The Power of Integrity: Building a Life Without Compromise, page 133.

The apostle John writes, “God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him” ( 1 John 4:16 )”. However, the New Testament declares agape to be the character trait around which all others revolve. That’s because the traits Agape portrays-unselfishness, self-giving, willful devotion, concern for the welfare of others-were mostly disdained in ancient Greek culture as signs of weakness. Yet that type of love was rare in pagan Greek literature. John MacArthur explains, “ Agape love is the greatest virtue of the Christian life. It is a sacrificial love that willingly suffers inconvenience, affliction, and even death for the benefit of another without expecting anything in return. ‘ Agape‘ love, in the context of scriptures, is not a feeling but an action. Eros: refers to romantic, sexual love, or passionate love, such as in a marriage relationship.Storge: Refers to a ‘familial love’ or an in-depth family relationship such as between a parent and children.Phileo: Refers to friendships or family relationships and is often translated to ‘brotherly love’ in English.

To better understand “Agape” as used in the New Testament, we also need to briefly understand the other types of love in Greek (note: there are a few more in Greek not listed below). Two main types of love are described in the New Testament (Phileo and Agape), whereas in English, different kinds of love are expressed using the single word ‘love‘. Love is a central theme in the Bible, and it is essential to understand what it means.

What does agape means