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| “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching.” |
| —John 14:23a |
Love exists as both a feeling and also as a deep, spiritual connection. We English-speakers have a deficit in trying to express “love” because we only have one English word. The ancient Greeks devised four separate and beautifully special words for our English word “love”: agape, phileo, storge, and eros.
Agape (ah-GAH-pay) love is God-breathed love. It comes to us as a spiritual gift from God and touches the very core of our being. Phileo (fill-EH-oh) is the feeling of affection that one has for a dear friend. Storge (STOR-gay) is familial love felt for brothers, sisters, parents, and their children. Eros (AIR-ahz) is intimate sexual love driven by passion.
In the Greek language—the principal language of the New Testament Scriptures—each of these four loves is closely tied to some responsive action. In other words, love does not exist in some type of ethereal vacuum. Rather, love demands an active outward response.
It is no wonder, then, that when we Christians tie love with obedience, we do so quite appropriately. Take notice of these words of our Lord, recorded in John 14:23:
Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
In this case, the Greek word for “love” is agape—God-breathed love. For it is God who gives us the gift of His love and enables us to return our love to Him. This makes the transactional relationship between us believers and God quite one sided. He gives us His love and He enables us to love Him in return. It is all His doing.
What is our part, then? It is to obey His teachings as revealed in His written Word, the Bible. That is why we must read, study, and meditate upon God’s Word. And, that is why we should not foolishly pretend that His Word doesn’t matter, insofar as the way we choose to live our lives.
God’s love evokes a response of obedience to His Word and to His will. Truthfully, that is very good news for this new day.
