God’s beauty never fails! My love for Him was growing very strong and the more I sought, the stronger it got! I probably hurt my husband one day when I told him my love God was stronger than my love for him.
I know my husband did not yet understand what I meant, but love comes in so many different terms! If you go to Google.com and type in ‘different love types,’ you will find the different meanings of love. My love for God is called Agape love and that for my husband is a mix of loves mostly that of Eros, Philia, Ludus, and Pragma.
To help you understand, I will give a brief description. Agape is the love you feel for nature and God. It is like a peaceful and full truthful feeling of caring unconditionally whether deserved or not. It cares for others and has empathy and concern.
Eros is the passionate sexuality you have toward your spouse or intended mate (for life in God’s eyes.) Sometimes it is the uncontrollable urge to satisfy the sexual needs. As God put it in His Word in 1 Corinthians 7:9, “For it is better to marry than to burn with passion; it is the burning you have for your spouse.
Now Philia is the love you feel for a true friend. It is a built trust and acceptance of each other in all circumstances ; a dependability at all cost. A spouse should honestly be that true friend anyhow.
Most who date might experience what is called the Ludus love. This includes flirting jesters to see just how comparable you are together. It does not mean the love like Eros, but obviously it is the language letting the other know you like him or her. For example, one might say to another, “boy, that shirt makes those beautiful blue eyes of your pop today.” Some couples skip this kind of love after marriage, but if kept up, you can also keep the other encouraged and not only feel the Eros affect, but the feelings of closeness and strength in your marriage!
Pragma may seem odd and unfair at times, but it is necessary to any relationship. Just going to put this out there as easily as I can, but no relationship should be 50/50 as everyone wants it to be. Both partners’ needs and expectations should be met, but let’s face it, sometimes guys are more needy than women if you are following me. Sometimes just the opposite though so don’t get me wrong, some woman can be needy as well.
This kind of love is giving in and and not holding back from the other. God says in 1 Corinthians 7:5, “Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.” Satan is real and if you follow God’s plan for your marriage, you can survive as a couple.
God’s way is simply God first! I hadn’t understood that until I began seeking His Word and Ways. After a bit, I understood what He wanted of me: His Way before myself and others. His love before anyone else and if I had that love, then He’d bless us beyond all of our understanding!
My husband began listening and hearing God’s word through a CD Bible series I got him for Christmas one year. He began to really understand when I told him my love for God was bigger. A different kind of love, but an everlasting love.
As my husband didn’t quite understand at first how deep my love for God was, many others did not as well. I understood how another family close to us felt when their love for God shown through. Rejection on every corner was met. A religious topic would come up and you’d quote the Bible, but if it went against what they were taught by man, they’d reject it, and you. I began to see how true love was portrayed.
