Agape love is the unconditional, self-sacrificial love that comes from God himself. It’s the highest form of love in the Bible, because it isn’t based on the worthiness of the person being loved but on the goodness of the one who loves. God showed agape love most clearly at the cross, and he calls his followers to love others the same way.
The Greek Words for Love
English has one word for love. We love pizza, our dog, our spouse, and God, all with the same word. The Greek language of the New Testament world was more precise. It had several words for different kinds of love, including agape (selfless, committed love), eros (romantic love), philia (the love between friends), and storge (family affection). Understanding these words helps us see what the Bible means when it talks about love.
Of these, agape is the one the New Testament uses most, especially to describe God.
1 John 4:7-8 Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Agape isn’t merely something God does. It’s who he is. Every good thing he does flows from that love.
Agape Love Is Shown in Action
Agape love is never just a feeling. It always shows up in action, and God’s love is displayed most clearly at the cross.
1 John 4:9-10 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
God didn’t wait for us to become lovable. He loved us first and gave his Son for us. Agape is rooted in the goodness of the giver, not the worthiness of the receiver. That’s what makes the gospel such good news. Paul’s famous description of love in 1 Corinthians 13 is really a description of agape in action: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud” (1 Corinthians 13:4).
Jesus and Peter
One of the most moving conversations in the Bible shows the difference between kinds of love. After Peter denied Jesus three times, Jesus asked him three times, “Do you love me?” (John 21:15-17). In the original Greek, Jesus’ first two questions use the word for agape, while Peter answers with the word for philia, the love of a friend. The third time, Jesus meets Peter where he is and uses Peter’s word.
Peter was humbled. He no longer trusted his own ability to love perfectly. But Jesus restored him anyway and gave him a mission: “Feed my sheep.” Agape love doesn’t give up on people. It restores them.
Loving Others With Agape
God’s love isn’t meant to stop with us. Jesus said, “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends” (John 15:12-13).
1 John 4:11-12 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.
No one has ever seen God, but when Christians love each other sacrificially, people get a glimpse of what he’s like. “We love because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). As we receive his love, we become able to give it away, even to people who are hard to love.
The Takeaway
Agape love is the unconditional, self-sacrificial love that defines God. He showed it at the cross while we were still sinners, and he calls us to love others the same way. When we do, the invisible God becomes visible to the world.
