A Different Kind of Love
ICS Daily Devotions

1 Corinthians 13:4, 6-8 (NKJV). Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up;… does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. But whether there are prophecies, they will fail; whether there are tongues, they will cease; whether there is knowledge, it will vanish away.

There are two kinds of love: Phileo and Agape. We are very familiar with Phileo love, but we need to understand Agape love because God loves us with Agape love and also commands us to love with the same love.

Phileo love is an emotional form of love. It involves being a friend to another, feeling fondness, or having affection for someone. Phileo love relies on response, and cannot endure without reciprocation. It gives as long as it receives. It is a conditional.

Many of us are far more familiar with giving and receiving Phileo love from our experiences within family and relationships. Human beings often struggle to love others unconditionally, because we are naturally selfish and self-centred.

This becomes evident in how we sometimes take pride in our children primarily because of their achievements, or in how our affection is shaped by biases—whether based on gender, birth order, or success. Phileo love often fades when the person we care for is no longer attractive, wealthy, or influential—when we realise there is no benefit, advantage, or admiration left for us, or when expectations go unmet.

Phileo love might not withstand the test of confrontation, even if it is well-intentioned. We have only known or experienced this kind of love until we heard the gospel. Therefore, it is easy to think of God as having the same kind of love and treatment towards us. We may believe that God will stop loving us if we do not meet His standards, or He will abandon and forsake us when we have failed Him. We might even believe that God would have favourites based on gender, colour, nationality, or family background. Because we have been operating with Phileo love, we have developed these kinds of wrong thinking about God’s love.

However, God’s love is Agape love. It is an unconditional love which is written all over the Bible. God demonstrated His love for us in this: while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. He has chosen not to leave us nor forsake us through the establishment of the New Covenant in Jesus’ blood. He has chosen not to remember our sins and lawless deeds because of His Agape love for us. God knows the weakness of our flesh, yet He has chosen to see us in Christ so that we will always be seen as righteous, holy, and blameless. All this is done out of Agape love while we are still imperfect! Agape love keeps loving because it is unconditional. Likewise, Jesus expects us to show the same kind of Agape love to everyone, regardless of whether they love us in return.

Reflection: How does God’s unconditional, self-giving Agape love challenge the way you love others in your church, family, and workplace?

Sermon: Stewardship is Established in Love