The Gospel – Agape (4/4)

The Gospel – Agape (4/4)

When the word “agape” is used in the Bible, it refers to a pure, willful, sacrificial love that intentionally desires another’s highest good.

I wrote quite a bit about how powerful Agape is. The power of true love. It gets me so excited to talk about it, but I believe the Lord’s scripture should do the talking in this blog. Please reach out to me if you would like to talk more about the topic of love, but I encourage you to reflect on these powerful passages in the Bible of what love is. These scriptures are from the passion translation.

Mark 12: 29-31

²⁹ Jesus answered him, “The most important of all the commandments is this: ‘The Lord Yahweh, our God, is one! ³⁰ You are to love the Lord Yahweh, your God, with every passion of your heart, with all the energy of your being, with every thought that is within you, and with all your strength. This is the great and supreme commandment. ³¹ And the second is this: ‘You must love your neighbor in the same way you love yourself.’ You will never find a greater commandment than these.”

1 John 4: 7-21

⁷ Those who are loved by God, let his love continually pour from you to one another, because God is love. Everyone who loves is fathered by God and experiences an intimate knowledge of him. ⁸ The one who doesn’t love has yet to know God, for God is love. ⁹ The light of God’s love shined within us when he sent his matchless Son into the world so that we might live through him. ¹⁰ This is love: He loved us long before we loved him. It was his love, not ours. He proved it by sending his Son to be the pleasing sacrificial offering to take away our sins.^k]”>

¹¹ Delightfully loved ones, if he loved us with such tremendous love, then “loving one another” should be our way of life! ¹² No one has ever gazed upon the fullness of God’s splendor. But if we love one another, God makes his permanent home in us, and we make our permanent home in him, and his love is brought to its full expression in us. ¹³ And he has given us his Spirit within us so that we can have the assurance that he lives in us and that we live in him.

¹⁴ Moreover, we have seen with our own eyes and can testify to the truth that Father God has sent his Son to be the Savior of the world. ¹⁵ Those who give thanks that Jesus is the Son of God live in God, and God lives in them. ¹⁶ We have come into an intimate experience with God’s love, and we trust in the love he has for us.^o]”>

God is love! Those who are living in love are living in God, and God lives through them. ¹⁷ By living in God, love has been brought to its full expression in us so that we may fearlessly face the day of judgment, because all that Jesus now is, so are we in this world. ¹⁸ Love never brings fear, for fear is always related to punishment. But love’s perfection drives the fear of punishment far from our hearts. Whoever walks constantly afraid of punishment has not reached love’s perfection. ¹⁹ Our love for others is our grateful response to the love God first demonstrated to us.^v]”>

²⁰ Anyone can say, “I love God,” yet have hatred toward another believer. This makes him a phony, because if you don’t love a brother or sister, whom you can see, how can you truly love God, whom you can’t see? ²¹ For he has given us this command: whoever loves God must also demonstrate love to others.^w]”>

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Book Recommendation: “Love Does” by Bob Goff and “Everybody Always” by Bob Goff

Please reach out with any questions or to talk more! I would love to hear how God works through you in this series!

Phone: 515-777-0411

Email: [email protected]