What is “Agape” Love?

The Greek language of the New Testament uses a few different words for “love” that unfortunately don’t get translated into English very well. English translations just use the word “love” for all of them.

The most common Greek words for “love” that I’ve heard people teach on are:

• eros (which is a romantic / sexual kind of love)

• phileo (which is a brotherly / friendship kind of love)

• agape (uh-gah-pay)

I’ve often heard “agape” described as a selfless, unconditional, self-sacrificial kind of love, or the kind of love that a good parent has for its child. This love is the kind of love that God has for people.

While I’m sure there’s plenty of truth to those definitions, the Abbot-Smith Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament defines it as follows:

agape
(noun)

1. used to express that spiritual bond of love between God and man and between man and man, in Christ, which is characteristic of Christianity.

According to this definition, it sounds like “agape” is the kind of love that comes from sharing a deep spiritual bond with someone. It says it is characteristic of Christianity, because Christians are all spiritually connected “in Christ.” Believers are all part of the same network, spending their resources to further God’s mission… so when we meet someone else who is also furthering God’s mission, we should feel a deep sense of connection and unity with them.

That is agape!