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Kevin
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July 10, 2024
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Common Questions
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The English word “love” means something different to everyone. We all have other people in our lives: family, friends, coworkers, partners, and mentors. And we all have different kinds of feelings towards these people: love and affection, respect, and gratitude. One kind of love—agape love—means selfless love.
Unlike the usual kind of love you would feel for a partner, family member, or friend, agape is more like an enlightened feeling of devotion and concern for everyone around you. It’s an unconditional love that isn’t based on emotion but on letting go of negative feelings and focusing on empathy for others instead.
So what does agape mean exactly? How do you pronounce it? What are some examples of using the word agape in a sentence? This article will answer all those questions and more about this Greek-inspired term for selfless love.
What Is Agape Love?
Agape is a Greek word that means unconditional, selfless love. It’s the highest form of love. Agape describes a type of love that’s not dependent on how others treat you and doesn’t depend on circumstances or feelings. It’s the kind of love celebrated on occasions like Easter, Good Friday, and Eucharist.
Agape is sacrificial, enduring, and unconditional—it’s about giving without expecting anything in return. The most important thing about agape love is that it doesn’t have to be earned or deserved; it’s simply given from one person to another freely and unconditionally out of pure generosity.
Agape is pronounced ah-gah-pay. The word is derived from the Ancient Greek agapē, agape, and agapao, which have a similar meaning and was used in Ancient Greece as a form of greeting. Agape is also used as a noun or adjective to describe the Christian concept of love of God, displayed by Jesus Christ in the Bible.
This type of love is unconditional; it doesn’t matter what the person does or says or how they act toward us. We still care about them and want their needs met because they are worth loving no matter what they do (or don’t do).
Agape is also selfless; we don’t expect anything back from them except maybe some gratitude in return. We give our time, energy, and efforts freely without any expectation that they’ll repay us with something else down the road (like money or sex… but those aren’t bad things either!).
Finally, agape means sacrificial; when we show our agape for another person by doing something nice for them without expecting anything in return, then it might cost us something personally like time or money. However, this sacrifice makes our hearts feel good, so it seems worth it!
Different Types of Love in the Greek Language
In the Ancient Greek language, there were many words for love, known as the four loves. Understanding these words can help to differentiate between agape and other kinds.
Here are the four main types of love:
- Storge: This is the least intense definition of love—it’s what you would feel toward your pet or child. It’s also affection between friends or family members with no sexual component involved (for example, when you’re in high school).
- Philia or Phileo: This means brotherly love. It describes a friendship that doesn’t necessarily involve any physical attraction or desire for something from each other—just mutual respect and support from each other at all times regardless of circumstance (and sometimes even regardless of if one party has changed significantly over time).
- Eros: This is best known as romantic love. This kind of love occurs between two people who love each other romantically, and it is typically used when describing a relationship where the pet has an explicitly physical or sexual component.
- Agape: This is best seen as the ideal and most potent type of love: sacrificial love, God’s love, and true Christian love. This is the kind of love that much of the Bible talks about, especially in the early Christian church in the New Testament books of the Bible like Romans, Galatians, 1 Corinthians 13, and Ephesians.
What Does Unconditional Really Mean?
If you want to use the word “unconditional” accurately, you love someone regardless of who they are and what they do. It’s a love that does not change how people treat or feel about you. It is a love that does not change based on what you do for someone or how much effort and time you put into the relationship.
This type of love can be hard to give at times because it requires us to let go of our expectations and desires for others—which can lead us down dark paths if we’re not careful! But this unconditional love is also one of the most beautiful parts of being human: When we have no expectations, everything becomes possible. When we have no conditions upon which our affections depend, anything can happen (and usually does).
While many people will add conditions and requirements to their love, true unconditional love doesn’t care what is asked of a person. Unconditional love will always love them and sacrifice themselves for them.
This is one of the most challenging things to do, making Jesus and Christianity so unique in their character. Christians will almost always fail to love God and others unconditionally, but the goal is always to love without condition.
Conclusion
The world of communication has grown dramatically in recent years—the Internet, social media, smartphones, and video calls are things most people have access to. Because of this, it’s essential to stay on top of the latest trends and to take advantage of them when you can.
The Word Counter specializes in creating blogs and articles to educate people about language and communication. We focus on providing information that can benefit people of all walks of life, from business owners to educators to casual readers. So if you are interested in learning more about how language works, take a look at the blog today!
Sources:
Love Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
