The meaning of love is lost among many unfortunate cliches. The whole English language is cheapened daily by our own ignorance and misuse of it.  And one of the most elemental words of all has lost its depth.  That word is "love". For me, the mention of it brings up a sickening feeling and thoughts of broken promises, annoyingly desperate teenagers, and most detestably-Valentine's Day.  It breaks my heart that something that was created by our Lord-such as love-has been degraded by society to the point that it has almost lost all significance.  Excuse my pun-but the heart of the matter lies in the fact that in English, there is only one word for love, and in Greek-the language the first testament was first written in-there are three different words for love, all varying slightly in meaning:

1)"Eros" is a sensual or physical love, such as a lust between young lovers or the selfish love a newborn baby has for her mother.  

2)"Phileo" is a love between friends, a co-dependent relationship love based on a giving and receiving.  3)"Agape" is a love based on the idea that something is WORTHY of praise and reverence.  It is a self-sacrificing love, where one party gives regardless of whether or not they will ever receive anything in return.  

In popular movies, songs, and even in daily society we see "eros" and  mistake it for the only way to love.   When we  focus only on what the world displays to us as love, we forget ,"God demonstrates his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us."(Romans 5:8).  That is true agape !  Jesus did not die on the cross because he was selfish, or because he wanted to get something from us, but because he loved us so much that he found us worthy of his adoration!  And when we find agape, eros and phileos are trash in comparison! Only the agape of our Lord provides peace, freedom, and wholeness.