Three-in-One: The Relational GodSample

God's Fellowship (4)

Love Wins!

In English, the word "love" is used to mean lots of things. We can love pizza, love a certain performer's music, love our favorite athletic team, love certain weather, love our grandparents, love a certain hobby, love to sleep in, love our favorite movie, and more. That's a lot of different emotions and feelings and realities for just one word.

There are four different words for “love” in the original language of the New Testament.

One word refers to friendship. Another refers to family affection. Another refers to romantic love. The fourth word for love is the one Paul uses in these verses. It’s agape (uh-GAH’-pay). This is the kind of love that God has for his people and that God wants his people to have for both him and each other.

Agape love is deep, divine (because it flows from God), faithful, and true.

God has agape love for us. But we can only express and experience agape love for God and others with the Spirit’s help.

Reflect

• Do you ever doubt God's love for you? Why?
• What do you learn about God in these verses? (When Paul writes "God" he almost always means the Father.)
• What do you learn about Jesus in these verses? (When Paul writes "Lord" he almost always means Jesus).
• What do you learn about the Holy Spirit in these verses?
• What do you learn about humanity and yourself in these verses?