The Fruit Of The Holy Spirit -Bible Study Guide by John Edmiston

Description

When Jesus or the apostles talk about love they generally use a special Greek word called agape, which in older versions is translated “charity”, according to Thayer’s Lexicon agape means “brotherly love, affection, good will, love, benevolence”. Agape involves doing good to another and having their highest welfare in mind. It is love without a lot of self-interest involved. There were over thirty Greek words for love, unfortunately most of these words were entirely unsuitable for Christian use since many had strong sexual connotations, or involved frenzied psychological
states. So the Bible authors selected a little used word for the highest form of love known to man -agape and filled this word with rich meaning.