Exploring the meaning of Eros - Storge - Philia - Agape and supporting Scriptures
1 CORINTHIANS 7:8-9 8 I say therefore to the unmarried and widows, it is good for them if they abide even as I. 9 But if they cannot contain, let them marry: for it is better to marry than to burn.
Within the boundary of marriage, eros love is to be celebrated:
HEBREWS 13:4 Marriage is honourable in all, and the bed undefiled: but whoremongers and adulterers God will judge
1 CORINTHIANS 7:5 Living Bible5 So do not refuse these rights to each other. The only exception to this rule would be the agreement of both husband and wife to refrain from the rights of marriage for a limited time, so that they can give themselves more completely to prayer. Afterwards, they should come together again so that Satan won’t be able to tempt them because of their lack of self-control.
Eros love is part of God's design, a gift of his goodness for procreation and enjoyment. Sex as God intended it is a source of delight and a beautiful blessing to be shared between married couples:
ECCLESIASTES 9:9 Living Bible9 Live happily with the woman you love through the fleeting days of life, for the wife God gives you is your best reward down here for all your earthly toil.
Eros love in the Bible affirms We are sexual beings, called to honor God with our bodies:
1 Corinthians 6:15-20Living Bible15 Don’t you realize that your bodies are actually parts and members of Christ? So should I take part of Christ and join him to a prostitute? Never! 16 And don’t you know that if a man joins himself to a prostitute she becomes a part of him and he becomes a part of her? For God tells us in the Scripture that in his sight the two become one person. 17 But if you give yourself to the Lord, you and Christ are joined together as one person.
18 That is why I say to run from sex sin. No other sin affects the body as this one does. When you sin this sin it is against your own body. 19 Haven’t you yet learned that your body is the home of the Holy Spirit God gave you, and that he lives within you? Your own body does not belong to you. 20 For God has bought you with a great price. So use every part of your body to give glory back to God because he owns it.
What Is Storge Love in the Bible?Storge (Pronounced: STOR-jay) is a term for love in the Bible that you may not be familiar with. This Greek word describes family love, the affectionate bond that develops naturally between parents and children, and brothers and sisters.
Consider Noah and his wife, the love of Jacob for his sons, and the strong love the sisters Martha and Mary had for their brother Lazarus. An interesting compound word using storge, "philostorgos," is found in Romans 12:10, which commands believers to "be devoted" to one another with brotherly affection.
Astorgos (A stor gos) means "without love, devoid of affection, without affection to kindred, hard-hearted, unfeeling,"
In Romans 1:31, unrighteous people are described as "foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless" English Standard Version (ESV). The Greek word translated "heartless" is astorgos. And in 2 Timothy 3:3, the disobedient generation living in the last days is marked as "heartless, unappeasable, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving good" (ESV). Again, "heartless" is translated astorgos.
So, a lack of storge, the natural love among family members, is a sign of end times.
Romans 12:10: "Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo one another in showing honor." (ESV) In this verse, the Greek word translated "love" is philostorgos, putting together philos and storge. It means "loving dearly, being devoted, being very affectionate, loving in a way characteristic of the relationship between husband and wife, mother and child, father and son, etc."
EXODUS 20:12 NIVHonor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the LORD your God is giving you.
What Is Philia Love in the Bible?Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh) is the type of intimate love in the Bible that most Christians practice toward each other. This Greek term describes the powerful emotional bond seen in deep friendships.
"By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another." (John 13:35, NIV)
Philia (pronounced FILL-ee-uh) conveys a strong feeling of attraction, with its antonym or opposite being phobia. It is the most general form of love in the Bible, encompassing love for fellow humans, care, respect, and compassion for people in need. For example, philia describes the benevolent, kindly love practiced by early Quakers. The most common form of philia is friendship.
Romans 12:10 King James Version10 Be kindly affectioned one to another with brotherly love; in honour preferring one another;
1 THESSALONIANS 4:9 KJV9 But as touching brotherly love ye need not that I write unto you: for ye yourselves are taught of God to love one another.
HEBREWS 13:1 KJVLet brotherly love continue.
2 PETER 1:7 KJV7 And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity
1 PETER 1:22 ESVHaving purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart ...
1 PETER 3:8 ESVFinally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
JAMES 4:4 King James Version4 Ye adulterers and adulteresses, know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God.
Philia is a Family WordThe concept of brotherly affection that unites believers is unique to Christianity. As members of the body of Christ, we are family in a special sense.
JOHN 13:34–35 ESV"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another."
What is Agape Love in the Bible?Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay) is the highest of the four types of love in the Bible. This term defines God's immeasurable, incomparable love for humankind. It is the divine love that comes from God. Agape love is perfect, unconditional, sacrificial, and pure.
Jesus Christ demonstrated this kind of divine love to his Father and to all humanity in the way he lived and died. Following his resurrection, Jesus asked the apostle Peter if he loved him (agape). Peter replied three times that he did, but the word he used was phileo or brotherly love. Peter had not yet received the Holy Spirit at Pentecost; he was incapable of agape love. But after Pentecost, Peter was so full of God's love that he spoke from his heart and 3,000 people were converted.
Agape love is selfless, sacrificial, unconditional love. It is the highest of the four types of love in the Bible.
This Greek word, agápē, and variations of it are frequently found throughout the New Testament. Agape perfectly describes the kind of love Jesus Christ has for his Father and for his followers.
Agape Love in the BibleOne important aspect of agape love is that it extends beyond emotions. It's much more than a feeling or sentiment. Agape love is active. It demonstrates love through actions.
JOHN 3:16 ESVFor God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
JOHN 13:34-35 ESVA new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.
1 JOHN 3:16 ESVBy this we know love, that he laid down his life for us, and we ought to lay down our lives for the brothers.
JOHN 14:21 NIVWhoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.
JOHN 17:23 ESVI in them and you in me, that they may become perfectly one, so that the world may know that you sent me and loved them even as you loved me.
1 CORINTHIANS 16:14 ESVLet all that you do be done in love.
1 JOHN 4:8 ESVAnyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
This selection is just a small sampling of the many Scriptures about love.
Love Triumphs Over Lies
GENESIS 29:20So Jacob worked seven years to pay for Rachel. But his love for her was so strong that it seemed to him but a few days.
PROVERBS 5:19A loving doe, a graceful deer — may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be captivated by her love.
SONG OF SOLOMON 1:2Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth, for your love is more delightful than wine.
SONG OF SOLOMON 2:16My lover is mine, and I am his.
SONG OF SOLOMON 4:10How delightful is your love, my sister, my bride! How much more pleasing is your love than wine and the fragrance of your perfume than any spice!
PROVERBS 30:18-19There are three things that amaze me — no, four things that I don’t understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman.
SONG OF SOLOMON 8:6Place me like a seal over your heart, like a seal on your arm; for love is as strong as death, its jealousy unyielding as the grave. It burns like blazing fire, like a mighty flame.
SONG OF SOLOMON 8:7Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot wash it away. If one were to give all the wealth of his house for love, it would be utterly scorned.
PROVERBS 10:12Hatred stirs up dissension, but love covers over all wrongs.
PROVERBS 17:9Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends.
1 PETER 4:8Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
PROVERBS 15:17A bowl of vegetables with someone you love is better than steak with someone you hate.
Deuteronomy 6:4-5. It can be summed up like this: "Love God with everything you are in every way possible."
MATTHEW 22:37-39Jesus said to him, "You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind." This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: "You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
COLOSSIANS 3:14And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
A true friend is supportive, loving at all times.
That friend develops further into a brother through adversity, trials, and troubles:
PROVERBS 17:17A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
JOHN 15:13Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.
1 JOHN 3:16This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:1-3If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 CORINTHIANS 13:4-8ALove is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails ...
1 CORINTHIANS 13:13And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
EPHESIANS 5:25Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
EPHESIANS 5:33However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.