The New Testament was originally penned in Greek, and there are four different Greek words translated love. The word agape represents the essence of divine love—God’s own special love. It’s the love God has for us and the kind of love He gives us for Himself and others.

Osborne Gordon, a nineteenth-century British pastor, said, “There is no soul so pure and heavenly that it can throw back upon God all that love which He lavishes upon us. God loves us infinitely more than it is possible for us to love Him; but whatever feeble flame of love is kindled in our hearts and goes up as a sacrifice to Him, we are only giving Him of His own.”

That’s a good description of agape. The greatest command within Scripture is to love the Lord our God with all our heart, mind, and soul (Matthew 22:37). It’s the Lord Himself who gives us the agape that allows us to do that. Let His love set your heart on fire, and return it like sparks flying upward to Him.

Our love of [God] is nothing more than His love to us, reflected back upon Him, the source of love.
Osborne Gordon