1 Corinthians 13:13

And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.

With Valentine’s day approaching, our attention turns to love and our sweethearts.

That giddy feeling that makes your stomach do flip flops and keeps you up nights wondering: does she love me or does she love me not?

We shop for chocolates and flowers and cards and that special gift that will get the giddiness going on the other side, too.

This is all fine and good. Hallmark and Russel Stover thank you.

But what if your loved one is not around. What if he’s passed on? What if you’re a charter member of the Lonely Hearts Club?

More importantly, what does the Bible say about love? How does the Bible say to love?

Our scripture above is how Paul ends his famous chapter on love.

He says that there is faith, hope, and love (he uses the word charity for love – more on that in a minute), but that the greatest of these three is love.

Faith and hope will be satisfied when we see our Lord and Saviour face to face. We won’t need faith and hope anymore.

Let’s back up one verse.

1 Corinthians 13:12 For now we see through a glass, darkly; but then face to face: now I know in part; but then shall I know even as also I am known.

Faith allows us to see the invisible things of God while we’re here on Earth. Hope is that earnest expectation of the coming of our Lord and the resurrection. These two are gifts from God in the new birth. When we are born again, God puts faith and hope in our hearts. But, with His coming, we will see Jesus face to face and our hope will be fulfilled. O glorious day! Come quickly, Lord Jesus!

Love will endure for eternity. God is love!

1 John 4:7-8 Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God. He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love.

Since we know God doesn’t change, if God is love now, He will be love then and forever.

So, why does Paul use the word charity for love here in 1 Corinthians 13.

He uses this word we use for giving to those in need. Charity.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.

Charity never faileth: …

In modern English, charity means “the voluntary giving of help, typically in the form of money, to those in need.” (Oxford English Dictionary).

The problem is that in modern English we use the word “love” for all sorts of things.

I love pasta! I love you, bro. I love the movies. Do you love me? I love you more than burritos, tacos, and nachos. I love you more than I have ever found a way to say to you (Ben Folds). Love you, man. I love you so much. What’s love got to do with it?

You really need to know the context of “love” when you say it in English, or you can get yourself into all kinds of messes.

But in Greek, the original language of the New Testament, there are four words for love that help us to understand what kind of love we’re talking about. In this way, Greek is much more descriptive than English.

Storge – familial love. This is the natural affection between family members like parents and children.

Eros – romantic or sensual love. This is the erotic love between a man and a woman.

Philia – friend love. This is the love between friends.

Agape – unconditional “God” love. This is the love God has for His children. It is unconditional.

There are other definitions and nuances to these Greek love words besides those I have given above. Some references have slightly different definitions for these Greek words for love.

There are examples of each of these kinds of love in the Bible. Some in the Old Testament, where these Greek words are not actually used (the original languages of the OT are Hebrew and Aramaic, and the original language of the NT is Greek).

Storge, that protective familial love, is the love that Moses’s mother and sister had for him when they hid him in a basket in the river from the Pharaoh, who wanted to kill him and the other Hebrew baby boys.

Eros is that romantic, sensual love written about so beautifully in the Song of Solomon.

Philia is love for a friend. This is beautifully depicted in the friendship between David and Jonathan.

1 Samuel 18:1-4 And it came to pass, when he had made an end of speaking unto Saul, that the soul of Jonathan was knit with the soul of David, and Jonathan loved him as his own soul. And Saul took him that day, and would let him go no more home to his father’s house. Then Jonathan and David made a covenant, because he loved him as his own soul. And Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was upon him, and gave it to David, and his garments, even to his sword, and to his bow, and to his girdle.

Agape is the word translated to “charity” in 1 Corinthians chapter 13. This is that special, out of this world, “God” love.

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

God’s love is an unconditional love. It will never end. It is everlasting. It is eternal. We did nothing to deserve it. It is UNCONDITIONAL. (Sorry to shout there, but this is important.) If God’s love, that agape love, is not unconditional or eternal, then we have something to worry about. We could possibly lose that love if we mess up. And, boy, do we mess up! It’s called sin. And we know it well. But thanks be to God. He is not like us.

We will sometimes withhold our storge, eros, philia love if someone does something we don’t like. Families are estranged, friends come and go, and so do spouses and girlfriends and boyfriends. God does not come and go. God will never leave us or forsake us. God’s love will never end.

Jesus taught us how to love like God loves. When he went to the cross to die for our sins, Jesus was not thinking about what was best for Him. He was thinking about what was best for us. That’s that selfless agape love. And at the very end of His ministry, Jesus gave us a new commandment. He was teaching us to love like He loves.

John 13:34-35 A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.

We are to love each other as Jesus has loved us, with that agape (charity), unconditional, selfless love. A hard act to follow, no doubt, but we are commanded to do it. So, get out there and love!

May the Lord richly bless you and may you feel his unconditional love every day of your lives.