All You Need is (agape) Love –
The classic Beatles song, All You Need Is Love,”was ringing through my head like an earworm.
All you need is love.
All you need is love.
All you need is love, love.
Love is all you need.
Apologies if it’s now stuck in your head.
That song has truth in it. The problem is that it refers to a romantic form of love. Now, there is nothing inherently wrong with that form of love. It is a beautiful thing to be in love.
The Bible talks plenty about love, and that’s a good thing. Here are a couple of examples.
See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. 1 John 3:1
And this is his commandment, that we believe in the name of his Son Jesus Christ and love one another, just as he has commanded us. Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us. 1 John 3:23-24
Unfortunately, the New Testament was written in Greek, and several very different words are translated as “love” in English. In this case, the Greek root word is agape.
According to Liddel’s Greek-English Lexicon – agape is “the highest form of love, charity” and “the love of God for [human beings] and of [human beings] for God.”
Agape is a choice to love unconditionally. It isn’t a feeling that changes with circumstances.
This form of love (agape) is greater than phileo (brotherly love), eros (erotic, romantic love ) or storge (familial love). It is absolutely unconditional love. It is an active choice to love regardless of circumstances.
The love that brought Jesus to the cross, the same love God has lavished on us despite our rebellion and sinfulness, is how we are called to love one another.
Wow. I know I can’t do that by myself. Even on my best days, I can sometimes be self-centred and unloving. Without God’s love at work in me I certainly cannot love unconditionally.
The Spirit is growing me in this area, and I know I am His by that measure. I am far from perfect, but perfection isn’t the measurement metric. God alone is perfect. He looks to our hearts. I’m grateful for that truth.
We all need agape love. All we need is agape. It doesn’t sound as pretty in a song, but it’s true.
May we learn to love one another as God loves us.
Be blessed
Hallelu Yah / Praise God
Kevin
Gleanings From The Word
Experience an extraordinary God in ordinary life.
Soli Deo Gloria (For the glory of God alone)
Never let the enemy tell you that you are worthless or insignificant. Your value in God’s eyes is so great that it was worth dying for. You are a blessing to the world. You are so precious to God that his plan for heaven will not be complete without you.
__________________________________________
___________________________________________
Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the English Standard Version (ESV)
All contents, “Gleanings From the Word” and “Experience an Extraordinary God in Ordinary Life,” are © 2001, 2026 K.F. “Kevin” Corbin, “Gleanings From the Word.” All rights reserved.
From Gleanings From The Word (Kevin Corbin, 2001– ), a Scripture-based devotional work.