Love is a word often used in modern culture to describe a host of subjects and emotions. I can love pizza, my friends and God—a wide range of connections to be described with a single word. While substituting the words “like” or “enjoy” for “love” may prevent some confusion, there are different kinds of love. Enter the three Greek loves: eros, philia and agape love. Philia is brotherly love, eros is romantic love and agape is a deep sacrificial love.
Agape love is God’s fatherly love for humans and humans’ love, in turn, for God. Characteristics of agape love include empathy, the desire for the best for the person you love regardless of personal cost and being willing to give up all for your beloved. Although agape love is often associated with God’s love for us and ours for him, people can also practice agape love for one another. It may not be as deep as God’s, but it is still very powerful to experience.
I first experienced agape love from my parents, particularly my father. My father was loving, kind, funny, determined and caring, among many other wonderful characteristics. He listened to my every word, worried endlessly when I got hurt and smiled with pride at my first report cards. There were times when I messed up and saw pain and sadness in his eyes, but never disappointment or rage. Because my father proved his love to me time and time again, I pleasantly associate my heavenly father with these same characteristics. I am not saying that my father is perfect—nobody is—but he succeeded in showing me true agape love: a deep, forgiving and sacrificial love.
My next experience of agape love comes from my sisters. When I was a child, as far back as I can remember, I had asked God for something real to take care of like a little sibling. You can imagine my joy when my parents announced to me that I would finally have one. A few months later, my little sister Sofia was born. I was seven years old.
When Sofia came home from the hospital, my parents placed her in her bouncer. When I came in to check on her, I laid down on the bed and slept next to her. That day, such a strong bond formed that, to this day, I cannot explain the emotions and protectiveness I feel for her. I love her, and not in the way I love fruit, books, my friends or even my parents. What I feel goes deeper.
Agape may be a better word to describe my love for my sister than philia, for watching someone take their first steps and say their first words is a profound experience. You feel not only joy but also the urge to protect them and ensure that they have a great future. If this is what God feels, his love must be engulfing and enabling. I would get down on the floor for my sister if it meant she could step on my back and get ahead. I cannot imagine how much more my heavenly father, who saw me in my mother’s womb, would do for me.
People may say that the world is drawing to a close. The hate and separation we experience all the time certainly make it feel that way. However, knowing the love my father has for me and feeling the love I have for my little sister gives me hope that not all is gone. Humans can love and care deeply. If they can love and I can love, then the love Yahweh has must be inconceivable.
The Student Movement is the official student newspaper of Andrews University. Opinions expressed in the Student Movement are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors, Andrews University or the Seventh-day Adventist church.