A Fourth Love
19 February 2025
Is there a fourth kind of love?
First, let me say I hope you enjoyed a fun Valentine’s Day last Friday. Did you enjoy chocolate or flowers, a romantic
date, or a funny card between friends? Whatever transpired, I hope you stayed out of trouble and good times were experienced.
Secondly, Valentine’s reminds us of mini-bible studies on the three primary Greek words describing love in Scripture.
One is eros.
We’ve heard and seen plenty about this erotic expression of passion, a wonderful gift when love and care are truly involved.
Another is philia.
Phila-delphia, the city of brotherly love, helps us remember this notion of sisterly or brotherly affinity. Last Friday was not only Valentines’ Day in Philadelphia, but a parade celebrating the city’s love of their Superbowl-victorious Eagles.
The third and most frequently Greek term for love used in Scripture is agape.
Praise God for this unmerited, ultimate, sacrificial, and unconditional love with which God envelops us.
But I was reminded there is indeed a fourth and final term Scripture uses: storge, pronounced STOR-gee.
It’s only used one time so most of us miss it. Rev. Molly Baskette shared how at a faith retreat, the group was broken down into four teams, with each team creating a skit exemplifying the four Greek terms for love. The storge group joked that the word sounded like a “piece of disassembled furniture designed to spark divorce. In fact, the storge group revealed what it meant by pretending to put together a piece of IKEA furniture—without fighting about it. Because storge is the love specific to families, chosen or blood. It appears in Romans 12:10 as a compound word, philostorge. Two kinds of love in
one. Love squared.
Storge is a complex, fraught, loyal, enduring, maturing love. The kind of love that tilts its head and says, “You drive me bonkers but if anyone threatens you, they will find out.” The kind of love that can build complex things, that might fight but also knows how to fix. The kind of love we need more of, everywhere.”
I agree with Pastor Baskette!
May we follow Jesus with massive amounts of storge. Our world today needs a surge of storge from all of us. May we love each other like family, even if we drive each other nuts sometimes. In our agreements, may we smile. In our disagreements, may we not let each other go.
“Storging” with you,
Pastor Fritz
Let us pray:
Dear God, you know that fun camp song when we sing “we’ve got the love of Jesus, love of Jesus, down in my heart.” But Lord, help me be quick to move love out of my heart and into the world. Help love be on my lips and face. May love move from my heart to my words and actions. May my love be a storge kind of love, dynamic and beautiful even through challenging situations. In Jesus’ name, Amen.