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Bible verses about love
A guided collection of passages on God’s love, neighbor-love, steadfast covenant love, and the shape of love in Christian life.
What does the Bible say about love?
The Bible does not speak about love as a soft feeling detached from truth. It speaks about the love of God, the command to love one another, and the costly shape of love when it becomes obedience, mercy, patience, and sacrifice.
These passages are useful whether you are searching for Bible verses about romantic love, Christian charity, or the deeper claim that God is love. Read them together and the theme becomes larger than sentiment: love becomes covenant, command, and gift.
Key passages
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."
Love is anchored in God giving his Son for the world. This verse says why salvation is possible at all. God loved the world enough to give his Son.
"Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,"
Paul names the moral texture of love in ordinary relationships. Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it.
"Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things."
Love is shown as enduring, hopeful, and resilient. Some of the effects of charity are stated, that we may know whether we have this grace; and that if we have not, we may not rest till we have it.
"He that loveth not knoweth not God; for God is love."
John ties the reality of love directly to the character of God. The Spirit of God is the Spirit of love. He that does not love the image of God in his people, has no saving knowledge of God.
"Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind."
Jesus gathers the law around love for God and neighbor. This verse speaks in the wider setting of fulfillment and kingdom of heaven as Matthew unfolds its message.
"By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
Christian witness is publicly marked by love among disciples. Christ had been glorified in many miracles he wrought, yet he speaks of his being glorified now in his sufferings, as if that were more than all his other glories in his humbled state.
Main takeaways
- Biblical love begins in God before it appears as human duty.
- Love in Scripture is active, patient, and morally serious.
- The clearest Christian picture of love is self-giving in Christ.
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Related places
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Reading paths
Start with the person of Jesus before trying to master the whole canon. This route keeps the reading human-scale and direct.
Further guides
Most misunderstood Bible verses
A short guide to why famous verses are often detached from context, and how to read them more carefully without losing their pastoral force.