In our last article we began a series of lessons dealing with the subject of love in the Bible. We noted that there are two different Greek words translated "love" in the English Bible. AGAPE love is the characteristic word of Christianity. A good definition is, "caring enough to sacrifice". The second word is PHILEO, which means "to love, be friendly to one." It describes the feelings one will have toward his friends and those he cares about. We also discussed the importance of love in the Christian's life. It is a part of every relationship a Christian is involved in. In this article we want to note some characteristics of AGAPE love.

There are several texts that describe what this love is. A few include Romans 13:10, " Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. "; 1 John 4:8, "He who does not love does not know God, for God is love"; John 13:35, "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another"; John 14:15, "If you love Me, keep My commandments. "; John 15:13, "Greater love has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends. " Romans 12:9, "Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good."; 1 Corinthians 8:1, "... Knowledge puffs up, but love edifies. "; and 1 John 4:18-20, "There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love. We love Him because He first loved us. If someone says, "I love God," and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? "

But the primary passage that describes love is 1 Corinthians 13. Let us notice how this passage describes love. The first three verses of this chapter describe just how important love is. We discussed these in our last article. 1 Corinthians 13:4-8 gives a number of characteristics associated with true Christian love. It states, "Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 8 Love never fails. "

This passage begins by stating, "Love suffers long". The word suffers long means, "1. To persevere patiently and bravely… 2. to be patient in bearing the offenses and injuries of others; to be mild and slow in avenging; to be long-suffering, slow to anger, slow to punish " (Thayer). This means that a Christian is willing to endure sufferings of various sorts for the sake of others. This may involve being ridiculed, suffer physical loss or even persecutions for the cause of Christ. It is also a word that involves patience. One thing a Christian must learn is to let God work in His own time. In concluding a parable about prayer, Jesus said, "And shall God not avenge His own elect who cry out day and night to Him, though He bears long with them? I tell you, "He will avenge them speedily." Luke 18:7-8.

The word kind means, "to show oneself mild, to be kind, use kindness:" Kindness is a characteristic that is so needed today. Our society has become rude in so many ways: We see it in the service we receive in stores and restaurants and on the roads, just to name a few. Often, when we are treated rudely, our instinct is to retaliate in kind. But the Christian cannot do this. His conduct must be without blame. That means he must show kindness in all that he does. James 3:13 says, "Who is wise and understanding among you? Let him show by good conduct that his works are done in the meekness of wisdom". Also, Peter said, "…having your conduct honorable among the Gentiles, that when they speak against you as evildoers, they "may, by your good works which they observe, glorify God in the day of visitation. " 1 Peter 2:12. Kindness can go so far as we relate to others. No wonder, it is listed as a characteristic of Christian love.

The word envy means, "to burn with zeal". (Thayer) It is a word that can be used in both a good sense and a bad sense. Here the bad sense is intended. It means to burn with jealousy concerning that which belongs to others. Often, people see those who have something they don't have and they are jealous because of it. This leads them to despise them and wish them ill will. Or perhaps it leads to a competition between the two parties that does nothing but generate strife. The Christian does NOT act this way. One reason is because he is not worldly. He does not love the world or the things in the world (1 John 2:15). His treasure is in heaven (Matthew 6:19-21). So instead of envying his neighbor he rejoices with him in his success and wishes him even more. Can you see a proper attitude in this will prevent problems?

These two characteristics go together. The word "parade" used here means, "to boast oneself" and the word "puffed up" means "…to cause to swell up; tropically, to puff up, to make proud" These describe one who is arrogant and self-centered. This is the one who thinks of himself first. He continually brags about what he has accomplished. He thinks he is better than everyone else is. You can see how undesirable such an attitude is. The Christian is to be humble. Peter wrote, "'God resists the proud, But gives grace to the humble.' Therefore humble yourself under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time." (1 Peter 5:5-6). We cannot expect to reach others with the gospel if we have a condescending attitude. Paul wrote, " Let nothing be done through selfish ambition or conceit, but in lowliness of mind let each esteem others better than himself." (Philippians 2:3). Yes, true love thinks of others.

The word "behave rudely" means, "to act unbecomingly" (Thayer). This means to act in a disgraceful way. A Christian must understand that whether he likes it or not, he is under a microscope to the world. The world knows how we are supposed to act and they are looking for anything they can find to criticize us. That is why we must set a high standard for ourselves and follow it strictly. Paul told Timothy, "Let no one despise your youth, but be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity." (1 Timothy 4:12). Paul was telling Timothy to act properly. Jesus spoke of our example in Matthew 5:16 where He said, "Let your light so shine before men that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven." Paul wrote, "Do all things without complaining and disputing, that you may become blameless and harmless, children of God without fault in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you shine as lights in the world." (Philippians 2:14-15). Yes, the Christian does not behave rudely.

Thus far we have noted several characteristics of Christian love. In our next lesson we will notice the rest of our text. May we use our understanding of Godly love to become all that God would have us to be.

(Note: All Thayer's References in this article are from Thayer's Greek Lexicon, Electronic Database. Copyright (c) 2000 by Biblesoft)