Luke 10:25 - 29 (ESV)

25 And behold, a lawyer stood up to put him to the test, saying, “Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?”

26 He said to him, “What is written in the Law? How do you read it?”

27 And he answered, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself.”

28 And he said to him, “You have answered correctly; do this, and you will live.”

29 But he, desiring to justify himself, said to Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?”

Agape love is always shown by what it does.

• “God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved” (Ephesians 2:4–5, ESV).

God’s agape love is unmerited, gracious, and constantly seeking the benefit of the ones He loves.

We are to love others with agape love, whether they are fellow believers (John 13:34) or bitter enemies (Matthew 5:44).

• Jesus gave the parable of the Good Samaritan as an example of sacrifice for the sake of others, even for those who may care nothing at all for us. Agape love as modeled by Jesus is not based on a feeling; rather, it is a determined act of the will, a joyful resolve to put the welfare of others above our own. It is unselfish behavior that does not come naturally.

Agape speaks of the most powerful, noblest type of love: sacrificial love. Agape love is more than a feeling—it is an act of the will. This is the love that God has for His people and that prompted the sacrifice of His only Son, Jesus, for our sins. Jesus was agape love personified.

• Believers are to love one another with agape love, as seen in Jesus’ Parable of the Good Samaritan (Luke 10:25-37).

Monday Morning Moment:

“God is love” (1 John 4:8). God does not merely love; He is love itself.