George VI was King of The United Kingdom and the Dominions of The British Commonwealth from December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the Father to the now Queen Elizabeth II and Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon. In the British Monarchy, the King was meant to have a son who would become his heir. And if he only bore daughters, as in the case of King George VI, his first brother in line would be his successor. King George VI however, was not expected to succeed his Father King George V because he had an elder brother Edward III. His brother was the heir apparent to the throne, and was groomed all his life for the future task at hand. After the passing of their Father, King George V, his first son Edward III was crowned King in the same year of 1952.
Before his first year as King, Edward III fell in love with an American socialite, Wallis Simpson, the Duchess of Windsor. Wallis was a divorced woman, married twice and with both her husbands still alive at the time which she was enamored with Edward III. Her status as a divorcee was a cause of a tumultuous crisis in the British constitution, and King Edward III decided to abdicate from the regnal demands all in the name of love. This is how George Albert ascended to the throne and became King George VI, giving birth to only 2 daughters. In the name of love, many foolish things have been done. Men have killed one another, women have ended their lives, children have gone astray for lack of it, even Kings have abdicated their thrones all in the name of love.
For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. kjv
In John 3:16, a very popular passage that is considered the summary of the gospel says that God was moved by love to give His only Son that we may live. In the Hebrew language, as well as in modern psychology, we are taught of the three kinds of love that exist in the world: agape, romantic, and phylia. The agape is the sacrificial and unconditional love of God. It is the form of love that the Holy Spirit empowers, and is used very often in the New Testament for the Word was made flesh through Jesus Christ. Romantic love, is the sexual and physical love that you ‘feel’ when you are attracted to another person and constantly want to be in their presence, sometimes even thinking that if you are parted with this person you could die. And finally, phylos which is the platonic type of love which you feel for your friends and whomever you carry affection for.
In the case of our King Edward III mentioned above, he was moved by eros to make the decision to abdicate the throne. The dangers of romantic love is that it is likely to change, evolve, as years go by, body transforms, age shows its marks. Romantic love is driven by infatuation and is no sure word that if the better or worse of life, or marriage were to come, it would withstand that tumult. The love alluded to in our theme scripture however, that moved God to give us His only Son, is the sacrificial and foundational love every human entering any covenant relationship such as marriage, or ministry, or parenting should carry in their hearts and this only comes through the Holy Spirit. Until a man receives a revelation of the sacrificial kind of love that only God gives, they are unable to love anyone as they have been loved, and this is why Jesus says : ‘ A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. NIV’. Jesus did not only give the command, He also demonstrated to us how that was done, and it was through accepting him as our Lord and Savior. The salvation prayer you and I made when we accepted our Lord as the Savior, though simple sounding, is the declaration of our will to partake into the journey of being revealed to how to love as we’ve been loved.
The deeper you get in seeking God, acquainting yourself with the ways of the Holy Spirit at work within you, is the same way you grow into the sacrificial kind of love that is agape. Does that mean we also have to die for our brothers and sisters? Not all. Jesus has cleared that hefty fine for us all. What it means is that if you claim to love your spouse for example and consistently beat them, or fail to provide for them, fail to be patient with them when they make mistakes, fail to say kind words when they need them and the list is endless, your love fluctuates because its foundation was never revelational but was heavily built on a feeling, a feeling of love or attraction, or beauty or eloquence and so on.
Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. niv
In this letter of Paul to the Corinth Church, he explains what agape is:
- Agape (love) is patient
- Agape (love) is kind
- Agape (love) does not envy
- Agape (love) does not boast and is not proud
- Agape (love) does not dishonor others neither is it self seeking
- Agape (love) is not easily angered and keep no record of the wrong/ grudge
- Agape (love) does not delight in evil but rejoices with truth
- Agape (love) always protects, always trusts, always hope and always perseveres
Do you then see where the difference is? Hollywood has painted women that stay with abusive husbands in the name of love, or men that will condone every sort of behavior in the name of love. It is evident that it is possibly love, but always ask yourself, what kind of love is this? In Francine Rivers’ bestselling fiction ‘Redeeming Love’, the author portrays magnificently the Love of God through the gentleman Michael Hosea. The book is inspired by the story of the prophet Hosea whom God asked to marry a prostitute as a prophecy of how much God loves Israel even with all its denial of Him and evil men’s hearts can conceive. He brought home the town’s most famous harlot as a wife, and nursed her back to health, fed and clothed her, never touched her once nor took advantage of her, but every opportunity she got, she fled and went back to her old ways. The gentleman never ceased to seek God’s will in as much as he was deeply wounded by his bride and by the account of his well lived life, he deserved so much better for his conduct both in society and before God because he was without reproach.
Hosea, in the novel, asks God in a moment of despair and hurt, how much more he has to put up with this woman and God’s answer was always gentle and straight: Love as I have loved you son. We have our own conception of what love is, sounds, or feels like, but God is calling us to something even deeper, the agape kind of love, His very own kind of love that withstands the test of time, hurt, evil, sickness, poverty, and this irregardless of a feeling.
In America alone, the rate of divorce as of 2021 is at 2.3/1000 population which is roughly 630,505 divorce cases in just one place in a span of a year. People are continuously deceived into the lure of eros where they are chasing a feeling and condoning all sorts of excuses and behavior to pursue this feeling rightfully and we as the church ought to minister to the hearts of men, that agape may become the defining experience that leads a man into marriage. The revelation is made plain through Christ, will you give in to love and be loved so that you may Love as you were loved ?
If you have never given your life to Jesus Christ, and you feel that this is the perfect time, pray this prayer:
“Lord Jesus, I thank you because you died for my sins and you were raised for my glory. Today, I receive you as my Lord and Savior. I am born again. Amen.”
