Characteristics of Love
Ruth Ann Stites, Staff Writer
Over the last few months, a recurring theme in my reading and thinking has been love, specifically the love of God, agape in Greek. One of my favorite C. S. Lewis books is The Four Loves. Based on a series of radio talks Lewis gave in 1958, he discusses in this book four Greek words for love: storge, philia. eros, and agape. The talks and resulting book were criticized for his open discussion of sexual love, although by today’s standards Professor Lewis was quite circumspect in his discussion of human sexuality. [1] While his treatment of all four was important, the star of the book is agape, unconditional, Godly love. He wrote “The natural loves are not self-sufficient” but need to be subordinate to agape to prevent them from becoming “demonic” forms of self-aggrandizement. [2]
A couple of weeks ago in “Week Thirty-Six: I’ve Been to Mother Jones’s Grave,” I used the Lord’s words to His disciples, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:34-35). This imperative should become our great motivation regarding how we treat fellow Christians, and by extension, everyone else, because it is an expression of the very nature of God: “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love” (1 John 4:8).[3] Also recall what Jesus said in answer to a question from His critics about what was the greatest Old Testament commandment, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” (Matt. 21:37-39).[4] And, in case you would like even more evidence of the supreme importance of love (agape), think about Jesus’s definition of His mission to the world: “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).[5] If love is so important, if we are to love as He loved, if we are to understand God the Father as He did, then it should be a topic for our study, meditation, and application.
The love of God has been a recurring theme throughout these blog posts, but, for the next few weeks, I want to make understanding what it means to love God’s way the topic I pursue. So, let’s start with another word for love, charity.
First Corinthians 13:1 in the King James Bible reads, “Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal.” Modern translations use the word “love” rather than “charity.” Love makes more sense than the most common, current meaning of charity, but a look at the meaning of charity in the 17th century will help us understand the Biblical meaning of love more fully.
The following is from my basic Google search on the King James period meaning of the word:
‘[C]harity’ was used to convey a broader meaning than it often does today. It signified a deep, active, and selfless love, encompassing generosity, kindness, and a benevolent disposition towards others, including the poor. It wasn’t just about giving to the needy, but a comprehensive love that motivated actions and reflected God’s love.
Cherity was a feeling, but far more importantly, it was action. Ultimately its focus is on God who exemplifies it more than any other being can. But it is to be applied to all the people we encounter regardless of who they are or, even, what they have done. It is far too easy to embrace our central, modern definition of charity: acts of philanthropy where we can discharge our obligation to others simply by contributing to a good cause. But, to grow spiritually, to treat all others as the Lord Jesus tells us to treat them, and to glorify and please God by our attitude, actions, and attributes, we must love—in season and out of season, when we feel like it and when we don’t, as the very matrix of our imitation of Christ.[6]
So, what did the charity the Apostle Paul wrote about look like in action? In verses 4 through 8a of First Corinthians 13 Paul gives us a definition of the Godly love we are to imitate.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, 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.
That is a wonderful starting place for understanding how the greatest love of all is supposed to work. It’s what you have received through Christ Jesus, and it is how we are to relate to others in patience, kindness, gentleness, humility, forgiveness, joy, and all the other attributes Paul names. And, in the end, “Love never fails.” We can be at peace because we know He’s not going to “kick us to the curb” if we “mess up” as we are sure to do no matter how much we long to be like Jesus or how many years we have been working on loving God, ourselves, and others.
As Jesus, while prophesying His arrest and execution soon to take place, told His disciples, “I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart [be courageous]! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). In the next chapter, He prays for them, “I am coming to you now, but I say these things while I am still in the world, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them…. My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me” (John 17:13, 20-21).[7] So, remember, “Love never fails”!
(Photo credit: R. A. Stites, Land Between the Lakes Recreation Area, Kentucky/Tennessee, 2025)
[1] The Four Loves – Wikipedia
[2] Ibid.
[3] It is good to read this verse in context: 1 John 4:7-21.
[4] See Matthew 21:34-40 for context.
[5] See John 3:1-21 for context.
[6] “Matrix,” as used here, is defined as “an environment or material in which something develops; a surrounding medium or structure. [Example] ‘free choices become the matrix of human life’” (from Oxford Languages and Google – English | Oxford Languages).
[7] John 14-17 NIV – Jesus Comforts His Disciples – “Do – Bible Gateway
