Wednesday: Love
Prayer of the Day
An Act of Love
O my God, because you are infinite goodness and worthy of my infinite love, I love you with my whole heart above all things, and for love of you I love my neighbor as myself. Amen.
Morning Reading
1 Corinthians 13: 4-8a
"Love is patient, love is kind. It is not jealous, it is not pompous, it is not inflated, it is not rude, it does not seek its own interests, it is not quick-tempered, it does not brood over injury, it does not rejoice over wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth. It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails."
Commentary
In English we have one word for love. We love God and we love our parents, we love our spouse, and we love pizza -- one word, but many different contexts. In Greek, they actually have different words for the different types of love. In his book The Four Loves, C.S. Lewis explains the difference between these types of love. The four loves are:
- Storge: the natural instinctive affection of a parent for a child or the love that brings enjoyment such as love based on proximity. We may be friends with someone because we live close to one another or are in the same class at school.
- Phileo: Friendship Love that is based upon affection and a bond, a common goal, or a belief.
- Eros: Romantic Love
- Agape: The way Jesus loves. This is when one person wills the good of the other. It is self-empything love, also referred to as Christian charity.
Reflection Questions
- While there are different types of love, a relationship is not exclusively one type of love. How might a relationship have more than one type of love? Give an example.
- Which type of love do we see described in 1 Corinthians 13? Why? How do you know? What about the definition in 1 Corinthians 13 helped you come to that conclusion?
- Which aspect of Paul's description of Christian love in 1 Corinthians 13 speaks to you and which is the most challenging? Why?
- Is there a relationship in your life where you could deepen the way you love someone?
- Tonight, take a few moments to silently pray for that person and that relationship in light of our scripture reading today.