What are the types of love in the Bible?

By: Melanie Moore

February is here -- the month of love! It's hard to escape it right now, isn't it? Everywhere I look there are pink and red decorations, hearts galore, and so much chocolate! I'm not opposed to any of that, especially the chocolate!

I enjoy watching clean romantic movies and reading wholesome, sweet books with a romantic plot. I also know that unfortunately, much of what society throws at us in the form of romance certainly does not align with God's definition of love.

... which brought me to a question that I wanted to understand the answer to -- what is God's definition of love?

We know that God is love, and that the Gospel ultimately tells the beautiful love story that God loved the world so much that he gave His only son so that we might not perish but have everlasting life! The Bible has much to say on the subject of love so I decided to dig into the types of love mentioned in the Bible. 

Storge Love “Familial Affection”

The first type of love I discovered is called "storge" love and is used to describe the type of love that exists between family members, friends, or companions. If you think about the love a mother has for her child, this would be a beautiful example of storge love. As a mother myself, I know the deepness of that love and the power it holds. Likewise, we are called children of God, and he loves us with a powerful, everlasting love!

Philia Love “Friendship”

The next type of love I discovered is called "philia" love which is a friendship type of love that exists between people. This might sound familiar -- the city "Philadelphia" is nicknamed the "city of brotherly love"! Think of those deep, meaningful friendships that you have, and those are types of philia love. One example of this in the Bible is the love between David and Jonathan.

Eros Love “Passion”

The next type of love is "eros" love and is probably the type of love that most of us think about during Valentine's Day. This type of love describes the romantic love between husband and wife. Though often misused and misrepresented, God created this love to be honored during a marriage relationship. The entire book of Song of Solomon dedicated to eros love.

Agape Love “Charity”

Last, but certainly not least, is "agape" love. This beautiful type of love is the highest, most complete form of affection. It can be described as an everlasting and sacrificial form of love, and is mentioned the most of any type of love in the Bible. This is the type of love that God has for the world and wants us as Christ followers to demonstrate to those around us.

I hope you found this article helpful in thinking about the different types of love in the Bible. Can you think of an example of each type in your life? Next, we will dig in more to how we can show agape love to God, others, and even to our enemies! I hope you'll share your thoughts below and come back to read the next article in this series next week!