9th Day – Love, love, love…

In ancient Greek, the word love had three meanings: éros – which was used to describe sensual desire, philía – used for friendship or affection, and agápe – used to describe the love of God.

But in Hebrew, the word love, ahava, has nothing to do with emotion. In the original texts of the Old Testament, the word love had to do with an attitude of faith. It was used to describe the permanent, unconditional surrender of a person’s life to the one they love, without the right to divorce. Difficult? It’s only difficult when love involves emotions of the heart.

And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength…and…You shall love your neighbor as yourself. Mark 12.30-31

The love mentioned in the first two commandments of God’s Law has nothing to do with the kind of love mentioned in ancient Greek writings. The original texts of the New Testament were written in Greek, but the love they refer to preserves the same spirit of the original Hebrew texts of the Old Testament.

If we treat love as a feeling of the heart, as suggested by ancient Greek texts, it would be impossible to love an Invisible Being, since the heart needs to see in order to feel. Does that make sense?

The ahava that was required by the law of God has to do with absolute conviction. That is, faith. Like the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen, practical faith leads a person to surrender to an Invisible and Unknown Being. This offering transcends the emotions of the heart, no matter how profound they may be, because it has to do with reason.

Abraham believed in God, and his belief in that Voice was enough to make him act on it. Because of this, he was considered righteous and sinless before God, to the degree that he was called the friend of God. James 2.23

This is the love that the Creator expects from those He created.