ἀγαπάω

ἀγαπάω names loving, valuing, or directing committed concern toward someone or something. The verb itself does not guarantee that the love is holy, selfless, covenantal, or divine. John can use it for God's love of the world, the disciples' love for one another, and people's love of darkness or human praise. The object, subject, and surrounding argument establish the moral and theological character of the love.

John 3:16 places God's love inside the saving mission of the Son: God loved the world in this way, giving His one and only Son so that believers will not perish but have eternal life. The aorist form presents the action in the narrative, but the tense alone does not prove a once-for-all quality or locate the whole act at the cross. The verse and its context, not the verb form by itself, reveal divine initiative, costly giving, judgment, faith, and life.

John 13:34-35 gives love its congregational shape. Jesus commands His disciples to love one another as He has loved them, and their shared love will identify them as His disciples. First John 4:7-12 grounds that command in God's prior love and the sending of His Son. Christian love therefore includes affection, allegiance, truthful action, sacrifice, correction, and patient care as each passage requires. It must not be reduced either to inward warmth or to bare duty.

The local index records about 143 uses of ἀγαπάω. Its contexts include God's love, love for God and neighbor, Christ-shaped love within the church, and disordered love for darkness, praise, or the present age. The verb identifies love; the passage identifies its object, quality, motive, and fitting expression.