Demonstrating The Agape Love Of God

It's interesting to note that the Greek term, "agape," draws its meaning directly from the revelation of God — the Bible. It is not a form of natural affection, but rather a fruit of the Spirit (Gal. 5:22). John tells us that God is the very essence of agape love (1 John 4:8,16).

Agape love is based upon a matter of the "will" rather than mere "feeling," as demonstrated by our Lord's teaching in Matthew 5:44-48, where He teaches that we must love even those folks we dislike. Agape love is the basic element in being Christ-like (Gal. 2:20; cf. Ephesians 5:1-2; Titus 2:13-14).

In 1 Corinthians 13 NIV (the love chapter), we can clearly see the primacy (1 Corinthians 13:1-3 NIV), the profile [analysis] (1 Corinthians 13:4-7 NIV), and the permanence (1 Corinthians 13:8-13 NIV) of love. The kind of love that energizes faith itself (Gal. 5:6; 1 Thessalonians 1:2-3).

There are many examples of agape love (folks loving the unlovable) in the Bible. Two examples are (1) Joseph's kindness to his brothers (Genesis 50:15-21), even though they sold him into slavery (Genesis 37:15-28), and (2) David's strained relationship with Saul. David had several opportunities of killing Saul, but instead showed kindness to him (1 Samuel 24:16-19; cf. Romans 12:18-21).

Our Lord demonstrate true agape love when He willingly died for the unlovable (Romans 5:1-10). As followers of Christ, we are to love the unlovable as well (Matthew 5:44-48; cf. Luke 23:33-34; Acts 7:54-60).

Dear reader, let's willingly demonstrate the agape love of God to the unlovable in our walk with the Lord (Titus 2:7-8; cf. 1 Timothy 6:1-3; 1 Peter 2:18-23).

 —Mike Riley, Gospel Snippets