Is the Meaning of “Love” Greek to You?Part 1 – The Art of Storge

Part 1 – The Art of Storge

     Greetings, sisters, and welcome to our first installment of the meanings of the Greek word, “love,” which encompasses a grand semantic range! I see that face you’re making, but don’t worry – “semantic range” simply means that one Greek word can mean many things in the English language.
     In the time-frame that the New Testament was written (around 50-100AD), the writers of the New Testament generally spoke and conversed in Koine Greek. This is important to us, friend! Koine Greek was the common spoken/written language of the day. It wasn’t written exclusively for high-ranking scholars or for nobles and kings – it was written for everyday people like you and me. It’s just another example of how God reaches us right where we’re at – what a beautiful encouragement as we move forward in understanding His Word. Even though the writing style is “common,” it is quite a complex language.
     We won’t be taking a grueling Greek seminary class to dissect every tense, substantive, or parse. We are, however, walking hand-in-hand to discover a deeper general understanding with Biblical context on what we should emulate…and what we should stay away from.
     Let’s dive into the word, storge. It generally means an affectionate or dutiful love in family or even friendships.
     It’s not just for us in the marriage and home; God displays this kind of love to us! Consider Luke 11:11-13, “What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
     In family terms, storge can mean doing chores, making your bed, helping with dinner, and the like. In marriage, it can be explained as the stage after the “honeymoon” phase. Did you know that washing dishes, driving the kids around in your Mom Taxi, running errands for your dad, and folding the hubby’s underwear are expressions of storge love? The “little things” you do out of dutiful love for others is meaningful and encouraged in the Bible.
     I’ve also heard storge explained as service to friends with whom you have a strong phileo or even agape love with, as well. Have you ever taken your neighbor to a doctor’s appointment? Have you helped an elderly church lady up the stairs to church? How about teaching young children in a classroom? These are examples of healthy duty-out-of-love actions in daily life.
     So, what else does the Bible have to say about it?
      You may be shocked to find out that the exact Greek word storge (στοργή) isn’t in the Bible! There are many instances, however, when storge and phileo are linked to an idea of loving family or friends in a dutiful manner. Even though the meanings of love in the Greek are meant to be separate in certain contexts, you’ll see that sometimes they intersect. Much like mixing certain primary colors together; you create a brand-new color to use in your knowledge of the Greek!
     That’s the case for storge appearing in Scripture – it is linked with a phileo-type of love, creating the full painted canvas of intended meaning.
     The obvious version of this love is found in Titus 2:4, “They (older women) are to teach what is good, and so train the young women to love (philoteknos) their husbands and children, to be self-controlled, pure, working at home, kind, and submissive to their own husbands, that the word of God may not be reviled. (clarification added)”
     What a genuine and convicting list for women – for us!
     Philoteknos is a Greek compound word for love combining affection (phileo) and children (teknon). Though our storge/phileo mashup is explained further down, I wanted to display the specific combination above as a kind of storge. It’s almost as if two different colors were combined to remake the primary color, isn’t it? Storge is defined here in loving family without using the exact word.
     This is a beautiful combination of love for me. As a woman, I strive to balance my duty with my affection. If I’m solely folding laundry out of duty when I despise who I’m doing laundry for, is it truly love? On the flip side, if I’m acting only out of affection and disregard keeping the financial books for my household (or fill in the blank with a task you oversee), is it truly love? I’ll let you answer those questions for yourself.
     As an important side note, older women were instructed to TRAIN the younger women to love their husbands and children. Training sounds rigorous and unnatural, but the Greek word kalodidaskalos basically means to teach to do good. That’s why I love ladies’ retreats, Bible studies, Christian magazines (like this one), and marriage conferences where women encourage other women in their spiritual lives and in their marriages. Is my husband always loveable? Are my children always angels? Am I a perfect wife or mama? Nope. I need help to learn and grow in how to manage my household with duty and affection.
     Refocusing on storge, let’s check out this combination, also found only once in Scripture (specific to Romans 12:10): philostorgos. In Romans, Paul begins with key doctrines of the Christian faith, then, delves into practical Christian living. As the Daily Walk Bible states above the Romans 12 passage, “…Christian living requires more than theory; it demands attention to duty as well, the daily outworking of applied doctrine.”1 That’s our goal with applying storge in our lives!
     “Love one another with brotherly affection.” Romans 12:10a. Sounds simple enough, right? Brotherly affection is the noun, philadelphia, of course, but with what kind of love is it highlighted with? Philostorgos – an adjective. It accentuates philadelphia with the description of loving tenderly. Being paired with the word it’s paired with, one can disseminate that it is in the context akin to family relationship.  
     In other words, this passage is saying, “Dutifully act in a tender way toward your fellow believers as if they were your family.” What a beautiful portrait of the Body of Christ and how we are to love one another! How do you love (storge) others in the Body of Christ?
     I pray these words encouraged your heart to love dutifully in your home, church, and friendships.
     I’m excited to meet you here with your usual cup of tea/coffee/smoothie for Part 2 of this word series on love, “How the Bible Describes Eros.”

All Scripture taken from the The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

1Ingram, Chip, ed. The Daily Walk Bible (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.,
2017), 1420.