also an action reflecting the heart of God.

Writers and Readers: What are some of your favorite stories that expressed love in a context other than romance?

5 comments:

Dorothy said...

Nothing finer than Jesus' love for me! xx

Karen Lange said...

I am grateful for the love from our heavenly Father!

Blessings,
Karen

JD said...

The love between parent and child is one of the deepest loves I've ever felt.

I learned about the word "agape" in a past Bible Study class--the Greeks used that word to describe the unconditional love God has for His children.

Thank you for this timely post, discussing the many faces of love.

Happy Valentine's Day.

xoxo

quietspirit said...

I, too, have to say that the Love of Jesus is an example of agape love.

The love we have for our children our any children is phileo love.

Susan J. Reinhardt said...

Hi Everyone -

Yes, God's unconditional love outshines any other love.

God bless,
Susan :)