The Greek agapaō means "to love. The NT uses it for love toward other persons.
This love is a characteristic of God. Thus, Father has love for the Son (John 3:35) and the Son has love
for the Father (John 14:31). The love to which agapaō refers extends beyond a loving of a
friend, family member or kindred spirit. It is less taken for granted. That explains why it is in
the NT occurs in the commanding mode. Agapaō therefore points to the highest level of love.
It is about fundamental benevolence.
The love to which agapaō refers extends beyond loving a friend, relative or kindred spirit.
For Christians, the call to agapaō means that they also love those outside their familial
or cultural circle of trust live. As followers of Jesus, they bridge the social
boundaries that easily pop up between people. They do not want to exclude other people and
express their love, for example, by receiving strangers with an open attitude. In this they know
inspired by the example of Jesus. He interacted mostly with people who others
were excluded and/or looked down upon by others.





