Part I
Agape is an ancient Greek word for Love. There are many types of love; with Agape being the most exceptional kind of love. The meaning of Agape love is unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial affection. It is the kind of love that does not expect anything in return, does not discriminate based on relations, and reaches out to both the worthy and unworthy people. The best example to show the actual meaning of Agape love is the kind of Love Jesus portrays in all His deeds. Christ extended his affections and concern to all people regardless of their background and social status. He loved people whether they were believers or not and His followers or not, among others. Jesus, among other deeds, did the following without favoring any particular side or person: healed the sick, fed a crowd of five thousand men, forgave all those who wronged Him, blessed people, and taught people.
Part II
According to I Corinthians 13:4-7 , love is portrayed in many ways (Wesley, 1989). According to the Bible, love shows acts of kindness and practices patience. In regards to the above statement,
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love is patient in all situations, even when we feel incredibly agitated
Someone who loves you will always do the following:
show perseverance in both good and bad times
protect you from all bad things
trust you
be truthful
give you hope even in times of despair
If we practice the above qualities indiscriminately, then we practice the act of true love.
On the other hand, we have deeds that love does not do, and, thus, discourages.
Love is selflessness
. Thus, a person who practices love
does not keep a list of injustices done to them
is not annoyed easily.
does not rejoice in evil deeds
does not take pride in dishonoring others
Ultimately, the exercising of true affection does not dishonor other people.
There are a few intriguing observations from the two lists on qualities of love in I Corinthians 13:4-7. First is that love is pure and there cannot be a balance between doing good and evil to our neighbors (American Bible Society, 1986). Love does not have an option of harming others, under any circumstances. The second observation is that for every action love does, there is an opposite of the same action that love does not do. Thirdly, in the spirit of loving we should not rejoice in other people’s misfortunes, however undeserving they are in our opinion.
The love between a mother and her child is a good example displaying some of the traits of love. A child will always love their mother regardless of multiple wrongdoings or how many times the mother has scolded them. Similarly, a mother loves her child unconditionally regardless of how many times the child has done wrong. In this example, it is clear that both the mother and the child do not keep a record of wrongs done to them, by each other.
Part III
I have discovered that I still need to work on a few characters about myself to be more loving to people around me. Mainly, I need to put an effort on my patience level as this is one attribute of true love. Once I learn to be more patient with other individuals, I will be a step closer to fully embracing love as defined in the bible.
Prayer
Dear Lord, I pray that you may give me the strength and serenity to be a more loving person. Enable me to be a more persevering person and to show more patience with other people even when the situations are hard. I pray that you may also grant me a forgiving heart to all those who do me wrong. Grant me the grace to follow your word. Amen.
Part IV
The two people in my life who have shown me the meaning of love are my mother and my father. My parents’ unconditional and endless sacrifices for my well-being show a real picture of love according to the passage in reference. I wish to follow in their footsteps of showing unconditional love to both family and strangers as I grow. Reflecting on my life and the people I interact with daily, I need to do better and try harder to have the same impact my parents’ lives have on me. I am a good role model to some extent but need to be better.
In the spirit of practicing agape love, I will need to improve on a few things. The first thing is to practice equality while treating others, second is to embrace the act of forgiving and forgetting past injustices, and the third is to exercise patience in all my doings.
References
American Bible Society. (1986). The Holy Bible: Containing the Old and New Testaments ; translated out of the original tongues and with the former translations diligently compared and revised . New York: Author.
Wesley, W. R. (1989). I Corinthians (p. 68). Victor Books.
