Love - Storge

Good morning, Five Minute Families. Today we continue our love series studying the Greek words used or indicated in the Bible; those four are agape, phileo, storge, and eros. We have discussed agape - God’s unconditional love - and phileo - brotherly love. Many people will try to compare and rank the types of love. However, aside from agape, the other three loves are not meant to be comparative. Each is desirable. And, this week we are discussing storge - family love. Often, parents will mention how they “never knew true love until they had a child of their own.” One mother told me that her love for her first child revealed more to her of God’s nature than any sermon ever has. Storge is quickly defined as a “natural love among family members.” While it is most often referred to as the parent/child love, it is a familial love among brothers, sisters, and grandparents as well. God has Paul use storge in a compound word form found in Romans 12:10 - “Love one another deeply as brothers and sisters. Take the lead in honoring one another.” And, that compound word for love in the original text is the combination of both phileo and storge - two loves combined by God for us to use to create an example of biblical community to the world. Thus, to take a comprehensive, biblical view of storge, we can see that it is a love of unity - unity in our families AND in our biblical communities. Let’s take that first part of Romans 12:10 - to love as brothers and sisters, and let’s talk about some brothers and sisters of the Bible. 1. Mary of the Mary/Martha sister combo shows us how to be a good role model. While Martha wanted Mary to fulfill what she saw as a family and societal obligation, Jesus pointed out that Mary was setting a good example of how to place God preeminently in our lives. 2. Esau shows us how to forgive within families even when we ourselves have made mistakes. Jacob and Esau had been separated for 21 years when Jacob returned. And, though Jacob had been blessed by God in his endeavors, Jacob was afraid of