DrSuess's Journal

We often mistake love as generally just being romantic and never really appreciating the other kinds of love that do exist.

SECURITY LOVE:
This love is the love that everybody needs to survive. It is that feeling of being cared for and nurtured. Some people would describe this as the type of love parents have for their children. This is so important: high on Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs; and studies have even proven that people have died of a "broken heart" (there have been no explanations for their deaths other than that).

FRIENDSHIP LOVE:
This is a love between yourself and someone that is totally honest, open and comfortable. You really only have this kind of bond with a few people. You might know a lot of people and be "friendly" with them in a group situation but they are not the best friends I am talking about here.
I have a theory that you cannot truly be best friends with a member of the opposite sex.  Down the line romance will always come up from either party and feelings will be misinterpreted and mistaken. When this happens, the friendship will change and possibly never be the same again.

ROMANTIC LOVE:
(The much anticipated love!) Most people experience this type of love many times in their life. It is when you see that person for the first time and he/she makes your knees go weak or gives you butterflies in your stomach  (.i.e. "Love at first sight”. Most people don’t even love the person they think they are in love with…they fall in love with the idea if being in love. This is more of a lustful kind of love, it wears off after a while and hopefully leads to...

UNCONDITIONAL LOVE:
This is the sincere love, the love that lasts forever. This kind of love comes when you have found the person you are destined to be with. Nothing can destroy unconditional love. It is like when you have an argument or disagree about something with that person and you realize that it doesn’t bother you because the love you have for him/her overcomes everything.

The Greek language in which the New Testament was written uses several words translated "love." The first two listed below are found in the New Testament. Understanding their meanings helps us better comprehend God's expectations of us.

Agapao or agape (verb) is a special word representing the divine love of God toward His Son, human beings in general and believers. It is also used to depict the outwardly focused love God expects believers to have for one another. Agapao (including its noun form, agape) is "the characteristic word of Christianity, and since the Spirit of revelation has used it to express ideas previously unknown, inquiry into its use, whether in Greek literature or in the Septuagint, throws but little light upon its distinctive meaning in the N[ew] T[estament] . . ."

This special type of Christian love, "whether exercised toward the brethren, or toward men generally, is not an impulse from the feelings, it does not always run with the natural inclinations, nor does it spend itself only upon those for whom some affinity is discovered" (Vine's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words, "Love").

Reflecting the fact that human marriage is modeled after the divine relationship between Christ and the Church, husbands are told to love their wives with this kind of outgoing, selfless love (Ephesians 5:25, 31-32).

This kind of love is perhaps best expressed in Jesus Christ's statement in John 15:13, "Greater love [agape] has no one than this, than to lay down one's life for his friends." Jesus Himself perfectly exemplified this kind of love throughout His lifetime, continually giving of Himself and His time and energies to serve others and ultimately offering up His life as a sacrifice for all of humanity. This is the kind of love God wants each of us to exemplify in our lives and particularly in our marriages.

Phileo or Philae (verb) means "'to have ardent affection and feeling'—a type of impulsive love" (Nelson's New Illustrated Bible Dictionary, 1995, "Love"). This is the natural, human type of love and affection that we have for a friend and is often defined as "brotherly love."

In John 21:15-16, Jesus asked Peter if he loved Him with the agapao type of love and Peter responded that he had the normal human phileo type of love for Him. Later, after receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter would be able to genuinely demonstrate agapao-type godly love, serving others throughout his lifetime and making the ultimate sacrifice in martyrdom.

Eros (noun) refers to sexual, erotic love or desire.  True love, as explained in the Bible, isn't focused on oneself and one's feelings or emotions, but is instead outwardly focused on others—wanting to best serve and care for them. True love is beautifully described in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, and it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, and always perseveres. Love never fails" (NIV).

The love I have most seems to float between the few that are mentioned on this page.  I love my Daddy, he protects me.  I pal around with my brothers, and yes I love them too.  I want to fuck the brains out of my boyfriend!  Yeah!  I love him.

The best kind of love, is the type I haven’t known yet.  It’s the love my Daddy used to have for Mommy before she died.  I miss that love.  But, I’ve seen it again.  It’s what Kate shares with Dad and visa-versa.  It’s about missing her so much my Dad’s heart aches to see her.  Or when he acts weird and giggly when talking about her.  It’s when there is no one else in a crowded room but my new Mum.  He tells me about this all the time.

I have learned to love my friends and enemies because of my parents.  They show their love for me.  They embrace me with words of love from God frequently like a warm bath.  I feel whole in these words of love.  It’s like a hot summer pool—forgotten by others—where the temperature warms your very soul so you can pass its energy on to another.

I have learned to be all that is human because of the love my parents have for each other.