But Need-loves play an important role not only in our relationships with others but in our relationship with God. Now, you’re probably thinking that this category of love sounds pretty substandard compared to God-like Gift-love, and that’s totally reasonable. The need for comfort motivates them to seek out someone who makes them feel safe. For instance, when a child is scared, they’ll rush into the arms of their parent. They can be greedy, desperate, and demanding, or motivated by fear. Need-loves arise from a place of lack or longing. And this leads to the second classification group, which Lewis called Need-love. We’re riddled with yearnings that span all aspects of our being – from our minds and bodies to our emotions. Even when we turn our backs on him, his love is still there, waiting for us to receive it, if we open our hearts to him.īut while we can emulate God by practicing Gift-love in different ways, we’re far from complete and abundant. This category of love reflects Divine Love – the love God has for us. Gift-loves also help you forgive someone who’s hurt you. You see Gift-love in action when a parent tends to their child every single day, when a partner comforts or supports their beloved, or when a stranger reaches out to help someone in need. They’re what inspires you to care for the people that are important to you without expecting anything in return. Gift-loves are generous, boundless, and self-renewing. Simple, right?Īs soon as Lewis started unpacking that three-word explanation of love, he realized that love in its different forms could be categorized into one of two groups, depending on what was motivating it.
After all, the Gospel according to John says that God is love. When Lewis set out to explore love in his work, he figured it’d be fairly straightforward. One subject that fascinated him was love. He used writing as a way to meditate on and explore different aspects of Christianity. If you’ve read The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and you’re familiar with Christianity, you won’t need anyone to point out how allegorical the story is.īut Lewis didn’t just explore his faith through novels about magical wardrobes and lions that rise from the dead. This return to the church had a huge impact on Lewis’s writing.
Tolkien was deeply religious and his faith inspired Lewis to renew his relationship with God after he’d abandoned Christianity in his teens. They met while they were working in the English faculty at Oxford University and were two of the founding members of Inklings – a renowned literary discussion group. Tolkien, who wrote The Lord of the Rings. Lewis is probably most famous for his children’s book The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.
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