Agape is Greek for love, and why do I choose love?
These few days, I have been busying myself in English Language Society's Valentine Day's Sale, hence the thoughts about love.
In addition to that, one of my great friend, Anne (http://paradoxicallysadistic.blogspot.com) is now in love, in which this love differs from others. She has finally received sincere love. Congrats!
But seriously, why love?
I believe that love is the greatest thing on earth. Even the bible agrees to it. In 1st Corinthians 13:13, it is said that:
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
The whole Chapter 13 is about love, where it is said:
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.
And it is said:
If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.
Further on:
If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
These are from the same chapter in 1st Corinthians. It is shown that love enriches mankind, love is valuable.
Love simply is the greatest thing on earth. It is the thing that links each and everyone of us together, it is the thing that protects the family, the nation, planet Earth etc. Love transcends all kinds of life, and all walks of life.
Love begets peace, love bring harmony.
What defines a pure love in this chapter? Well, it is said that:
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
However, it is a shame that many people do not comprehend and fathom the definition of love, and even more people do not appreciate love and spread this greatest gift from Him. There are prejudice, envy, war, hatred and more, which resulted from this lacking of gift.
Now, how does it relates to Constantly Varying Theme, which is the permanent theme for this blog?
Love constantly varies. Love is varied, from paternal/maternal love, to family love, to friendship love, to romantic love, and then there is love to the alma mater, love to the nation, love to certain things (pet? food? superstar?) until obsession, and even love to life. But one thing is for sure: it is there, and it is constant.
Some love constantly varies due to certain surrounding factors. For example, a romantic relationship may go bland because of distance or silence, or the contrary. It just varies.
With this, I bring to you: Agape, constantly varying through the greatest thing on earth.
Hereby I shall include two appendixes, one is the Chapter 13 in 1st Corinthians in the New International Version of the Bible, and the other is the video that introduces me to this chapter in the bible.
1 Corinthians 13
1 If I speak in the tongues[a] of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal. 2 If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing. 3 If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast,[b] but do not have love, I gain nothing.
4 Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. 5 It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. 6 Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. 7 It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.
8 Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. 9 For we know in part and we prophesy in part, 10 but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. 11When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. 12 For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
13 And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
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