Probably the closest human analogy to divine agape is the love of a parent for her/his child. More specifically, the love of a mother for her child. In lamenting over the inhabitants of the Holy City, Jerusalem, in Matthew, Jesus says- "how many times I yearned to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her young under her wings" (Matthew 23:37). Or, God speaking to Israel through the prophet in Isaiah: "Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I will never forget you" (Isaiah 49:15).
This brings me back to 1 John 4:7-16, the passage in which the phrase "God is love" appears twice. The conclusion of this is: "Beloved, if God so loved us, we also must love one another" (1 John 4:11). It is through the love of God given us in Christ, which is poured into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we become children of God (see Romans 5:5).
As God's children, we are sisters and brothers. For Christians, in light of our baptism, water is thicker than blood. As the Holy Father notes in section 7 of his letter to the U.S. bishops, it is certainly thicker than and even transcends other identifications and affiliations we may have.
Love that is agape is profuse, abundant, copious, extravagant, freely given. It is outwardly not inwardly directed. At the beginning of the Kenotic hymn found in the second chapter of Philippians, Saint Paul urges Christians - "Have among yourselves the same attitude that is also yours in Christ Jesus" (see Phil 2:5-11).
Hence, God's love is not something to be held onto merely for my own sake. Rather, as Jesus gave Himself freely, I am to give myself freely.
This post was originally longer. However, it was quite repetitive of the post for which is was written as an addendum. So, I stuck with brief a amplification of the meaning of agape.
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