All you need is love!
By Kate
What is love?
"I love chips. I'd have them with every meal."
"I just love him so much. I can't live without him!"
"I don't know if I love him any more. I feel empty and distant."
How can we use one little four letter word in such different ways? The word love trips to our lips so easily, but do we know exactly what we mean? In classical Greek, they had three words for our one.
Eros is the word they would have used about romantic love, excitement between lovers, affection, physical attraction. Phileo is the love of friendship; common interests and admiration are factors in phileo love. Agape love is love that endures even when things are difficult, when we have been let down by the one we love or feel hurt or even unloving. It's love without expecting anything in return. It's wanting the best for the other, not counting the cost to ourselves.
All three sorts of love can be valuable parts of marriage, but the one that empowers commitment and joy is agape, enabling us to love through difficulties, 'for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, till death do us part'.
What is your love like?