A Special Kind of Love

How will the people around you know you are a follower of Jesus Christ? Jesus answered that question for us.

A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.

John 13:34-35

Just what is this kind of love? It must be a special, unique kind of love for people to take notice and realize there is something different about the people expressing this love. Kenneth Bailey gives a deeper insight into this love:

The verb Paul uses for love is agapao. The Greek language of his day had two primary words for love. The first was eras, which had to do with passionate love, either religious or sexual. The second was phileo, which was used to describe love between friends and the kind of love that is shared in a healthy family. But neither of these words was adequate for what Paul and the other writers of the New Testament wanted to describe. Moving to a higher level of love they wanted and selected a new word, the term agapao. In the Greek Old Testament agape, as a noun, appears only in the Song of Songs. It is rare in classical Greek, and when used it has to do with "inclining toward" something. Paul and his friends selected this word that had no clear footprint in the Greek language, and filled it with new meaning. Five things can be said about agape as it appears in the New Testament generally and in this text in particular.¹

I would like to take a look at those five things.

"First, it is universal".² The love we have is for everyone, not just for family and friends. Jesus taught:

You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect.

Matthew 5:43-48

That does not mean we must stick around for abuse. Sometimes it is wise to walk away from a situation. It does mean we do not retaliate or speak evil of the person. Rather we pray for them and leave it in God’s hands.

Jesus gave us the example of love without prejudice, even to a stranger, in the parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37). The best example of all though, is Jesus Christ’s example. "He first loved us" (1 John 4:19) despite our sins.

We must also show our love to others as they are all children of God. The person, who is treating you so badly today, may one day turn and come to Christ. Think of Paul who was trying to eliminate the followers of Jesus, only to become a follower himself.

"Second, agape (love) is the new "royal law," which directs all believers to love God and one's neighbor.”³ James referred to this "royal law" where believers were showing favoritism to the rich (James 2:1-9).

If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right.

James 2:8

Leading into the parable of the Good Samaritan, a man tested Jesus by asking:

"Teacher," he asked, "what must I do to inherit eternal life?"
"What is written in the Law?" he replied. "How do you read it?"
He answered, "‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind"; and, 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'"
"You have answered correctly," Jesus replied. "Do this and you will live."

Luke 10:25-37

If Jesus is saying this love has already been there, how is it different? What makes it a “royal law”? We move on to the third thing Bailey says about agape love:

Third, the model for this love is the life of Christ. They are to love one another, "as I have loved you" (Jn 15:12).⁴

Among the subjects Paul had written to the Corinthians about were spiritual gifts, which lead into Bailey’s fourth comment:

Fourth, as shown in this hymn, love is the indispensable ingredient for each of the gifts. Without love none of them is of any value. At the same time, by the end of the hymn, love stands on its own and becomes the highest of all the gifts. The Corinthians had many gifts (1:7), but they were critically lacking in love. That omission left every other gift deeply flawed.⁵

Our human nature can get the best of us, much like it did for the Corinthians. There were divisions among them, Paul said they were humiliating some of the brethren who were poor (1 Corinthians 11:22).

Some seem to be envious of gifts they themselves did not have.

Now if the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I do not belong to the body,” it would not for that reason stop being part of the body.

1 Corinthians 12:15

We may also assume people may have thought the gift they had, made them somehow better than others when Paul writes:

The eye cannot say to the hand, “I don’t need you!” And the head cannot say to the feet, “I don’t need you!”

1 Corinthians 12:21

It is that special kind of love that aids us to accepting and using the gifts God gave to each of us, knowing that each gift is vital to the unity, health and growth of the spiritual body.

Fifth, the source of this love is the indwelling Spirit of God that makes possible the flow of the love of Christ into the life of the believer. Without that Spirit, this agape love is impossible. "We love because he first loved us" (1 Jn 4:19). We love God and then our neighbor.⁶

Because Jesus first loved us and gave himself in sacrifice for us, we can receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit gives us the power to live this special kind of love.