How do you define the true love of Christ?
As I read today's verse of the day, it dawned on me that when we say or think of "love" in our world today, it's so superficial compared to what this text really means.
"I love chocolate." / "I love you." / "I love hockey."
The four types of love in the Bible are Agape (unconditional, selfless love), Philia (brotherly love and friendship), Storge (familial love), and Eros (romantic love). These terms come from the Greek language, in which the New Testament was written.
The words "love each other" and "I have loved you" in John 15:12, are derived from the the word agapaō. (unconditional, selfless love). Check out Blue Letter Bible to see more. I've linked the verse here.
We cannot comprehend the true love of Christ. This doesn't mean we can't truly know His love, it just means that we can't fathom it because it is divine. Jesus made Himself known to us in His Word and by the gift of the Holy Spirit, we are able to see who He is and we are able to know His love.
Love is not just a feeling. It's an action. It's something that we actively do. Jesus demonstrated His love for us by dying on the cross, a punishment we rightly deserved, in order to take away our sins.
"God is Love"
We hear that so much that it has somewhat lost it's true meaning. Often we hear it said by people defending their sin. It's used as a rebuttal or stance that we (believers) cannot judge a person based on how they live their life or who they claim to be and we must love them, according to their standard of love, because "God is love". This is taking the Bible verse grossly out of context!
The verse is...
"But anyone who does not love does not know God, for God is love." - 1 John 4:8
What John was writing was actually meant for fellow believers, not unbelievers (who often are the ones misquoting this verse).
My Bible commentary sums it up perfectly:
"Love comes from God, so those who demonstrate love show they have fellowship with Him. The inverse is also true. The person who does not demonstrate love does not know God. John has already highlighted this message in previous chapters. However, the emphasis in this section is that God is love. Love is essential to Christian living because it is an essential part of God's identity.
This love includes God's creation of all things (Genesis 1—2), sustaining all things (Colossians 1:16–17), and redeeming believers through His Son Jesus (1 John 4:9). God is love, and He serves as the creator and sustainer of love in our world. Empowered by Jesus, we can experience God's love and share it with others through our lives.
Jesus is not telling believers "feel about other people the way I do." Nor is He demanding we be sinlessly, infallibly perfect. Rather, our love needs to echo the character of Christ's love. This involves two main ideas.
First, we should realize the "love" Jesus speaks of is practical, not emotional. We don't need to "feel warm thoughts" for others, but we do need to act lovingly towards them, even when they're hostile to us (Romans 12:17–21; Matthew 5:43–48). When this evening of discussion and teaching began, Jesus initiated it with an act of love: washing the feet of the disciples (John 13:3–5). Affection will sometimes grow as we serve others. But, even when it doesn't, the command to "love" remains.
Second, we are meant to echo the nature of Christ's love. This means humility (John 13:6), sacrifice (John 15:13), and service (John 13:35). Our approach to others, especially between fellow Christians (1 John 4:20–21), should be characterized by those traits. The idea of laying down one's life, stated in the next verse, means something more constant than a single act."
Commentary from BibleRef.com
If you're reading this and you haven't given your life to Jesus, my prayer is that you will come to know the TRUE agape love of Christ by repenting of your sins, accepting Jesus as your Lord and Savior and surrendering your ways for His.