What is Agape Love?

The word "agape" has a Greek origin and means love. This is a feeling that brings the individual unique sensations, moreover, love is an emotion that can be felt strongly, intensely or lightly.

Therefore, love does not have a unitary concept, because each human being feels love in a different way, what is known is that agape has as its meaning the word love. When the word agape is used, it becomes relevant to see in which context it is being used, whether it is in the Bible, whether it is by the Greeks or by Christians.

From this, there are various types of love: unconditional love, God's love for humanity, agape love in Romans, and there is also what are called the opposites of agape love: hatred, envy and resentment, as we shall see below.

Definition of Agape Love

As seen above, Agape is a Greek word and means love. So the definition for agape love is that love which does not think only of itself, but thinks of the other.

Agape love is concerned with the greater good. It can be seen in unconditional love and other types of love. Check them out below.

Unconditional love

Unconditional love is that love that has no end. It is a genuine love, the person loves because they love without expecting anything in return.

Unconditional love has as its characteristic the love that does not depend on the other to happen. In this type of love, there is no charge, no ego. It is altruistic, that is to say, when feeling this type of love, it is not possible to feel selfishness.

The feeling in unconditional love cannot be limited or measured, it is felt in an unlimited, full, integral way. In unconditional love, agape love is seen as one who gives himself completely and unconditionally, without asking anything in return.

God's love for humanity

God's love for humanity is totally unconditional. It does not change, it does not ask for anything in return, and most of all, it has no limits. You can see that God's love is totally genuine, because no matter what happens and no matter what situation someone is in, God is always there ready to love genuinely and without judgment.

God's love for humanity is the purest love there is, for each child is precious to him. God loves each one completely, with their faults and qualities. His love is beyond our understanding, but it is possible to feel it. God's love is unique, unconditional, genuine and omnipresent.

Love for the Greeks

For the Greeks, love is characterized and defined by three types of love: Eros, Philia and Agape. We shall see each one below.

Basically, Eros would be the romantic love, Philia the love of friendship and Agape the modern love. From this, love for the Greeks is not only the romantic love of when one is in a love relationship.

Love for the Greeks goes beyond, so there are different types of love and each one is particular and special in its way of being and feeling. From this, there are many ways to love someone, different types of feelings, however, there is only one word to describe it all, which is "love".

Agape love for Christians

As seen above, agape love is that love that does not charge and thinks of the good of the other. Now, agape love for Christians is that more spiritual and divine love. This love refers to a higher feeling.

In the New Testament, agape love for Christians appears in three aspects, namely: the first refers to God's love for man, the second to man's love for God, and the third to man's love for another. So Christians perceive love in a more religious way and generally this love is directed towards God.

Agape Love in the Bible

Agape love in the Bible is the unconditional and perfect love of God, this God who loves justly, truly, unprejudiced and infinitely. This is a divine and pure love, as we can see below.

Agape love in 1 John 4: 8

Agape love in 1 John 4:8: "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." This is how love is referred to in verse 4:8 by the disciple John. From this verse, it becomes possible to get a greater insight into how agape love is viewed in the Bible.

In this love, individuals who do not love and are not able to love, do not know God. That is, if love for God is felt, it then becomes possible to love God and to love one's neighbor. With this, it is possible to feel the purest and most divine love there is. If one loves God, one is automatically love, and thus it is possible to give and receive this very particular, complex and beautiful feeling.

Agape love in Matthew 22: 37-39

The agape love in Matthew 22: 37-39: "and the second is like it: you shall love your neighbor as yourself." From this verse, it becomes possible to see that love is seen as looking at yourself. In this case, the way you would like to be loved is the way you should love your neighbor.

And the way you love yourself, is the way you love the other. That's how love is seen in the Bible, agape love in Matthew 22: 37-39. So that means that love is found within you and consequently it is given to the other.

Agape love in Matthew 5: 43-46

Agape love in Matthew 5: 43-46: "is seen as that love which loves everyone because everyone is worthy and deserving of love, even enemies." As much as we hear that it is important to love your neighbor and hate your enemy, the individual deserves love.

In one of its sayings, Matthew 5:45 points out, "For He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and the rain to fall on the just and the unjust." So, this shows that regardless of any circumstance, in God's eyes, there is no such thing as good and bad, what exist are people worthy of love from neighbor and the Lord.

Agape love in 1 John 2:15

Agape love in 1 John 2:15 refers to: "Do not love the world or anything in it. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. What John means in this sentence is that there is no need to love material things, goods, because that is not where love is. And these things do not come from God, but from the human being.

Another point to be emphasized, in this verse it is evident that the important thing is to love people and God, and not to love things because what does not come from the father is not worthy of love.

Agape love in 1 Corinthians 13

Agape love in 1 Corinthians 13 is seen as the main source of survival. For without love, nothing can be. If you have love, you have everything. If you don't have love, you have nothing. Here, love is true, just. It bears all things, believes all things and hopes all things. Love does not envy, it is not angry, it desires only what is good.

Thus, 1 Corinthians 13 points out, "and though I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, and have not love, I am nothing.

Agape love in Romans 8:39

Agape love in Romans 8:39, refers to, "neither height nor depth, nor any other creature, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord." The love in this case is seen directly with God's love.

Then, nothing can separate the love that is felt for the creator of the universe. This love is found in Jesus Christ. Nothing is as strong and as deep as the love for God, and this no one can separate because it is something and an intrinsic and divine feeling.

Opposites of Agape Love

Agape love is genuine and when felt transcends and is unconditional. However, not everyone is able to feel it, because an emotional, spiritual and existential block occurs. And the most common blockages that occur are hatred, resentment and envy.

Hate

The word hate itself is a strong word to hear, read and express. Hating someone brings the person a bad energy because no matter how much you don't love someone, you shouldn't hate someone. The energy spent to hate the other person could be spent loving yourself and looking for ways to get that bad feeling out of you.

The opposite of love is indifference, it is more subtle to be indifferent than to hate someone. Because hate does more harm to oneself than to the other who is receiving that feeling.

Rancor

Resentment is seen when someone has a deep hurt within them about something that has happened, either to themselves or to another. When you have this feeling, what happens is that the energy of love is blocked.

And this can push love away, making room only for bitterness. Besides being harmful to people, when you hold a grudge, you can become sick and bitter. Therefore, it is important to make room for love.

Envy

When someone feels envious of another person it is because they would like to have what the other person has. Instead of admiring the other person, they feel envious. And this seems to be one of the worst feelings one can have. Because this occurs not out of necessity, but out of greed.

When you want what the other person has, it hinders your evolution to become a better person and prevents love from entering your heart. Therefore, it becomes necessary to nourish yourself with love and not with envy, hatred and resentment. It is important to give space and passage only to love, because then the energy of love flows in our body.

7 Greek definitions for Love

Over time many literati, poets, composers and other people have tried to name and define what love is. But it is difficult and complex to find definitions for love. Nevertheless, here are some possible definitions according to the Greeks.

Agape Love

Agape love, as seen above, is a love that carries with it genuineness, that is, it does not demand reciprocity, charging. This love loves because loving is good for the heart, and it is unconditional. It takes place in surrender and is universal.

Greek love embraces a love for everything and everyone. Here all beings and individuals are worthy of love. And the most incredible thing is that this love expects absolutely nothing in return. Therefore, it becomes genuine, pure and light.

Love Eros

Eros is connected to romantic love, passion, desire. Everything that comes from the heart becomes valid and special. Reason remains in the background and gives space only to emotion.

So much so that Eros is one of the four Greco-Christian terms that mean "love". Eros is so of love that in Greece he was seen as cupid who shot arrows at people to make them fall in love and attract each other.

Ludus Love

Ludus is a form of love that is lighter, looser and more fun. The love here is characterized by not making a more serious commitment to the other. However, the relationship is showered with pleasure and joy. Ludus love is like two people meeting and living eternally in a romantic comedy, where you don't know if in the end you will be together or apart.

Here it is interesting to take some care, for either this love disappears like the wind or else it grows into an Eros or Philia love.

Love Philautia

This is the most particular love there is. Love Philautia means self-love. And in a positive and necessary way, self-love is important because it is through it that one can love oneself and consequently the other.

If you do not love yourself, it is not possible to love others. This is why self-love is so important. It intensifies our capacity to love. According to Aristotle: "All friendly feelings for others are extensions of a man's feelings for himself.

So when you love yourself and have a sense of security with yourself, you have an abundance of love to give.

Love Philia

Philia is the love of friendship, siblings and family. It is a totally beneficial love because this love comes with security, authenticity and intimacy. Philia refers to the love that expresses the feeling of predilection that one has for someone or something. It is sensitive and genuine as well.

In this case, love is watered with loyalty, sincerity, and transparency. Relationships in this type of love can be light and occur when two people are being attracted to the same thing. Then everything flows naturally and organically, just like Philia is.

Pragmatic Love

Pragma love is a more pragmatic, objective, realistic love. In this type of love, attraction and emotion are left aside. It is possible to see Pragma love in arranged marriages, or in relationships where people are together not because they love each other, but because they have some interest and form personal alliances.

In this case of love, it occurs for a greater common good. And this greater common good is not always love. It can be material and personal interests.

Love Storge

Finally, Storge love is a rather special kind of love, it is the love that parents feel for their children. They can move worlds to see their child's happiness. This is one of the most powerful and divine loves that exist. However, it may not be a feeling of love between equals.

The child ends up having no responsibility to his parents. But, that does not make the parents love him any less. Storge love becomes inspiration for parents to forgive and love their children unconditionally.

Is Agape Love the noblest of loves?

To conclude, it is worth pointing out that love itself is the noblest of loves. There is no distinguishing one love from another when one feels it. Every form of feeling is fair and valid, what becomes important is the truthfulness of this feeling.

But Agape Love has its own particularities precisely because it is a genuine love that transcends the individual to the feeling. Another particularity of this love is that besides being altruistic it is an infinite love and everyone is capable of giving and receiving this love, because everyone is worthy of loving and being loved, whether by someone or by God. Finally, all love is noble and special.