Good morning, Loudon Cumberland!
I have decided to stay on the love track for this week! That word LOVE packs so much meaning into four little letters. Or does it? I recently learned that the Greeks had 6 words for love and now I want 6 words for love in English! The Greek words are:
Eros – Passionate love
Philia – Deep friendship
Ludus – Playful (childlike) love
Agape – Love for Everyone or Selfless love
Pragma – Mature, long-standing love
Philautia – Love of the self
These words are used to describe feelings and relationships we all know very well and have experienced. But the problem with only having one word, is it becomes up to the listener to translate what kind of love you meant. I mean I say I love coffee in the same breath that I say I love Noah. What kind of sense does that make? And it’s not like I can start using the Greek words in my daily life; I’m not even sure if they are nouns or verbs and no one would know what I was talking about! But it does make me more aware of over-use or improper use of this one, powerful word.
So…. What does this mean for us when we say we love God? I think we need all 6 for a healthy relationship with God. We need to love Him passionately, deeply, and with child-like intensity. Our love for Him needs to be shown by truly loving others, it needs to be eternal, and lastly, how can we love God if we don’t love ourselves? We are his creation!
I’ll leave you today with Solomon’s words from chapter 8 of Song of Solomon, “Place 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. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away.”
God Bless each and every one of you!
-Katie
Leave a Reply