What is Hesed (chesed)?
By Amy Brown
God’s love for us is described by the Hebrew word “chesed.” Chesed is similar to the Greek word “agape,” but chesed is agape on steroids!
Chesed means a kind of love that is:
- Steadfast
- Loyal
- Active
- Robust
- Unrelenting
- Fierce
- Strong
- Vital
- Kind
- Merciful
- Covenant
In Chris Coursey’s book, Transforming Fellowship, (link – https://www.amazon.com/Transforming-Fellowship-Skills-Joyful-Community/dp/1935629212) we read, “Chesed is the kind of strong attachment to others that no matter what they do or how many times they do it we still want to be with them. We might call it love, but this kind of love or attachment is more like swallowing a fish hook.” Ouch! And yet, God’s love is like that.
Chris also calls chesed “sticky love.”
In Deuteronomy 7:6, we see the extent of His great love for us:
“For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you out of all the peoples on the face of the earth to be His people, His treasured possession.”
We are a treasured possession! And, as we learn to align ourselves with our true identity as a treasured possession, we begin to see the treasure in others as well. Chesed love seems to remove those planks from our eyes. When we receive God’s chesed love, it fills us up and begins to displace bitterness and unforgiveness. As we are filled with His rich, sticky, chesed love, it overflows into our relationships and changes the way we interact with one another. We, too, become sticky.
Transforming Fellowship describes the relational skills that grow in a community built around chesed love. This transformative fellowship is possible for all of us because of God’s chesed love. Psalm 23 ends with these words of sticky love:
“Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
His love will follow you all the days of your life! Yes, it’s a crazy kind of love!