What is Love? Understanding Christian Charity
Table of Contents
Love Is Not What Society Says It Is
What do you think of when you think of love?
Most people would say that they think of a warm, fuzzy emotion.
Many people would also say that love is unconditionally accepting people as they are without judging how they live.
But is this what love really is?
I mean, is love really just a warm, fuzzy emotion or giving people a free pass to live however they want to live?
No, these things are not love.
Love is neither just an emotion, nor is it an excuse to allow people to hurt themselves and others through sin (as long as you can admonish them without derailing you from your duties in life).
Christians believe in a higher type of selfless, sacrificial love that Christ taught us.
We believe in a higher love called Charity, one of the 3 theological virtues (along with Faith and Hope).
In this article we will discover this higher type of love that Christ taught us.
The Ancient Greeks on Love
To begin, we will start with the Greek definitions of love. Why?
Because the authors of the Septuagint (the Old Testament canon that Christ and the Apostles used) and the New Testament wrote in Greek.
And they used 4 different words for the different kinds of love in the Bible.
Unfortunately, modern translators took all 4 of these words and translated them into one word, “love.”
This has added a lot of confusion because people conflate the different types of love.
Moreover, since the Sacred Scripture is one of the 3 pillars of Christianity, it makes sense to start here.
So what are the 4 types of love in the Bible?
The First Kind of Love in the Bible – Eros
Eros (Pronounced: AIR-ohs) is the first type of love. Eros is the root of the word “erotic.”
It is romantic or sexual love. The authors didn’t use eros in the New Testament at all.
King Solomon uses eros for “love” in Canticle of Canticles 1:1-4 with other erotic language.
Other than that, no author uses eros in the Bible.
So this should go without saying that this isn’t the highest Christian type of love that the New Testament calls us to.
On the other hand, this is the type of love that the world focuses on.
(That, and philautia [Pronounced: FILL-ow-tee-uh], which means “self love” and is not even in the Bible).
This is because the Devil is the king of the world, and he perverts all things to basically be their opposite.
Having the world focused on self-love and disordered erotic love leads souls to Hell, which is what the Devil wants.
And since self-love and disordered erotic love are selfish and pleasurable, the fallen world puts these kinds of loves on a pedestal.
That’s not to say that eros is always bad; no, it can be good when rightly ordered between a married man and his wife.
But the Devil and the sinners of the world often pervert and misuse eros.
The world promotes selfishness, adultery, fornication, sodomy, masturbation, and other perversions of eros.
But as Christians, we are not “of the world” but rather “in the world,” (John 15:19 and John 17:14-16) so let’s move onto the next kind of love.
The Second Kind of Love in the Bible – Storge
Storge (Pronounced: STOR-gay) is the second type of love. This is the love for one’s family.
Love between parents and children, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins all fall under storge.
St. Paul uses storge in Romans 1:31 to refer to those that are without storge.
On the flip side, St. Paul uses storge (in a compound word that includes philia) in Romans 12:10 to illustrate that Christians must love each other like brothers.
Storge, unlike eros, is hard to pervert. One can have storge in a disordered way, though. Let me explain.
God by His very nature is the most loveable, so loving Him must be the highest type of love.
Loving someone less loveable than God is irrational. Therefore, storge cannot be the highest type of love.
Moreover, people that love a family member more than they love God are irrational because of this.
Storge is a good type of love for all Christians, don’t get me wrong.
However, loving God is the highest type of love, and since storge isn’t this, we must move on.
The Third Kind of Love in the Bible – Philia
Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh) is the third type of love. This is the love for one’s friends.
This is usually what most people think of when they think of non-romantic love.
Philia is a general feeling of affection, respect, caring and compassion for others.
Philia also means a brotherly type of love of Christians to each other. This is exemplified when Christ says:
A new commandment I give unto you: That you love one another, as I have loved you, that you also love one another. By this shall all men know that you are my disciples, if you have love one for another.
John 13:34-35
Unlike eros and storge, Biblical authors use philia fairly often.
The writers used philia in Matthew 11:19, Luke 12:4, John 15:13-15, Romans 12:10, 1 Thessalonians 4:9, Hebrews 13:1, James 2:23, James 4:4, 1 Peter 1:22, 1 Peter 3:8, and 2 Peter 1:7.
It should be fairly obvious after reading those passages that the writers were speaking of a friendly or brotherly type of affection.
And like storge, philia is a good kind of love, as long as philia doesn’t lead to loving others above God.
But also like storge, philia still isn’t love of God the most loveable, so it cannot be the highest type of love.
Then what is the highest type of love?
The Fourth Kind of Love in the Bible – Agape aka Charity
Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay) is the fourth, and highest, type of love.
The love directed towards God (and everyone else, for that matter) is agape.
Agape is an unconditional, selfless, and sacrificial form of love.
It is an act of will, instead of mere emotion.
The New Testament uses agape over 200 times, since this is the Christian type of love!
Caritas (Pronounced: CAH-ree-tahs) is the Latin translation of agape.
And charity is the English translation of caritas.
(Some modern versions of the Bible translate “charity” into “love”, but older versions, such as the Douay-Rheims version [which is widely regarded as the most orthodox English translation], keep the word “charity” in many places).
Since agape is the highest type of Christian love I will dedicate the rest of this article explaining it under its English term, charity.
Christian Charity is the Highest Love
Now that we have seen that charity is the type of love that the Bible uses the most, I will need to prove that God commands it.
I will also need to define charity.
Christ commands charity via the two Great Commandments in Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31, and Luke 10:27.
These passages also show that charity is love directed towards God.
St. Paul famously defines charity in 1 Corinthians 13.
Moreover, both John 3:16 and 1 John 3:16 show the sacrificial nature of charity.
In the following sections I will break all of these down to show the true meaning of charity, or love.
The Two Great Commandments
Christ teaches the two Great Commandments in Matthew 22:37-40, Mark 12:29-31, and Luke 10:27.
Christ says:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with thy whole heart, and with thy whole soul, and with thy whole mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. And the second is like to this: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. On these two commandments dependeth the whole law and the prophets.
Matthew 22:37-40
So the first Great Commandment is to love God with every fiber of your being.
And the second Great Commandment is to love everyone else.
This particular kind of love towards God and everyone else is charity.
Since Our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, commands us to love in this way it is necessary for our Salvation.
Remember, Our Lord said we must “Keep His commandments” to attain Salvation (Matthew 19:17, John 14:15, John 15:10).
Without Charity There is No Salvation
You need charity to attain Eternal Life. St. Paul says:
If I speak with the tongues of men, and of angels, and have not charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling cymbal. And if I should have prophecy and should know all mysteries, and all knowledge, and if I should have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and have not charity, I am nothing. And if I should distribute all my goods to feed the poor, and if I should deliver my body to be burned, and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3
St. Paul teaches here that charity, the highest love, is necessary for Salvation.
Even if you have Charisms of the Holy Spirit, St. Paul says they are meaningless without charity.
Sorry Pentecostals – you will not attain Salvation just because you have charisms.
Even if you are strong in faith, there is no Salvation without charity.
Sorry sola fide Protestants – St. Paul says charity is necessary for Salvation in the Bible.
Even if you give up all your wealth and goods to feed the poor and martyr yourself for whatever cause, this will not help you without charity.
Sorry social Marxist progressives – you will not attain Salvation just for helping the poor; you need to do it with love for God.
So St. Paul says we need charity for Salvation. But we still need to know what charity is.
The Properties of Charity
On charity, St. Paul continues:
Charity is patient, is kind: charity envieth not, dealeth not perversely; is not puffed up; Is not ambitious, seeketh not her own, is not provoked to anger, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth with the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things. Charity never falleth away: whether prophecies shall be made void, or tongues shall cease, or knowledge shall be destroyed.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
So charity is patient – meaning that we must bear with our burdens by not getting irrationally angry or upset.
Charity is also kind – meaning that we must be gentle with others.
Now this doesn’t always mean “nice”, since being “nice” means being agreeable, and we cannot agree with sinfulness.
We must, however, tolerate sinners, which is the done through the patience and kindness of charity.
Charity also means that we shouldn’t be envious, which would be breaking the 9th and 10th Commandments regarding coveting.
Charity also means that we do not act rashly, but rather, we should act prudently.
I already spoke against judging rashly and how Christ commands us to prudently admonish the sinner.
Charity is also not arrogant.
Like the Blessed Virgin Mary, we must be humble in our love for God and others (see Luke 1:46-55).
Charity is not ashamed or rude, but again, it is tolerant of sinners, while rightfully hating their sins.
This is because, out of humility, we realize that we are also sinners getting over our sins.
Charity does detest immorality and embraces the Truth, remembering that Our Lord is the Truth (John 14:6).
Charity is also the greatest virtue (1 Corinthians 13:13) to bind all other virtues (Colossians 3:14), and will last after all other virtues have gone.
The Sacrificial Nature and Act of Will of Charity
The most important property of the highest love, charity, is its selfless, sacrificial nature.
St. John writes:
For God so loved the world, as to give his only begotten Son; that whosoever believeth in him, may not perish, but may have life everlasting.
John 3:16
And:
In this we have known the charity of God, because he hath laid down his life for us: and we ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
1 John 3:16
These passages are key to understanding charity. Charity isn’t a feeling; it is a selfless act of will.
It is willing the good of another for God’s sake primarily and secondarily for the sake of another.
God the Father taught us that if you love people you will offer the Greatest Sacrifice for them.
God the Son taught us that if you love people you will die for them.
This is the crux of the matter (pardon the pun): Love often requires sacrifice.
Moreover, we must also will the highest good of whom we love.
This means the highest good we can will someone is to attain Eternal Salvation, as Our Lord willed for us through His Sacrifice.
So it’s not sufficient that we just have good feelings towards others or wish them well.
No, we must will the good for them, which requires an act of will (this can be an internal desire to want the best for them) and a sacrifice to show that we mean the good for them.
This means when loving anyone we love them for their own sake (and God’s sake, of course) and will work towards helping them achieve the highest good.
Since God is the Highest Good, loving Him means loving Him more than anyone else, for His sake, and doing everything you can according to His will, through selfless sacrifice.
And since God wills Salvation for all, this is the focus of our love for others, for God’s sake.
This is the highest form of love.
Living Christian Charity, Not Worldly Love
So coming full circle, in the beginning of my article I claimed that the world treats love as an emotion and demands a free pass for people living as they want.
This is not Christian charity.
Christian charity is the sacrificial willing of good for the sake of others (especially for God’s sake).
Some examples of sacrificial love (I have given before) include my wife and mother taking care of me through their domestic duties.
Also, I have written about how my father worked a lot of overtime when I was a child to provide for my family.
Another recent example was me telling unrepentant homosexuals that they should “Go, and sin no more” (John 8:11).
Why? Because willing them to go to Heaven means that is necessary to desire that they stop sinning.
Again, God commands us to will the highest good, which is Heaven, and to admonish sinners.
So where is the sacrifice in doing this?
Well, as someone that has recently publicly admonished unrepentant homosexuals, I can tell you that the response was severe hatred towards me.
(Sadly the hatred towards me came mostly from self-professed Christians).
When the world hates, bullies, ostracizes, tortures, executes, and crucifies you for preaching Christ Jesus, then this is a noble sacrifice.
And you unite your sacrifice to His Cross and Crucifixion, which is the Ultimate Sacrifice.
Remember, they hated Him first (John 15:18). And they crucified Him!
So have no fear of the world, but rather fear Him that can send you to Hell (Matthew 10:28).
May we love each other, in Christ, and will each other to attain Heaven through participation in God’s Sacrifice!