What is agape love in marriage

To fret and fume and work myself into the teary-eyed mess that met him at the door with harsh words and accusations. I effectively pushed my tired and defeated husband further away, adding crack after crack to his breaking heart. And yes, his heart was breaking, as much as mine was: I was just too caught up in my own emotional tsunami to notice.

I was convinced he was the problem, and so, rather than turning to God for wisdom, rather than searching my heart for my part, I ranted.

And complained. And begged God to change him, to make him into everything I needed. This went on for some time, each of us erecting stronger walls to hide behind, filtering every conversation through a mountain of hurt and distrust, while our marriage continued to disintegrate. Until one day, one sentence, spoken by a courageous Bible study leader and friend, sliced through my sense of entitlement. By this point, I had developed a me-against-my-husband mentality as I, daily, fought to get my needs met.

If you love in this way, your marriage will never fail as well. Series » Dealing with Divorce. Print Save for later. Love and Marriage. By: Mike Mazzalongo. December, In the final lesson of this series, Mike discusses the various types of love that we express and focuses on the type of love necessary to make a marriage last a lifetime.

YouTube Prime Vimeo. Download Video. Understanding Love I never met a couple who wanted their love to last only a little while. Sex is stimulated by our need for gratification by the other. Friendship is based on things we share.

Family is produced by adding another. The source of love is not sex, friends or family - God is the source.

The Kind of Love Expressed by God When the New Testament writers began to describe God's love for man in Christ, they introduced an obscure word that was rarely used in Greek literature: the word "agape.

For example: Agape love is not stimulated by self-gratification, intimacy, beauty or shared interests. It is produced by a response of obedience towards God. He says, "Love your neighbor" and we do this as an act of obedience, not because our neighbor is nice, or shares our skin color or interests.

Our neighbor has nothing to do with our loving him. Our love for him is based on our obedience to God. Just as Jesus' death for us was not based on our loveliness or worthiness, but rather on His response of obedience to the Father Jesus loved [agape] the Father and so He obeyed until death. Agape love begins with an act of our will, not a feeling in our flesh. We can love those who are unlovable, those with whom we have little in common, those who don't want or deserve our love because we decide to do it, and not because we feel like it.

Human love pleases man and is for man's pleasure. Agape love pleases both man and God because it injects God into every relationship. When we love as God loves, we become the channel through which God blesses others. Agape Love and Marriage I mentioned before that human love is not the source of love, merely the expression of love.

What Does Agape Look Like? Let us review this passage more closely in order to draw a clearer picture of this kind of love: Agape is patient - Willing to bear another's weakness without complaint, anger or discouragement. Agape is kind - Willing to serve with good acts. You can easily turn on your man by kissing his nape and back.

Start with the nape and go all the way down his back. Begin typing your search term above and press enter to search. Press ESC to cancel. Skip to content Home Philosophy What is agape love in marriage? Ben Davis May 30, What is agape love in marriage? What exactly is unconditional love? How do you know if someone loves you unconditionally? How do you give someone unconditional love? Should you love your spouse unconditionally?

Should you love your spouse more than yourself? We may even be forced to choose Him at the expense of our blood relations see Mark —30 and Luke — The next love, philia , does appear in the New Testament. This love is a product of mutuality of interests, time, insights, vision, and experiences.

Marriage would not be as God designed it without philia. Common interests are often cultivated while dating, but spouses must continue to cultivate them over time to prevent the closeness in the relationship from eroding. Relationships are not unlike the second law of thermodynamics: anything left to itself eventually diminishes; useful energy dissipates into disordered energy. The only way to overcome this is an intentional infusion of ordered energy. Spouses do not need to share all of the same interests that would be boring!

One thing that brought Karen and me together was similar taste a somewhat eclectic one, I admit in music and film. All of these experiences enhance our mutuality, reinforcing every other aspect of our relationship. This is another term used in the New Testament and refers to a love not of emotions or feelings but of the will and of choice. This love is characterized by unselfishness and giving, even to the point of sacrifice.

Marriage is two people each making an unconditional covenant of commitment to an imperfect person. Forgiveness will be necessary, because you will let each other down. Philia — Friendship and companionship, a love of openness that is occupied with common interests and activities disordered form: manipulative relationships, one-upmanship, cliques.