“Today I felt that what the world needs now is love, sweet love. No, not just for some – but for everyone.” In the New Testament there are three Greek words translated as “love” in English. The greatest of these is agape. The simplest definition of agape is “selfless love.” The greatest example is Jesus’ sacrificial death on the cross in our place for our sins. Out of his selfless love, Christ paid the price which we could not, and by believing in Him we are saved.
Many books have been written about agape love because there are wonderful examples of it in the world and throughout history. Unfortunately, it is not very common. Most people, me included, are selfish. When we show love, it is often with strings attached. Agape though is freely given with nothing expected in return. It is definitely what we need more of in this country and the world because so much of our society is adversarial. Our justice system is, where we have plaintiffs versus defendants, and accused persons versus the state. Our political system is, with its two-party politics. Team sports, even those that use individual achievements like track and field still have overall team scores to see which school is the winner. And that sums up the trouble with adversarial systems – there are winners and there are losers.
In human relationships there should not be winners and losers. One person getting their way at the expense of another damages the relationship, and no one wins. The agape way means that all parties in human relationships win. If I’m happy with our deal, and you’re happy with our deal, then God is happy with our deal, and it is a triple win. That’s agape – the selfless love that seeks the welfare of others first. Consider that the more we selflessly love and help others, the better our relationships will be, and the more love there will be in the world. Agape today!