“Let all that you do be done in love.” 1 Corinthians 16:14.
Every little girl dreams of one day becoming an elegant bride. I was no different. As a child, I often fantasized about wearing a puffy white gown with a cascading train and sharing the first dance with my beloved (to my favorite David Bowie love song, of course). For that one day, I could be like a breathtaking princess, riding off into the sunset in a horse-drawn carriage with my handsome Prince Charming.
As I got older, my wedding day dream stayed the same. I still wanted the white ball gown. I still wanted the David Bowie song. And I still wanted to ride off into the sunset with Prince Charming. However, my own, personal definition of love changed a bit. I can still remember the first time that I heard How Do I Love Thee (Sonnet 43) by one of my favorite Victorian poets, Elizabeth Barrett Browning. ‘Surely’, I thought, ‘this is what true love feels like.’
How Do I Love Thee is considered one of the best proclamations of love from a woman to a man and, as such, it is often recited at weddings. But the truth is, a proclamation of love isn’t that simple. And life certainly isn’t a fairy tale, even if, by some chance, we get to be that elegant princess for the day.
In this life, we may never experience being another person’s bride or groom. And we may never have another human being who loves us in the way that Elizabeth Barrett Browning wrote about love. In fact, some of us might never experience much love from our fellow man at all.
The good news is that, as Christians, we have an incomparable love that far surpasses any that another human being could give. We experience the kind of sacrificial, unending, unimaginable love that the world can only write poetry and sonnets about. We get to experience God’s love!
Much like Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s How Do I Love Thee, God uses the written word to express His love to us as well. In fact, Romans 8:38-39 is similar to Sonnet 34. The Apostle Paul says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
So, let us examine God’s intention for loving one another. In the Bible, there are three main types of love: Phileo, Eros, and Agape. Phileo is selfless and without expectation of receiving something in return, most often seen between friends. Eros is intimate and passionate like the love between husband and wife. Finally, Agape is the highest form of love. This is the love that we see from God. It is selfless, intimate, passionate, and sacrificial. It is life-giving.
God is Phileos. He is our friend. “12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. 13 Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. 14 You are my friends if you do what I command. 15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you.” John 15:12-15.
He is the only friend we will ever need.
God is Eros. He is the lover of our soul. “19And I will betroth thee unto me forever; yea, I will betroth thee unto me in righteousness, and in judgment, and in lovingkindness, and in mercies. 20I will even betroth thee unto me in faithfulness: and thou shalt know the LORD.” Hosea 2:19-20. He is our husbands and we, as the church, are His brides. “For thy Maker [is] thine husband; the LORD of hosts [is] his name; and thy Redeemer the Holy One of Israel; The God of the whole earth shall he be called.” Isaiah 54:5.
He is the only spouse that we will ever need.
And God is Agape. Like a father, He is sacrificial. “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.” John 3:16. And we are His children, “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.” 1 John 3:1.
He is the only parent we will ever need.
Because God is love, and we are called to be imitators of Him, it is our duty to share Him with the world! Let us be Agape, sharing God and His life giving love with everyone! When our relationships aren’t fairy tales, let us reflect God’s definition of Eros! And, when our friendships seem one-sided, let us show selfless, Phileo love!
Father God, thank you for being everything we will ever need. Thank you for caring for us with your selfless, sacrificial love. God, our precious father, thank you for always being there when we need you, whether we show your love or not. We know that you are always in our corner, fighting for us.
And, Jesus, lover of our soul, thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you that, as a husband dearly loves a wife, you were willing to lay your life down for us. Like the father, you love us in the most intimate, loving way. During this holiday season, let us be a picture of that love to those who do not know you. And help us to be an ever-present reminder of your love to those who do.
Holy Spirit, make us hypersensitive to those we walk among us who are in need. Shine a supernatural spotlight upon them so that we can then share God’s message of love with them. We pray these things in Jesus’s name. Amen.
Do you feel hopeless? Are you alone, wondering if you will ever experience true love? God is the answer to your hopelessness and loneliness! He can love you in a way that you’ve never felt before! All that He asks is that you pray a simple prayer of repentance. If you don’t know how to start, we have one outlined on our Life Preserver page (https://forgiven-n-loved.com/life-preserver/). Please go to that page and use our prayer as a reference. Just remember to pray from the bottom of your heart! The key to greatest love you will EVER know is waiting for you on that page!
And, once you have prayed, please reach out to me at admin@Forgiven-N-Loved.com and let me know. I would consider it a privilege to be in prayer with — and for — you!
Luv ya!
