Stages of love

Alright, let’s kick off with some “Love” definitions shall we? Many probably have heard of these four kinds of love before, in sermons, group discussions and love-related activities and will find this rubber stamp already but I’ll still do it and present it in a way I haven’t before.

Agape – Selfless, sacrificial love, unconditional, in which nothing is asked or expected in return. The kind of “Love” Christ exemplified on the cross, dying for the forgiveness of our sins, us, who are nothing, us, who can never give anything back in return to equal that. It’s the kind of love we all must pursue, the kind of love we show when we share the gospel to others, when we love our brothers and sisters.

So you’ve loved a brother or a sister with Christ’s love and then come friendship…

Philia – Friendship love, another selfless kind of affection for another human being. Brother to brother, sister to sister or towards the opposite gender. Friendship that could grow into something deeper if nourished with a friend of the other sex. Something I believe great relationships can develop from.

And from friendship you bond and then unintentionally romance blossoms…

Eros – Desire for physical love and affection. Though it’s motivated by need and often related to sex, it’s more than physical gratification, it involves emotion as well. This drives us to want physical intimacy and nothing wrong with that until you’ve gone farther than you should (pre-marital sex).

So before you make that mistake, you know what you have to do next…yes, marriage.

Storge (stor-gay) – Familial love, the relationship between parents and children or siblings; where, once again, we love unconditionally.

And all four make up a good foundation for all love-relationships that should only have one end goal; marriage, family.