This morning the Good Lord showed me exactly what it is to be “in love”. And so I am sharing this with you so that you will be blessed, and those in your life will be blessed as well.
First, I need to tell you what kind of “love” I am talking about. I need to define what “love” is, so that we are all on the same page together in contemplating this profound epiphany. (Epiphany: a divine insight or revelation given by God.)
It helps to look at the Greek ways of seeing love. I won’t list all nine of the Greek words (and insights) of love; just a few for context and the one that matters.
Oh, how I wish I had known this 63 years ago.
Types of Love
Eros (ἔρως): Loving someone with sexual activity is perhaps the lowest form of love and has nothing to do with this epiphany. We all know what this kind of love is. We know that it can be pure but it can also be ugly and selfish and even cruel. Eros is the root of erotica; not what will improve your life like the highest love can. If this is your idea of love; if it’s all you understand, then you understand nothing of love. If you are like those who claim that this kind of love is good and pure in all manner, shape and form, and can be lived out however a person wishes—you know, those who fly rainbow flags and paint their hair pink and blue, and call themselves “woke” or attach many letters of the alphabet to their identity, beginning with L—then you are not in the kind of love that matters. You are outside of God’s love. Jesus never participated in this kind of love and never will. Eros can be good to spur us on to procreating with our lawful spouse and that’s about it. It is good for a husband and wife to enjoy intimacy within the bond of marriage. But, again, this is not the kind of love in the epiphany.
Philia (φιλία): When we have and show brotherly love for others that is not sexual, but of a friendship that is deep and pure, then we are living in philia love. It is a higher form of love than eros and can be very fulfilling for those who are walking in it. It is a kind of soul connection with another person, apart from any kind of sexual overtone. This may be what brother and sister, or sister and sister, or brother and brother have for each other. It is for friends and family. It is deep, real, and fulfilling to a large degree. I highly recommend it. We all need this type of love in our hearts and relationships. Although it can be good and right, this is not the kind of love from the epiphany either.
Mania (μανία): This is the root for being manic—a term in psychiatry. Walking in mania is to be obsessed with something or someone. It is something that takes over the heart and mind. It is rarely good in any form or volume; but the more it is prevalent, the worse it gets. It is usually shown for worldly pleasures and things, like fine food, fine houses and cars, or jewelry or clothing, or other possessions of this world. Pornography lives in mania, as it kills the soul (and relationships). Mania can go hand-in-hand with eros. This form of obsession is definitely not the kind of love that I am going to explain.
Philautia (φιλαυτία): Being in love with yourself. While it is healthy to not hate yourself; while it is good to have self-worth; while being kind to yourself when needed is often healthy (God loves Himself), this can very quickly and easily become something terrible and destructive to yourself and others. It leads to selfishness, rudeness, and arrogance, all of which harm your spirit and soul. This kind of love has a very narrow and soft side that can be soothing for a time of pain or doubt, but beyond that it usually leads to destruction of the soul. This is not the love of the epiphany.
Agape (ἀγάπη): We made it! This is where we are going to live and learn today. Agape love is unconditional (meaning that people don’t have to earn it from us—destroying oppression over others). It is pure and comes from God directly to our own spirit and soul. This is the love that builds us and others up, rather than tearing down. It does not need to be puffed up or fulfilled by external things or even people in this world. Read what Paul wrote about this kind of love in one of his letters:
Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.
(1 Corinthians 13:4-7, NLT)
Did you notice the connection to truth in this definition? It rejoices whenever truth wins out. And this is the second part or aspect of the epiphany. Truth and love go together. When we are living in the truth, when we are living in this kind of love (agape), then we are living in God, because God is the source of true love and truth.
Living IN Truth and Love
Here is the rub and the root of the epiphany: Living in truth and love, together; both at the same time. To be in a room is to be surrounded by it. To be in a swimming pool is to be immersed in the water. To be in a car is to be engulfed by it. This is what I mean by being in love. This is what I mean by being in truth. And when we are in both, together, at the same time, we are being in God. Look what Jesus said about truth just hours before He died for us:
“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through me.”
(John 14:6, NLT)
If you are going to walk in truth, you must walk in Christ. But what does this mean, walk “in Christ”? Jesus answered that one as well:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross daily, and follow me.”
(Luke 9:23, NLT)
And He also said this:
“If you refuse to take up your cross and follow me, you are not worthy of being mine.”
(Mathew 10:38, NLT)
And again, just to run it home:
“If any of you wants to be my follower, you must give up your own way, take up your cross, and follow me.”
(Matthew 16:24, NLT)
If you are feeling convicted at this moment, good, it means that you can hear the Holy Spirit calling you into love and truth in Jesus. (To be clear; “taking up your cross” means to deny your fleshly body its desires and ways. It is the antithesis of selfishness.)
Being in Love
Now you can see that “being in love” does not mean having a mushy, happy, giddy feeling in your bosom or heart. It means walking in the attitude that says “love others as you would love yourself”. It means considering others as more important than yourself. It means giving up your own desires and rights for the desires and rights of those around you, whoever they may be. It is walking in humility not pride. It is submitting to Jesus and His truth and His commands.
Living in the Truth
Walking and breathing and moving and speaking in truth means aligning yourself with God’s truth. But where do we find God’s truth? And how do we apply it to our lives so that we will be happy, healthy and wise? Answer: We read His Word—the Holy Bible. We try our best (with help from the Holy Spirit) to understand it and apply what we learn to our lives. We do as John and Peter said and “obey the truth”:
And we can be sure that we know him if we obey his commandments. If someone claims, “I know God,” but doesn’t obey God’s commandments, that person is a liar and is not living in the truth. But those who obey God’s word truly show how completely they love him. That is how we know we are living in him. Those who say they live in God should live their lives as Jesus did.
(1 John 2:3-6, NLT)
To obey the truth is to obey God, and to obey God is life eternal. To not do this is to die along the way, as you walk and talk and breathe. Life becomes useless and meaningless the more we walk away from Jesus and His commands; to live in Him and His love and His truth is to truly live.
Do this, and you will live. Obey the truth of the Gospel—Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross for your redemption—and you will live.
If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.
(1 Corinthians 13:1-3, NLT)
You might be a religious person who gives money and time in the place and manner you think is right. You might even call yourself a Christian and have spiritual gifts that you use. But if you are not walking and living IN the truth and IN the love of Christ, you are just as dead as anyone you claim is not saved.
If you live in truth without love, you are dead;
If you love without truth, you are living in deception.
Think about it. Let it soak into your soul. Then pray for God to show you how you have or have not been in His love and truth. Ask Him how He wants you to live and walk and be in His truth and love. Then, when you obey the truth and obey the love of Christ, you will be in life—true life, everlasting, and most fulfilling.
In Him and His love and truth,
Gary
