Love Defined

I think we need one more devotional on the topic of love. Mostly because you’re overflowing with it, and you need to know the best way to deliver it to your family and inspire them to stir up their own supply.

We know that love is active and we know that certain activities express love. We also know that action without love is “nothing.” Still, we have not yet landed on a definition.

At this point, we should acknowledge that the ancient Greeks identified four types of love, which C. S. Lewis described in his 1960 book, The Four Loves: storge, philia, eros, and agape. In layman’s terms, that’s (1) love for family akin to the affection of parental love; (2) brotherly love, or friendship; (3) romantic love leading to inti­macy; and (4) unconditional love, which best describes God’s nature.

The good news for most grandparents is that you’ve experienced all four kinds of love, saving the best for last: the unconditional love you have for your grandchildren. Not to say you don’t love your own children unconditionally, but sometimes the busyness, parental con­cerns, and battling the culture wars got in the way.

Unconditional (agape) love is what Christ is talking about in John 15, “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:13, NIV).He’s not talking about family, friends, or romance. He’s talking about dying to yourself, living for others, and loving your neighbor more than you love yourself. In other words, the kind of love Jesus showed on the cross.

May I go so far as to suggest that you would die for the well-be­ing of your grandchildren? I’m fairly sure I would, if given the choice. (Maybe because they’ve each got eighty years of life ahead, and my best years are behind me! But that’s beside the point.)

The real point is this: God is love. God’s love is unconditional. Showing unconditional love to your grandchildren will help them—at the right time—to understand and accept God’s love as demon­strated on the cross. There are quite a few people on this planet who continually hold God at arm’s length because they don’t think they are worthy of God’s love. When your grandchildren experience and feel your unconditional and even sacrificial love, you have taken away that potential barrier. That’s love worth sharing.

WHAT ABOUT YOU?

Have you experienced God’s unconditional love? It’s pretty hard to give love if you have not accepted love. Maybe go back and re-read all of 1 Corinthians 13.