"Three Kinds of Love"
February is the month many of us think of Valentines and love. What is love? Love is a
small word with many definitions. There are 3 kinds of love we need to look at.
The first kind of love is eros. Eros is the lation root for love. We think of eroticism
or romantic love. This kind of love deals with romance, physical attraction, poetry or sexual arousal. This kind of love deals
with pleasure, which is short lived. This is the reason many people exchange words of passion and valentine cards around this
time of year. Eros type of love is good, but there are two other words which are expressions of love.
The second kind of love is phileo. This is called brotherly love. It includes caring for people
such as giving money to help flood victims or giving food to those who are hungry. The American Red Cross; Salvation Army;
Volunteers In Mission; American Cancer Society; United Methodist Committee on Relief (UMCOR); and civic organizations are
examples of showing phileo or brotherly love. The biblical story of the Good Samaritan is another example of phileo or brotherly
love. There is also another word used for love.
The third kind of love is agape love. This is God's type of love. Agape love goes beyond romance
and brotherly love. The best example of agape love is Christ. He willingly was crucified upon the cross for our sins. Romans
5:8-11 says, "But God has shown us how much He loves us- it was while we were still sinners that Christ died for us. By His
blood we are now put right with God; how much more then, will we be saved by Him from God's anger. We were God's enemies,
but He made us His friend through the death of His Son. Now that we are God's friend how much more will we be saved by Christ's
life. But that is not all; we rejoice because of what God has done through our Lord Jesus Christ, who has now made us God's
friends"
There are 3 kinds of love, eros, phileo, and agape. The greatest kind of love is agape. God's
unearned love is far greater than we can imagine. We do not deserve His love. He, Jesus, willingly showed God's love for us
by His death on the cross. Receive God's love by asking Him to forgivr you of your sins by faith and make Christ Lord and
Savior of your life. By all means share His love for you and others. Agape love, God's love, is the greatest love of all!
Your servant for Christ,
Fred Wiles
