Agape
John 3:16; 1 Corinthians 13; 1 John 4:7-12
The Word
Greek had several words for love — eros (desire), philia (friendship), storge (family affection). The New Testament writers reached past all of them for agape: love as deliberate, self-giving commitment to another's good.
Defined by God, Not by Feeling
Agape is defined by an act: "God so loved (ēgapēsen) the world, that he gave his only Son" (John 3:16). "In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son" (1 John 4:10).
The Mark of the Kingdom
Jesus made agape the identifying badge of His people: "By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another" (John 13:35). 1 Corinthians 13 describes it in verbs — is patient, is kind, bears, believes, hopes, endures — because agape is something you do before it is something you feel.