Emphatically, yes, and that's hard to beat.
Valentine's Day is traditionally a celebration of love expressed in diverse ways. While researching for this article, I ran across C.S. Lewis' The Four Loves. How did I not know this book existed???? As an avid reader and recovering homeschool mom, I thought I had read everything Lewis. Ah well, the discovery gives me a good reason to order another book!
I digress, back to those love categories. The nerdy part of me is interested in languages and the sounds they make rolling off the tongue. Philos (from Greek) fascinates me. It's the sibling type of love we have for people who are like brothers and sisters to us. Philadelphia is called the city of brotherly love for just this reason. Those of us who are Christians hear this all the time-we are to "love each other as brothers and sisters and honor others more than [we do ourselves]" Romans 12:10. Lewis says Philos is a love we have free will to choose, and those of us who have it can be deeply grateful for it.
You'll know which words come from eros, or romantic love. At first, it makes us all giddy with attraction for "the one," and helps us establish the bond that can lead to that life-long relationship called marriage. Eros is the kind of love Valentine's Day most often celebrates. Rabbit trail story; I worked in a card store in high school, and Valentine's Day was my favorite. A little after 5, men would begin to pour in through the door, panicked because they came home from work to a card and gift on the table. My 16-year-old self had a ball showing them where everything was and making sure their offerings looked pretty for them to take home.
Storge is the affection we don't choose, as in the bond between parents and children. Storge comes to us naturally, and Lewis says is not dependent on any particular personality trait or action. Negative characteristics that would make us think of terminating other relationships do not deter us from loving our children. We may need to discipline and correct them, but we still love them. This kind of natural love helps us raise our children to the best of our abilities.
Lewis calls agape love charity. Most of the time, we think of charity as giving of our excess to people in need. However, the Christian definition of charity goes deeper than that. One way to think of charity is unconditional love and agape has been explained to me as sacrificial love. Those two definitions describe the highest form of love possible as in 1 John 4:9-11
9 This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. 10 This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
When we begin to try to comprehend the deep, everlasting, selfless love God has for us, we will want to share it with other people.
Many times, we can feel two of these simultaneously. I can love my husband romantically and be willing to lay down my life for him.
We can also say we "love" tacos without meaning any of the above. It's a strange English word, that's for sure.
What does all this have to do with cookie cutters? The foundation of everything for us-work, family, friendships-is based on the truth of God's love. Our hope for you this Valentine's Day is that if you don't already know the Lord, you start on the most wonderful adventure of your life (and if you do know Him, you'll be encouraged to grow ever closer). Feel free to contact us to talk more!