“Agape love” is not similar to the type of “natural love” that we as people with sinful nature produce. Our “natural love” is the kind that spirals inward and only zeroes on our loved ones and ourselves. Therefore Satan uses and manipulates this limited type of love to attack mankind. Selfish love does not make us grow more in magnanimity and generosity. It segregates people by finding reasons why we should love or not love certain groups of people.
We selfishly love our family members and our friends to the exclusion of others. We also naturally hate our enemies and those who are not so lovable. What Jesus offers is a different kind of love – Agape love. Agape love is almost “unnatural”. However, “unnatural” is not the right word because it indicates that Agape love is never a part of the true nature of mankind. The more appropriate word to describe Agape love should be “supra-natural”. “Supra” means “above”. “Supra-natural” means that Agape love has been given from above and it has always been intended to be a part of the human nature. When mankind fell into sins, it was lost. Now it has been returned to us through the Holy Spirit and it is far more superior to the manipulated kind of “love” that Satan wants us to have.
Relationships are everything…simply because they are all that exist. By deciding how things relate to you or how you relate to them, you give meaning to things. Actively making these associations shapes the outcome of our life experiences.
As creatures of love, we have thrust ourselves into a world that appears to be filled with hate. We once perceived love as a singular form, but fear and separation have now shaped our perception to suggest that love can exist on multiple levels.
The Most Common Are –
EROS LOVE –
known as ‘erotic love‘, is based on strong romantic feelings towards another.
PHILOS LOVE –
a love based on the friendship between two people who share a mutual, ‘give-and-take’ relationship.
AGAPE LOVE –
Unconditional love always gives and is impossible to take or be a taker. It dedicates itself fully to seeking your highest best, regardless of how anyone may respond. This form of love is entirely selfless and remains unchanged whether the love given is returned or not. This represents the original and only true form of love.
The description of ‘Agape Love’ that is accepted by most beliefs as the love that God provides, is identical to how his love is described throughout “A Course in Miracles”, which is founded on the primary principle that God’s love for us has never allowed him to even begin to see us differently, regardless of what we may have done or believed we have done. The Course is repeatedly clear how God never takes and only gives, which is how creation works since God creates by extending himself…as he also extended himself into what has come to be known as us, the Son of God.
God never takes…and since we are created in his likeness…with his same method of thinking and being, our true selves (not these ego shrouded human shells) also know this is true. We inherently know that it is never better to take or require that somebody give. Giving is natural and never includes loss of any kind. True giving is like creation in that you do not lose what you give, but you extend that thing and it grows larger as you give it, or share it…like sharing a story or experience.
True giving transcends the physical, where giving often feels like loss. In contrast, agape love operates on sharing and abundance, recognizing that we lose nothing by giving, as we’re interconnected. This love moves beyond the physical realm’s focus on gain and loss, emphasizing that everything is shared and nothing truly lost.
Agape Love Defines Spiritual Reality
In a spiritual reality, only thoughts of agape love exist. Nothing else can exist there since everything is in harmony. There is no thought of less or loss or sacrifice since all needs are met before they even exist. This is where the mind of our God exists and it is from here where he teaches us and speaks to us. Every thought or idea that has truly originated from the mind of God originated from his center of Agape Love.
Without a foundation in agape love, we often limit our relationships to what we can gain or fear losing. “Philos” love, which thrives on like-mindedness and agreement, establishes a conditional “give-and-take” dynamic that ceases when it fails to meet expectations or when demands become unwelcome.
Misconceptions about love shape our view of God, leading us to believe His love is conditional.
Our pilot love relationship with God contrasts with His agape love, which only gives, devoid of conditions. Agape love asks for nothing and gives everything….simply because we are the children of agape love.
Separated from our creator by walls, we lose touch with God’s love, reflecting a world devoid of true love. This environment breeds calamity and destruction since that is the result of life-based on fear instead of love. If accepting perfect love can cast out fear, then likewise, accepting fear removes our ability to sense perfect love.
Fortunately, our creator sees challenges and tragedies as chances for transformation, remaining untroubled by perceived losses or faults. Valuing spiritual existence over material concerns, and reassuring us that those passed remain safe in spirit, beyond earthly loss.
He aims to show us that kindness and love can make life happier and more fulfilling, guiding us to prepare for our return to the creator. Amidst earthly trials, He safeguards our eternal spirits, mirroring His own, demonstrated by Jesus’ resurrection.
Agape Love Is Unconditional Acceptance
Agape love involves sharing solutions without judgment, embodying eternal patience and unconditional acceptance. It remains constant and unchanging, unaffected by time or circumstances, and operates beyond the concept of forgiveness, understanding our actions as misguided instead of holding them against us.
Like frightened children running through a dark forest, we act irrationally out of fear and panic. Agape love understands this and actively seeks to help us resolve our fears. This enables us to see clearly once again and return to full communication with our creator.
Physical things do not matter. You cannot lose anything. No one can take anything. Nothing needs to be given. In our true form, we know this, but right now we can only recite the words…but we don’t really believe them…and that’s why we are here. We find ourselves in a place where we believe agape love has abandoned us, and we have written books about a god who does not seem to embody agape love, but this is not the case. The best way to describe our reality here is to think of it as a collective dream on a universal scale.
As the Son of God, we attempted to act separately from our creator, an impossibility, so this attempt instead birthed a place—a dream—where God’s agape love appears absent, a horrific thought that has rendered our lives horrific.
The Holy Spirit guides us to see the world’s flawed values—taking, sacrifice, guilt, and fear—while God teaches giving, no loss, and love over fear, leading us to true living through agape love.
Every genuine divine lesson stems from God’s unchangeable spirit of unconditional love, reflecting only His truths. Embodying agape love reveals our true identity and God’s omnipresence within and around us.
Love God, Love Yourself and Love One Another
Reconnecting with God allows self-love, enabling love for others through receiving and engaging in divine love. Helping people love you enables reciprocal love devoid of condemnation or condition.
People may protest about loving others, but they will never protest against receiving love. And there are those who say, “I love but other don’t love me”… then, you have not gone far enough into Love. Because when you do, you will no longer view yourself as unloved by others, and the Love you embody will become irresistible.
It’s time to major on the majors. First things first. Then everything else can come easily into alignment. Let go of the struggle and Love.
This is the highest kind of love. It is God-given. When the Bible says “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son…” (Jn. 3:16), it is referring to agape love. This type of love is the one described in 1 Corinthians 13. One with agape love will not be pulled away from a relationship just because the partner is in the financial crisis or is seriously ill.
This kind of love actively professes “for better for worse… in sickness and in health… for richer, for poorer… till death do us part” through words and actions.
Nevertheless, possessing agape love doesn’t mean one will lack eros and philia to some degree, but agape overshadows these two.
