What is Storge in the Bible

Storge (pronounced stor-JAY) is a Greek word used in Christianity to indicate family love, the bond between mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, sisters and brothers.

The Potential Enhanced Lexicon defines storge as “loving one's fellow man, especially parents or children; mutual love of parents and children, wives and husbands; loving affection; prone to love; love tenderly; mainly of the mutual tenderness of parents and children ".

Storge Love in the Bible
In English, the word love has many meanings, but the ancient Greeks had four words to precisely describe different forms of love: eros, philae, agape and storge As for eros, the exact Greek term storge does not appear in the Bible. However, the opposite form is used twice in the New Testament. Astorgos means "without love, without affection, without affection for relatives, without heart, insensitive", and is found in the book of Romans and 2 Timothy.

In Romans 1:31, unjust people are described as "foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless" (ESV). The Greek word translated "heartless" is astorgos. And in 2 Timothy 3: 3, the disobedient generation that lives in the last days is marked as "heartless, inadmissible, slanderous, without self-control, brutal, not loving the good" (ESV). Again, "heartless" is translated astorgos. So the lack of storge, the natural love between family members, is a sign of the end times.

A compound form of storge is found in Romans 12:10: “Love one another with brotherly affection. Outdo each other in showing honor. " (ESV) In this verse, the Greek word translated "love" is philostorgos, which brings together philos and storge. It means "loving dearly, being devoted, being very affectionate, loving in a characteristic way of the relationship between husband and wife, mother and son, father and son, etc."

Examples of Storge in the Scriptures
Many examples of family love are found in the scriptures, such as love and mutual protection between Noah and his wife, their children and their mother-in-laws in Genesis; Jacob's love for his children; and the strong love which the sisters Martha and Mary had in the Gospels for their brother Lazarus.

The family was a vital part of ancient Jewish culture. In the Ten Commandments, God assigns his people to:

Honor your father and your mother, that you may live long in the land that the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12, NIV)
When we become followers of Jesus Christ, we enter the family of God. Our lives are tied together by something stronger than physical bonds: the bonds of the Spirit. We are connected by something more powerful than human blood: the blood of Jesus Christ. God calls his family to love each other with the deep affection to preserve love.