Love. It's a ubiquitous word tossed around by the vast majority of people without regard to what it means. This is because the English language is unsophisticated when it comes to the use of the word love. But the ancient Greeks had six words (some say 8) to describe various types of love.
Let's have a look at each one.
Eros
Most of us think of romantic love or sexual passion when we use the word love. The Greeks used the word eros to describe a type of love that could place people in imminent danger. This type of love usually meant a loss of control in one's life, the very type that individuals like you and I seek in our relationships.
However, as we have also experienced in our lives, this type of love has smitten us at least once in our lifetime and made us wonder what love really is. We can say without argument that love (eros) is not always a positive experience, because it fails. It can be tough on us and cause us to fall into a deep, long-lasting depression. But even where eros fails, there is another kind of love.
Agape
Agape love is synonymous with a love for everyone, everywhere. Oops! Mot of us don't express this type of love. We have enemies and "frenemies" we just can't like, much less love. I heard a pastor talking about sin once and how to stop it, and he basically said: "Let the Holy Spirit convict you and deal with it in His time. I'm spending most of my time trying to love everyone as I love myself."
Wise words, right?
Interestingly enough, we derive the word charity from agape when translated into the Latin word caritas. Unfortunately, as the world in which we live grows colder in heart, charity and love for everyone is in short supply. We should strive to love one another.
Philia
Say what? This Greek word for love is rather simple. It seems to me that each of us demonstrated this kind of love. It is the love that profound friendship we share with others through loyalty. We also make sacrifices for these friends by putting their needs before ours at times.
Take a look at your social media accounts. Do you have 5,000 friends on Facebook, Twitter, Gab. Instagram, or others? Well, logic dictates that while they may be "friends," you likely have never met most of them. There goes philia out the window! Thankfully, we do have friends that are loyal to us and whom we are loyal to. And then there is One is sticks closer to you than a friend: Jesus. Get the idea?
Pragma
This is the type of love most of us seek. Pragma is a mature love that lasts a very, very long time, like we observe between couples who have been together for 25 years and more.
This kind of love not only sacrifices for the other person in one's life, but additionally a real love given to another. It is a love of action. Relationships fall apart because of a lack of pragma. Pragma in action exhibits patience, compromise and exceptional tolerance for another person. Do you have it in you?
Ludus
Aha! We all have this one on our side. Finally! This is the type of love showed to others when we're kicking back with friends and having a good time eating, bonding, partying, playing and having a good time.
It's also the kind of love that teenagers exhibit when they are dating or going steady. In short, if you want a better picture of ludus as a form of love, look no further than kids playing together gleefully.
Philautia
Roh-roh! We all have too much of this one. Way too much. Philautia is a love for oneself. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but for many it surely is.
We already know we love ourselves. But wait you say, I hate myself! No, you hate your circumstances. If you truly hated yourself, you wouldn't care. Simple logic.
Far too often we focus on self rather than others. We want this, we buy that, we neglect the needs of others to fulfil our desires. That's narcissism! We should strive to avoid this and aim for a love that is capable of loving others. The proper amount of self-love allows us to love others.
We see from above we have a lot of work to do in our lives in order to love properly. Let's get started.
Good 😌