“For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son...” (John 3:16a)
The great writer C.S. Lewis identified four different kinds of love, all but one of which are basically self-centered. First, there’s “affection,” which is the kind of love we can have for something other than people, such as a dog or a home or a car. Then there’s “friendship,” a valuable love in the sense that it’s the basis of most human relationships. Then there’s “erotic” love, which is beautiful between a husband and wife but a mess outside of married love. All of these are wonderful and necessary loves, but each of them depends on the object of our affection for complete fulfillment.
The only love that is completely other-centered is called “agape” love. This is love to the highest order. It’s what Lewis called “Divine Gift-Love.” When we love with agape love we desire the best for the people we love. We are even able to love those who are unlovable.
We are capable of agape love only to the extent that we give the details of our lives over to God and allow Him to work in us. But even before that can happen, we must realize that God loves us, and that He can only love us with this kind of love. God’s love is never self-centered, and God’s love is always sacrificial. While we were enemies of God, He loves us. When we ran from God, He loves us. And He loves us so much that He sacrificed the Son He loved most so that we could experience eternal life.
Love is the essence of God. Love is what motivates Him to do what He does for us -- down to the last detail -- even when we don’t love Him in return. Knowing that should give tremendous meaning to our lives.
-- Bruce Bickel and Stan Jantz in “God Is in the Small Stuff”
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