Good Morning
Friends
Happy Thursday!
Hard to believe we are at the end of January already.
The older I get, the faster the time seems to go
Nevertheless, I hope you are enjoying your week
I also pray you are enjoying our focus on LOVE
It has been great
to spend some time focusing on the love of God. Now, we are certainly not
done with this most important facet of love. However, today we will be focusing
on a different type – STORGE
(pronounced stor-JAY).
What is STORGE?
One online definition labels it as a: ‘familial
love [which] refers to natural or instinctual affection, such as the love of a
parent towards offspring and vice versa …; a wide-ranging force which can apply
between family members, friends, pets and owners, companions or colleagues.’
Why is it
important?
This type of love [storge] is actually not mentioned in the
Bible in its root form. There is a compound usage [philostorgos] and the
opposite form [astorgos] mentioned in the Bible twice [in the context of storge
love being lacking and the effects on humanity]. And, it is not mentioned in
the Old Testament at all. However, the concept of STORGE was present from the start. Yes, if we look back to the
beginning of creation, we find that one of the first actions that God took after
the creation was to create – A FAMILY.
He decided it was not good for Adam to be alone and He gave him Eve, to be his
wife. What a precious gift they both
received – to have an established network, an instant support system and, a
place to call home – and not just in the sense of a residence. Have you ever been in the presence of
someone and it felt just like ‘home’? And it does not occur solely within
biological families. Looking back to our definition, I can look at each of
those areas and thank God that I have been blessed with friends, pets and
colleagues who all became every bit as much family to me as my direct family
members.
So why was it
important to God?
I believe the focus on creating a unit where
storge/family love could be present was important because that was the ultimate
goal all along. The LORD desired for us to know the value of family, to
experience the love within family, to be a part of His family.
This picture below is one my favorite pictures from
travels with my children when they were younger - probably because it is a bunch of boys ... being boys. It is an image of them on the
shoreline with their cousins. You would think they were all fast and furious
friends, on yet another adventure. However, these were distant cousins whom they
had only ever seen once before. It was during a trip to Panama. I had decided –
long after my ex-husband and I had separated – to take my sons to go meet the
other side of their family. I felt it was important – and it is a decision that
I have never regretted.
I still remember the day we arrived for our vacation. There was a small ‘tribe’ at the airport to greet us [three van loads]! I
recall my youngest, grabbing hold of my hand and asking with amazement, and
possibly a bit of trepidation, ‘Are all those people here to meet us?’ Yes – I responded
– THAT’S FAMILY!
NOW – I
realize that not every family situation is filled with love and loving moments.
However, family love was prototype before people and life situations got
damaged by the effects of sin.
YET – It is
still such a precious prize.
FAMILY LOVE
If you do not have
this family love – realize that it is available in so many other
relationships.
Although not his biological child, Timothy became so much
like family to the Apostle Paul that Paul referred to him as ‘his own son’ (I Timothy 1:2). Likewise,
David and Jonathan shared a closeness that surely superseded the closeness that
either of them shared with their biological siblings; scripture noting ‘Jonathan was knit to the soul of David, and
Jonathan loved him as his own soul’ (I Samuel 18:1). And then there is Ruth
and Naomi; Ruth declaring her loyalty, ‘Do
not urge me to leave you or to return from following you. For where you go I
will go … your people will be m people and your God, my God.’ [Ruth 1:16] This type of family love can be developed
in many ways.
If you have this family
love – cherish it, nourish it and fight for it. Reflect on the
characteristics of love and employ them within the family, remembering, ‘Love is patient and kind; love does not
envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way;
it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but
rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all
things, endures all things.’ [I Cor. 13:4-7] It is this type of love, cultivated within a family – freely given and
willingly accepted – which helps build the foundation for individuals to become
loving people inside and outside of the family unit.
Praying You Have a Blessed Day!
Wishing You Much Love …
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