Six Loves, One Heart

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Short Summary
The discourse reflects on the biblical call to love sincerely and intensely from a pure heart, as outlined by Peter. It explores six Greek words for love—Eros (passionate love), Storge (family love), Pragma (enduring love), Philotera (healthy self-love), Philia (friendship love), and Agape (selfless divine love)—emphasizing that pure, God-centered love transforms relationships and reflects divine grace. The speaker stresses that true love requires a heart purified by truth, enabling love to be healing, enduring, and selfless rather than selfish or manipulative.

Long Summary
Introduction and Setting
– The speaker expresses a warm feeling of returning home and being among family, emphasizing shared hope and joy.
– Reflects on a visit about a year ago with friends Tim and Dawn, where a conversation turned to Jesus and His teaching about love.
– Key verse that impacted the speaker: Jesus’ statement in Gethsemane, “By this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves.”
– This verse was both beautiful and challenging, prompting deep reflection on what true Christian love means—loving purposefully, clearly, and with strength, not blindly or naively.
– Both the speaker and Tim independently developed similar ideas about love over the year, culminating in aligned themes for their respective conventions, suggesting spiritual guidance.

Theme Verse and Peter’s Three Steps of Love
– The main Bible passage referenced is from 1 Peter:
“Now that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls, to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.”
– Peter’s three steps toward Godly love:
1. Obey the truth (purifies the soul)
2. Love brothers and sisters sincerely
3. Love intensely from a pure heart
– Emphasizes loving “intensely” and “purely” as key to Christian love.

Exploring Six Greek Words for Love—“Six Loves, One Heart”
– The speaker explains that Greek has multiple words for different kinds or layers of love, each bringing believers closer to the intense, pure love Peter calls for.

1. Eros (Passionate Love)
– Root of the English word “erotic,” but more than physical attraction.
– Represents the spark, attraction, thrill, and deep connection in marriage or covenant relationships.
– Quoted Song of Songs 3:4: “I found the one my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go.”
– When pure, eros is faithful, honest, respectful, joyful, and spiritually connected.
– God designed attraction as sacred, not shameful.

2. Storge (Family Love)
– Natural, instinctive love between parents, children, siblings.
– Scripture cited: Exodus 20:12, “Honor your father and your mother.”
– Recognizes family love can be complicated, hurtful, and burdened by selfishness.
– Purified storge leads to forgiveness, loyalty, belonging, and healing.
– Challenges believers to see family members as gifts, not just relatives.
– Places where God can do deep work turning wounds into grace.

3. Pragma (Enduring Love)
– Practical, committed love that perseveres through time and difficulties.
– Quoted 1 Corinthians 13:7: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
– Built by choice, grace, and continual examination of motives.
– Love as a decision, not just a feeling.
– Requires a pure heart to avoid selfish motivations.

4. Phila (Healthy Self-Love)
– Jesus’ command to “love your neighbor as yourself” (Leviticus 19:18).
– Not selfish pride but peace and acceptance of oneself as God’s creation.
– Healthy self-love involves setting boundaries, releasing shame, embracing forgiveness.
– Pure heart balances humility and self-care for overall well-being.
– Only from healthy self-love can genuine love for others flow.
– Self-love from a pure heart is God-centered, not self-centered.

5. Philia (Friendship Love)
– Love between friends, teammates, spiritual siblings.
– Proverbs 17:17: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
– Characterized by honesty, loyalty, benevolence, reliability.
– True friendship includes speaking uncomfortable truths out of care.
– John 13:35: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
– Early church’s radical Philia crossed social and ethnic boundaries.
– 1 Thessalonians 3:12: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…”
– Philia uplifts and serves, not competes or manipulates.

6. Agape (Selfless, Divine Love)
– The highest form of love; God’s love that gives first, expects nothing in return.
– 1 John 3:1: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us…”
– Flows only from a pure, cleansed heart, fruit of the Spirit.
– Evident in forgiveness of enemies, blessing the undeserving, sacrificial love.
– Cannot be produced by human willpower alone.
– Contrasts with Philia:
– Philia stands with you because of belonging;
– Agape stands for you even if opposed.
– Agape gives even when it hurts.
– This love changes hearts, not arguments or pressure.

The Necessity of a Pure Heart
– Without purity, love becomes distorted:
– Passion becomes lust
– Family love becomes control
– Endurance becomes bitterness
– Self-love becomes ego
– Friendship becomes flattery
– Agape may turn into mere performance
– A pure heart is not perfect but cleansed, examined, and willing to release pride, shame, resentment.
– Purity enables love to be healing, freeing, and reflective of God’s own heart.
– Peter’s call is not just to feel more love but to be purified so love can grow deep and true.

Closing Summary and Call
– The journey of love is from initial attraction (Eros) to divine sacrifice (Agape).
– It progresses step-by-step: attraction → affection → loyalty → sacrifice.
– The speaker encourages letting God shape the heart so love grows pure and intense.
– Ends with a blessing and thanks.

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### Key Bible Verses Mentioned
– John 13:35: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another.”
– Song of Songs 3:4: “I found the one my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go.”
– Exodus 20:12: “Honor your father and your mother.”
– 1 Corinthians 13:7: “Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”
– Leviticus 19:18: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
– Proverbs 17:17: “A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.”
– 1 Thessalonians 3:12: “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else…”
– 1 John 3:1: “See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God.”

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### Summary Keywords
– Christian love, Six Greek loves, Eros, Storge, Pragma, Phila, Philia, Agape
– Pure heart, Obedience to truth, Divine love, Friendship, Family love, Endurance, Healthy self-love
– Jesus’ command, Peter’s teaching, Fruit of the Spirit, Forgiveness, Sacrificial love, Spiritual growth, God’s heart, Love challenges, Healing love

Transcript

Good morning, dear brethren.

Being here feels like a return not just to a place, but to a family. A shared hope, a deep joy. Thank you for welcoming us so warmly. It’s good to be home.

About a year ago, at the end of May, beginning of June, we had a visitor. Someone many of you know. Tim and dawn, of course. Grupa, Tim and I sat down together and talked as we often do. At some point the conversation turned, as it sometimes does, to Jesus.

Specifically to that moment in Gethsemane when Jesus says something by this all will know that you are my disciples if you have love among yourselves. That hit me hard.

Not just the beauty of it, but its challenge. I had tried to give love honestly, deeply, and received not quite what I had hoped. It shook me, but it also sharpened something in me. It made me reflect. What kind of love is this that Jesus speaks of?

What does it mean to keep loving, not blindly, not naively, but with purpose, clarity and strength?

I started writing just for myself. What I didn’t know Tim was doing the same. One year later, we talked again. He mentioned his topic for the 2024 General Convention. I mentioned mine for the French German Convention last December.

And we just stared at each other. Different places, different timelines.

Yeah, same direction. We hadn’t coordinated. We hadn’t even shared our notes. But our hearts had been working in sync. As we like to say when something is very clearly not a coincidence.

All similarities are purely coincidental. Or maybe spirit guided.

Now I’m a teacher, and as every teacher will tell you, repetition is good. If we hear something twice, maybe someone wants you to really hear it. So when I saw this year’s theme verse, I smiled. The thoughts were already there. Yes, that fits.

Now that feeling of coming home leads me right into the heart of this message.

Now that you have obeyed the truth and have purified your souls, to love your brothers sincerely, you must love one another intensely and with a pure heart.

Peter gives us three steps towards the kind of love God wants us to live. Obey the truth. That’s what purifies us. Love our brothers and sisters sincerely. 3.

Go even deeper. Love intensely from a pure heart. What does that kind of love look like?

In a world full of mixed messages about love, the Bible invites us to explore it in layers. The Greek language gives us multiple words for love, each describing a unique flavor, and I want to walk you through six of them today, each one a step closer to that intense, pure hearted love Peter speaks of.

Let me say it this way.

Six loves, one heart.

Let’s begin.

Love Number one Eros. Passionate love. We know this word from erotic, but real Eros isn’t just physical. It’s the spark, the attraction, the thrill of falling in love. It’s what happened when we fell in love with our spouse.

It celebrates beauty, chemistry, desire, and it belongs in a covenant relationship.

I found the one my soul loves. I held him and would not let him go. Song of songs 3, 4.

In its deepest form, Eros is more than physical attraction. When it comes from a pure heart, it is not selfish, but characterized by mutual respect, devotion and spiritual connection. It is faithful and honest. It honors the other person, sees into it and gives with joy.

Isn’t it beautiful how God designed attraction not as something shameful, but it’s something sacred. When it’s rooted in love and commitment, it becomes a reflection of divine joy.

Love number two. Storger Family love. This is the love of parents, for children, of siblings, for each other.

It is steady, instinctive, protective. Honor your father and your mother. Exodus 20:12 Storge can be complicated. Families hurt each other. But when we purify our hearts with God’s truth, storga becomes healing.

It teaches forgiveness, loyalty and belonging. Even family love can be burdened by selfish expectations or hurt feelings. Only when we allow God’s word to examine and heal our hearts can we love our family with pure intentions, without blame, bitterness or pride.

When was the last time you saw someone in your family? Not just as a relative, but as a gift.

Sometimes the hardest people to love are those we live with. But maybe that’s exactly where God wants to do his deepest work, turning like old wounds into new grace.

Love number three Pragma Enduring love.

Pragma is practical love, the love that sticks, that keeps showing up.

The kind you see in couples married for decades or in class members who stay faithful through thick and thin. Who among you has been married long enough to confirm this?

Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. 1 Corinthians 13:7. This love doesn’t happen overnight. It is built, chosen, watered with grace. Enduring love is often challenged by everyday life, conflicts or routine.

It can only come from a pure heart if we continually examine our motives.

Am I serving in order to receive something in return?

Or do I love God? Or do I love because God has entrusted this person to me?

Pragma needs a pure heart because it doesn’t always feel like love. But is this love in its most reliable form?

If love were only a feeling, none of us would make it through hard times. But pragma proves that love is also a decision, a commitment to stay even when it’s hard.

Love Number four Philotera Healthy Self Love Jesus said, love your neighbor as yourself. Leviticus 19:18 not instead of yourself as yourself.

Phila isn’t pride, it’s peace with who God made you. It means setting healthy boundaries, letting go of shame, receiving forgiveness.

The pure heart doesn’t puff itself up, but neither does it put itself down.

Healthy self love from a Christian perspective can be understood as self acceptance and appreciation. It is not based on selfishness or egotism, but on the realization that we as God’s creatures are valuable and unique.

It is a balance between self care and humility that promotes both physical and mental well being without neglecting the needs of others.

Only when we love ourselves in a healthy way can we treat those around us with genuine love and reflect God’s love for us. A pure heart means not seeing ourselves as the center of attention, but as loved and called by God. Healthy self love from a pure heart means respecting myself because God created me, not because I am perfect in myself.

When you know you are loved by God, you can love others from a healthy place.

Self love from a pure heart is not self centered. It’s God centered. It’s trusting that God doesn’t make mistakes, and that includes the person you see in the mirror.

Love Number five Philia Friendship Love. This is the love between friends, between teammates, between spiritual siblings.

A friend loves at all times and the brother is born for adversity. Proverbs 17:17 Friendship from a pure heart does not seek its own advantage, but it’s honest, but is honest, benevolent and reliable. It serves rather than manipulates. The pure heart can endure true friendship, even if it means uncomfortable truths or correction.

By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another. John 30:35 Philia is loyal, honest. It can tell the truth. In love it makes you laugh, cry and grow.

In the early church, this love was radical, crossing lines of status, race and background. From a pure heart, Philia is unshakable. It doesn’t compete, it lifts up.

May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. 1 Thessalonians 3:12 True friendship says, I’ll tell you the truth even when it’s hard, because I care too much to stay silent. That kind of honesty is rare, but from a pure heart it’s priceless.

Love Number six Agape Selfless Divine Love this is the love of God, the love that goes first that gives with no expectation.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us that we should be called children of God. 1 John 3:1.

Agape can only flow from a pure heart. A heart that has been cleansed by God.

This love cannot be attained through our own efforts. But it’s the fruit of the Spirit. It becomes visible when we show love to those who cannot give anything back to us.

Agape is the final step. But it’s also the source.

You and I can’t produce it by willpower. It’s the fruit of a purified self shaped by obedience to truth.

It is the love Jesus showed at the cross. The love that forgives enemies, that blesses the underserving.

Agape doesn’t wait to be loved first. It loves because it’s who God is. That’s what changes hearts. Not arguments, not pressure, just pure, persistent love.

When I reflected on those two loves, I found it very interesting to compare them, to understand them better. Let’s see. Philia is deep friendship, love, honest, loyal, committed. But Agapa goes even further. Philia says, I stand with you because we belong together.

Agape says, I stand for you even if you stand against me.

Philia gives because it loves.

Agape gives even when it hurts. This is what God poured into our hearts through the spirit. This is what Peter calls us to. Intense, pure hearted, divine love.

Without purity, love becomes distorted. It might still look like love, but it becomes manipulative, selfish, dependent. It demands, it controls, it breaks.

A pure heart doesn’t mean a perfect heart. It means a cleansed heart. A heart that has been willing to be examined by God’s truth. A heart that lets go of pride, shame, resentment to make room for love.

Why do we need a pure heart? Because without it, even the best intentions can turn toxic.

Passion without purity becomes lust, family. Love without purity becomes control. Endurance without purity becomes bitterness, self. Love without purity becomes ego. Friendship without purity becomes flattery.

Without purity. What looks like Agapa may be, may just be performance.

But when love flows from a pure heart, it becomes healing, it becomes freedom. It becomes God’s own heart, so to say, visible in us.

Peter doesn’t call us to feel more love. He calls us to be purified so that love can grow deep, true, enduring. That’s why the heart matters.

Peter says, obey the truth, be purified. Love your brethren sincerely.

Then go further. Love intensely and with a pure heart.

That’s the journey from attraction to affection, from loyalty, to sacrifice. One step at a time.

Six loves, one heart. Let God shape it. Let love grow let it be pure. May the Lord add his blessings. Thank you.

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