Greatest of These Is Love!

Month 3 Week 2 Greatest of These is Love!

We talk about it. We sing about it. We praise it. We seek it, and we long for it. Love. “The fruit of the Spirit is love.” God’s kind of love is foreign to us. How can we love the unlovely—no endure them, but love them? How can we genuinely desire the best, not for ourselves or our friends, but for our enemies? Love challenges us. It frightens us, and it embraces us. Ultimately only love can change us so that we become people who love.

This month we will study the foundational characteristic of the fruit of the Holy Spirit. Every characteristic of the fruit exudes love. First, we will see some components of the world’s love. Then we will examine the distinctive nature of God’s love. “For God so loved the world…”

Principle Questions Week 1: How might an ongoing deprivation of your mate for inappropriate reasons be considered a unique form of adultery? Week 2: What caused Herod and Pilate to become friends? Week 3: Why did God choose the foolish things of the world to shame the wise? Week 4: What does Psalm 145:8 tell us about God’s anger? Week 5: What is the relationship between the Holy Spirit and agape?

1 Today’s Treasure – “Finally, all of you, live in harmony with one another; be sympathetic, love as brothers, be compassionate and humble” (1 Peter 3:8). Week 2 – Philos: Friend Love

Our first consideration this week has been sexual love, often referred to by the Greek word eros. God wonderfully illustrates a second kind of love to us in Scripture. This unique kind of love is called philos, and it is a general term usually desired as “the love one has toward a friend or companion. In fact, the word can simply mean “friend.” Look up each of the following references. What do you learn about philos from each of these Scriptures? When a person has philos love for another, in what position does he place the friend (Luke 14:10)? ______How do friends respond to each other’s joys/sadnesses (Luke 15:8-9)? ______What sad fact about friends do you gather from Luke 21:16? ______What caused Herod and Pilate to become friends (Luke 23:8-12)? ______2 First, I hope you noted from Luke 14:10 that when someone has philo love for another, she places that friend in a high personal position. We hold our philos in high esteem. Secondly, you might have noted that philo love is characterized by shared experience, as the joy of one becomes the joy of all. In Luke 15:9, the actual Greek term is tas philas which means “female friends.” Obviously, her girlfriends were aware she had lost the coin and shared her distress because the moment she found it, they rejoiced with her. I am so blessed to have such wonderful tas philas. I would not trade them for anything in the word. My dear friend, Johnnie, has rarely asked me HOW I was doing in the 13 years I’ve known her. She only asks WHAT I am doing. Do you know why? Because she knows me so well that if she learns what I’m doing, she can practically assume how I’m doing. She knows my likes, my dislikes, my idiosyncrasies, my general attitudes, and my basic nature. Another good friend and I have coined an abbreviation we use with each other based on the fact that dear friends share things that don’t make one bit of difference to another soul. We call it TFT: Trivial Friend Talk. I’ll fly to the phone and call her and share something one of the kids has said, and my husband will laugh, shake his head and say, “Y’all are so weird.” Why “so weird”? Because we are tas philas and he can’t relate! From Luke 21:16 did you note that a friend in some cases can be capable of betrayal? The fear of betrayal should never keep us from cultivating friends; however, for the sake of our study, it is important to acknowledge that philos love can turn sour. Lastly, from Luke 23:8-12, perhaps you observed that a common pursuit can make some people philos. A very important characteristic of philos is the adoption of like interest. James 2:23 tells us that Abraham was a philos of God. Does this Scripture infer that God and Abraham were “chums”? Hardly. It teaches us that Abraham adopted God’s interests as his own. What were those conditions, and how did the friendship prove to be a negative influence on one or both of you? ______

3 ______Several Greek words are derived from the word philos. Read 1 Peter 3:8. Peter exhorts us to demonstrate what kind of love? ______The Greek word for “brotherly love” or “love as brothers” is philadelphos. It is a compound word formed from philos which means “friend” and adelphos which mean “brother.” In essence, philadelphos means “to love a friend like a brother.” In particular, Pet is exhorting fellow Christians to love one another as if “blood related.” In Christ, you and I are “blood relatives.” How should our kinship affect our relationship? ______In Scripture, as well as many others, infers a wonderful concept. When it comes to good works and to meeting needs, we have God’s permission to be partial to one another as sisters and brothers in Christ. How does Galatians 6:10 suggest we treat fellow believers? ______The word philema is also a derivative of philos and it is found in 1 Thessalonians 5:26. Did you catch it? It means “ a kiss, a token of love and friendship.” In our present culture, we usually hug more often than we kiss as a token of friendship. In other cultures, kissing, usually on the cheek, is a very common expression of friendship. Philarguros, another derivative of philos, can be found in 1Timothy 6:10. This is also a compound word.

4 What do you think arguros means, knowing that philos means “friend of, or lover of”? ______(Contrary to how it appears, it does not mean “lover of a good argument,” although I’ve known a few of those!) Do you know anyone who is a philarguros, a “lover of money”? What does God say about the love of money in 1Timothy 6:10? ______Obviously, some forms of love are not sanctioned by God. Let’s add another to this list. Take a very careful look at 2 Timothy 3:1-2. Which kind of persons does verse 2 describe? (Check one.)

 lovers of others

 lovers of themselves The Greek word philautos is a compound word made from philos, which by now you know means “friend of, or lover of” (No, this is not the love of cars!), and autos which means “himself.” This term in no way suggests a healthy appreciation of who you are in Christ. The term means “self-centered or selfish, an undue sparing of self with the primary concern that things be easy and pleasant for oneself. The philautos is one who loves his life so much that he seeks ignobly to save it.” How does Jesus respond to the philautos in John 12:25 ______Let’s recap what we’ve learned about love so far. Eros can refer to the unique love between a man and a woman. The love between friends is called philos. One can be a friend to persons or things. She can make friends for common good or evil and lose 5 friends in betrayal. God invites His children to be more than friends. He wants us to love as brothers. A person can love self above all else and seek personal gain at all costs. As you can see, to be a friend or “lover” has positive and negative aspects. We have noted everything the first quality of the fruit of the Spirit is NOT. None of the forms of love we have studied on day 1 or day 2 have been the kind of love God expresses through us via the filling of His Holy Spirit. Many of you are familiar with the Greek word for love in Galatians 5:22. The word is agape. This divine love stands in a class all its own. In contrast to philos, agape is not a feeling or relationship based on common interests. Agape is propelled by the highest interest. Two individuals can agree on something—as Pilate and Herold did--- and both be wrong. Agape always flows from what is right and best. Agape is not as much a feeling as it is a response. We will discover that God commands us to agape. He is not commanding us toward a feeling. He is commanding us to surrender to an act of His Spirit which results in obedience. Emotion may accompany agape, but emotion and agape are not the same. Agape is not fueled by the desire of its recipient; it is fueled by the need. “For God so [agape] the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16, KJV). If God had done what man desired, we would surely be lost. Agape means God did what humanity most needed—He pursued in us that which was highest and best. We have much more to learn tomorrow. Until then… How does God want you to respond to what He showed you today? ______