Day Eighteen Forty Days of Focus: Relationships

What happens to a car when you drive it and don't stop to put gas in? What happens to your body when you don't eat? Marriages need fuel to run well. Without it they can stall out and die. God created us to experience love in three distinct ways in the context of marriage. Each of these is represented by a different word in the Greek Language and can be illustrated by imagining each as a tank. Although a marriage can continue to run on just one or two of the three tanks, God created it to run on all three. To use the car analogy, it's like the fuel tank, the oil reservoir and the coolant. The first love tank is the "Eros" tank. Eros is the Greek word for romantic love. It's where we get the English word, "Erotic," from. Any love expressions that are romantic in nature fill this tank. The second love tank is the "Phileo" tank. Phileo is the Greek word for brotherly love. The City of Philadelphia combines this word with the Greek word for city to form "the City of Brotherly Love." This love tank is filled by spending time together in having fun, hanging-out and sharing interests. The last love tank is the "Agape" tank. Agape is the Greek word for the loyal, committed, unconditional love of God. It is commitment for a lifetime in spite of the loveliness of the one being loved. When all three tanks are full, marriage is amazing. But keeping love tanks full takes time, energy, money and commitment.