Love in Action

A 2024 survey revealed 78% of U.S. adults enjoy eating the little Valentine “conversation hearts.” “Love you” is the most popular saying, with “Be Mine” and “Kiss Me” not far behind.

Last year, Americans spent $25.8 billion dollars to express their love on Valentine’s Day, $1.8 billion of which bought the candy hearts! St. Valentine’s Day originally was a Christian feast day honoring a martyr who was said to have ministered to Christians being persecuted by the Roman Empire.

The word “love” appears in the Bible several hundred times and is one of the main themes of the Old and New Testaments. The ancient Greek language in which the New Testament was written had four words for love. “Philia” (FILL-ee-uh) is the love between close friends.

Think of Philadelphia, the city of brotherly love. “Eros” (EH-rows) refers to sexual, physical intimacy, such as in erotic. “Storge” (STORE-jay) expresses the love among family members. Perhaps the most familiar word for love in the New Testament, and the most important, is “Agape” (ah-GAH-pay).

This is the unconditional love expressed in verses such as “God so loved the world” and “Faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love.” Agape is love in action, love that actually does good for other people and looks after their best interests.

You cannot capture the meaning of agape on a Valentine’s conversation heart. You demonstrate agape in how you treat your neighbors, even and especially your hard-to-love neighbors.

In her recent sermon on the biblical command to love one another, a minister friend characterized agape as a decision, not a feeling. If you want to know the power of agape, think about the love God showed in sending his Son and the strong love Jesus demonstrated in his teaching, preaching, healing, and ultimate death on the cross.

Agape stands up to injustice and untruths and advocates for the well-being of all people, particularly those who have the least power and influence.

In this love month of February, we would do well to embrace that kind of love as the force that shapes who we are and how we live. Agape is not always easy, but it has the power to challenge and defeat the forces that seek to diminish others.

During worship on Feb. 2, I prayed this prayer of confession with the rest of the congregation. It asks that we may be courageous enough to show agape in our lives.

“God, our Deliverer, we confess that we are too reluctant to speak and to live according to your truth. We grow comfortable with the way things are, passively condoning injustice. We find it easier to destroy and overthrow, than to build and to plant. Forgive us, O God, for being timid disciples. Empty us of fear and shame and fill us with love that is humble and patient and kind. We pray this in the name of the One who humbled himself, Jesus the Christ. Amen.”

Philip Gladden is a retired minister who lives in Wallace.