THE LOVE THAT BINDS
There are four types of love expressed in the Bible. God has
blessed us with the ability to use each form of love depending on the
circumstance.
STORGE: LOVE OF FAMILY.
This type of love is shared between family members, parents and
children, siblings, other relatives. It
is also shared between spouses. The thing
is, it is not unique to spousal love. While we love our spouses as family
members, we also love other family members with that same type of love to one
degree or another.
PHILEO: LOVE OF FRIENDS. Some claim their spouses to be
their best friends. That may be
true. But, just by using the word “best”
indicates that there are other friends in their lives. Most people have more than one friend. So, again, friendship love is not unique to
marriage.
AGAPE:
UNCONDITIONAL LOVE: This is the
highest form of love. It is the type of
love that God has towards us. We should love our spouses with this agape
love—unconditionally. Even if we do, for
most of us, there are others who we love this way: parents, certain friends and
relatives, our brothers and sisters in Christ.
Like the other forms of love, agape love is not unique to marriage.
EROS: ROMANTIC LOVE:
This is the one type of love that we should only share with our
spouses. No one else belongs in that
space in our lives. While I love my wife as a family member, there are other
family members who share in my “storge” love. My wife is my friend, but, I also
have other friends that I love with the “phileo” love. Although I definitely
love my wife unconditionally, there are others who fall under my “agape” love
covering. But, when it comes to “eros”, romantic/erotic love, only my wife
holds that place in my life. She is my
one and only lover. She is the object of my desire. Only she shares that depth
of intimacy with me. By the way, though
sex is obviously involved in eros, it is so much more. So very much more. With all of the other forms of love, in
marriage, eros is the love that binds.
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