What Does The Bible Say About Love? You might ask why we’ve said. For sure, anyone asking this question is not aware of the Holy Scripture taken from 1 John 4:8 – “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.” Followers of Christ are followers of a God who is love. God is the father of Love and everything from creation to date reflects his unfailing and unconditional love. By welcoming the sacrifice of Jesus Christ and handing over our lives to him, we are given the right to become children of God, the Father of Creation who rules sovereignty from Heaven. Heaven is his throne and the Earth is his footstool. If we are his children, we must reflect his nature of love, mercy, compassion, and righteousness through Christ.
Ephesians 5:2 – “Live a life of love.” Living a life of love is a Heavenly assignment from God who is the father of true love. Most Bible verses about love are in support of this divine truth. The path through Christ which leads to the father is paved with love. Everything that God desires from us is surrounded or centered around love. Even the Key Teachings of Jesus Christ are centered on the genuine love of God and your neighbor. The love of God and the love of your neighbor happen to be the two greatest commandments that Jesus Christ taught men and women. Love is what makes our sacrifices pleasing and acceptable to God. Without love, we cannot please God. Most Bible verses about love are pointing to this very truth.
What Does The Bible Say About Love?
At this level, many people are asking themselves lots of questions like what is love according to the Bible? Does the Bible define love the same way as the world does? How can I live a life of love and bring glory to God’s name? What are the benefits of God’s love and how many kinds of love are mentioned in the Bible? Relax on your wheelchair and grasp your cup of coffee as you continuously unfold our writing on Bible verses about love. In the process of unfolding, you’ll pick up all the answers to the worries that you might have about love in the Bible.
What the Scriptures say about Love (Everything you need to Know)
What is Love?
In the New International Version of the Bible, the word love occurs 686 times; 261 times in the New Testament and 425 times in the Old Testament. Another word to take into consideration is “Peace”. You might ask why so? It is worth noting that the Old Testament was originally pinned in Hebrew while the New Testament was in Greek. In those languages, there exist multiple words for love probably depending on the kind of love that the author was referring to. This leads us into saying that there are many kinds of love as revealed by the Bible. For simplification purposes, we can break down the different types of love into 4 kinds.
The 4 Types of Love
1. storgē
storgē (Pronounced as STOR-jay) is the kind of love in the Bible that many people are not familiar with. This Greek word clearly points to what we can refer to as Family Love. It is the affectionate bond that naturally develops between parents and children, brothers and sisters. There are lots of Biblical examples pointing to this kind of love. To list a few, we’ll point to the mutual protection between Noah and his wife, the strong love that Martha and her sister Mary had for their brother Lazarus whom Jesus Christ resurrected from the dead, and the love that Jacob had for his sons. It is in this very light that we are commanded in Romans 12:10 to be devoted to one another with brotherly affection. The word “devoted” is a compound word using storge, “philostorgos,”
2. eros
Eros (Pronounced: AIR-ohs) is a Greek word for romantic or sensual love. It is more of a physical and romantic kind of love. This kind of love is much like what we regularly see at the end of most Hallmark movies. The Biblical book titled “Song of Songs” is filled with this type of love. Let’s get some examples by reading the following scriptures. Song of Songs 1:2 – “Let him kiss me with the kisses of his mouth- for your love is more delightful than wine.” Let’s further read Song of Songs 1:4 – “Take me away with you- let us hurry! Let the king bring me into his chambers.” The term Eros originated from the methodological Greek God of love. Such includes physical attraction and the desires that we know. Promiscuity of all types was rampant in ancient Greek in the name of Erotic Love.
3. Philos
Philos also referred to as Philia (Pronounced: FILL-ee-uh) is the love between friends. It is the type of intimate love in the Bible that Christians practice toward each other. This Greek term directly points to the powerful emotional bond that exists within a true friendship. It is the most general type of love that we regularly encounter when reading the Holy Scriptures. It encompasses love for fellow humans, respect, care, and compassion for those in need.
The religious concept of brotherly love that unites believers is unique to Christianity. Jesus Christ said in his prayers that Philia love will be an identifier of his followers before being crucified. Proverbs – “A friend loves at all times.” The friendship between David and Jonathan testifies to this kind of love. Although Jesus Christ had thousands of disciples, he held twelve closer than the rest. Even within the twelve, three were intensely close to him. Among the three, John was his closest friend.
4. Agape
Agape (Pronounced: Uh-GAH-pay) is the highest and most important kind of love in the Bible. It is a term used to define God’s unconditional, incomparable, and immeasurable love for humankind. Such is the divine love that comes from God, the Father of Creation who rules over Heaven and Earth. Agape love is unconditional, perfect, pure, and sacrificial. The way Jesus Christ lived and died demonstrates this kind of love for his Father. When we love using Agape, we are seeking to give of ourselves.
This is best demonstrated in the willingness of God to give up His only son to be sacrificed for our sake. Jesus Christ in turn accepted His Father’s will and offered himself without reserve for our sake. That’s He endured suffering, persecution, and insults for our sake on the cross at Calvary. There is nothing that we have to provide God that will bring him any gain. He simply loves us without waiting for anything in return. 1 Corinthians 13:12 – “But now faith, hope, love, abide these three; but the greater of these is love.”
Love Drives Out Fear
1 John 4:18 says, “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love” (this is again the word agape). Behold, the dismissal of the fear of condemnation is one of the main functions of God’s love. The person without Christ is under judgment and has plenty to fear, but once a person is in Christ, the fear of judgment is gone. John 3:18 says, “Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God’s one and only Son.”
As Christians, part of understanding the love of God is knowing that God’s judgment fell on Jesus at the cross so we can be spared. John 3:17 says, “For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” Jesus Christ is the Savior in whom anyone who believes is saved. We learn from the Scriptures that the only person who must fear judgment is the one who rejects Jesus Christ. Scripture teaches that nothing can separate the believer from the love of God in Christ. Romans 8:38-39 says, “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
God’s love for sinners is why Christ died on the Cross of Calvary. God’s love for those who trust in Christ is why He holds them in His hand and promises never to let them go (John 10:29).
What The Bible Says About Love
Group 1 – What The Bible Says About Love
Colossians 3:14 – “And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.”
1 Corinthians 16:14 – “Do everything in love.”
Psalm 143:8 – “Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in you.
Show me the way I should go,
for to you I entrust my life.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
1 John 4:8 – “He who does not love does not know God, for God is love.”
1 Corinthians 13:13 – “And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.”
Ephesians 4:2 – “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Proverbs 3:3-4 – “Let love and faithfulness never leave you;
bind them around your neck,
write them on the tablet of your heart.
Then you will win favor and a good name
in the sight of God and man.”
1 John 4:16 – “And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them.“
Group 2 – What The Bible Says About Love
1 Corinthians 13:2 – “If I have the gift of prophecy and can fathom all mysteries and all knowledge, and if I have a faith that can move mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.”
Ephesians 3:16-17 – “I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love.”
Romans 12:9 – “Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good.”
1 Peter 4:8 – “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
1 John 4:19 – “We love because He first loved us.”
Ephesians 5:25-26 – “Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word.”
Isaiah 49:15-16 – “Can a mother forget the baby at her breast
and have no compassion on the child she has borne?
Though she may forget,
I will not forget you!
See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands;
your walls are ever before me.”
Romans 12:10 – “Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.”
John 15:12 – “My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”
Group 3 – What The Bible Says About Love
John 15:13 – “Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.”
Isaiah 43:4 – “Since you are precious and honored in my sight,
and because I love you,
I will give people in exchange for you,
nations in exchange for your life.”
1 John 4:20 – “Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.”
2 Thessalonians 3:5 – “May the Lord direct your hearts into God’s love and Christ’s perseverance.”
1 John 4:12 – “No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-5 – “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.”
Romans 13:8 – “Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.“
1 John 3:1 – “See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.”
1 Corinthians 2:9 – “However, as it is written: What no eye has seen, what no ear has heard, and what no human mind has conceived — the things God has prepared for those who love him.”
Group 4 – What The Bible Says About Love
Proverbs 21:21 – “Whoever pursues righteousness and love
finds life, prosperity and honor.”
1 Thessalonians 3:12 – “May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you.”
Song of Songs 8:6 – “Place me like a seal over your heart,
like a seal on your arm;
for love is as strong as death,
its jealousy unyielding as the grave.
It burns like blazing fire,
like a mighty flame.”
1 John 4:18 – “There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Ephesians 4:15 – “Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.”
Mark 12:31 – “The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”
Romans 8:38-39 – “For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Proverbs 10:12 – “Hatred stirs up conflict,
but love covers over all wrongs.”
1 John 4:8 – “Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
Group 5 – What The Bible Says About Love
Lamentation 3:22-23 – “Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed,
for his compassions never fail.
They are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.”
Psalm 116:1-2 – “I love the Lord, for he heard my voice;
he heard my cry for mercy.
Because he turned his ear to me,
I will call on him as long as I live.”
1 Corinthians 13:1 – “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.”
Mark 12:30 – “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.“
1 Corinthians 10:24 – “No one should seek their own good, but the good of others.”
1 Peter 3:10-11 – “For, Whoever would love life
and see good days
must keep their tongue from evil
and their lips from deceitful speech.
They must turn from evil and do good;
they must seek peace and pursue it.”
Psalm 30:5 – “For his anger lasts only a moment,
but his favor lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
but rejoicing comes in the morning.”
Group 6 – What The Bible Says About Love
Romans 8:35 – “Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword?”
Matthew 5:44 – “But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Romans 13:10 – “Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.“
1 Timothy 4:12 – “Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith and in purity.“
2 Timothy 1:7 – “For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.”
Jude 1:2 – “Mercy, peace and love be yours in abundance.”
1 Timothy 6:11 – “But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness.”
1 Corinthians 13:3 – “If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.”
Leviticus 19:17-18 – “Do not hate a fellow Israelite in your heart. Rebuke your neighbor frankly so you will not share in their guilt. Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.“
1 John 4:10 – “This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.”
Psalm 103:8 – “The Lord is compassionate and gracious,
slow to anger, abounding in love.”
Group 7 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
1 John 3:11 – “For this is the message you heard from the beginning: We should love one another.”
Galatians 5:22-23 – “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.”
Psalm 94:18 – “When I said, “My foot is slipping,”
your unfailing love, Lord, supported me.”
Ephesians 5:2 – “And walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”
Psalm 42:8 – “By day the Lord directs his love,
at night his song is with me—
a prayer to the God of my life.”
1 John 4:11 – “Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.”
2 Peter 1:5-7 – “For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; and to knowledge, self-control, and to self-control, perseverance, and to perseverance, godliness, and to godliness, mutual affection, and to mutual affection, love.”
Luke 10:27 – He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Hebrews 13:1-2 – “Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters. Do not forget to show hospitality to strangers, for by so doing some people have shown hospitality to angels without knowing it.”
Group 8 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
1 John 2:15 – “Do not love the world or anything in the world. If anyone loves the world, love for the Father is not in them.”
John 13:34 – “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.”
Psalm 63:3-4 – “Because your love is better than life,
my lips will glorify you.
I will praise you as long as I live,
and in your name I will lift up my hands.“
John 14:21 – “Whoever has my commands and keeps them is the one who loves me. The one who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I too will love them and show myself to them.”
Revelation 3:19 – “Those whom I love I rebuke and discipline. So be earnest and repent.”
John 14:23 – Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them.”
Psalm 86:5 – “You, Lord, are forgiving and good,
abounding in love to all who call to you.”
Proverbs 3:11-12 – “My son, do not despise the Lord’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
because the Lord disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.”
1 John 4:9 – “This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.“
Group 9 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
Galatians 5:14 – For the entire law is fulfilled in keeping this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
John 13:35 – “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
2 Thessalonians 1:3 – “We ought always to thank God for you, brothers and sisters, and rightly so, because your faith is growing more and more, and the love all of you have for one another is increasing.”
1 John 4:7 – “Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God.”
Romans 8:28 – “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.”
Romans 13:9 – The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
John 14:15 – “If you love me, keep my commands.”
Psalm 103:13 – “As a father has compassion on his children,
so the Lord has compassion on those who fear him.”
Ephesians 2:4-5 – “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.”
Galatians 5:13 – “You, my brothers and sisters, were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the flesh; rather, serve one another humbly in love.”
Group 10 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
Romans 5:5 – “And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.”
Deuteronomy 6:4-5 – “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.”
Psalm 27:4 – “One thing I ask from the Lord,
this only do I seek:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
all the days of my life,
to gaze on the beauty of the Lord
and to seek him in his temple.”
Psalm 33:5 – “The Lord loves righteousness and justice;
the earth is full of his unfailing love.”
1 John 3:16 – “This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.”
2 Corinthians 5:14-15 – “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.”
1 John 4:21 – “And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.”
John 17:26 – “I have made you known to them, and will continue to make you known in order that the love you have for me may be in them and that I myself may be in them.”
Group 11 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
Psalm 44:3 – “It was not by their sword that they won the land,
nor did their arm bring them victory;
it was your right hand, your arm,
and the light of your face, for you loved them.”
Psalm 115:1 – “Not to us, Lord, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.”
2 Corinthians 13:11 – “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice! Strive for full restoration, encourage one another, be of one mind, live in peace. And the God of love and peace will be with you.”
Romans 8:37 – “No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”
John 15:10 – “If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love.”
Psalm 40:11 – “Do not withhold your mercy from me, Lord;
may your love and faithfulness always protect me.”
Psalm 112:1 – “Praise the Lord. Blessed are those who fear the Lord,
who find great delight in his commands.”
Joel 2:13 – “Rend your heart
and not your garments.
Return to the Lord your God,
for he is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and abounding in love,
and he relents from sending calamity.”
Group 12 – What Does The Bible Say About Love?
Matthew 22:39 – And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’
2 Corinthians 13:14 – “May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all.”
John 3:16 – “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”
Matthew 19:19 – ‘Honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’
Psalm 31:16 – “Let your face shine on your servant;
save me in your unfailing love.”
Galatians 5:6 – “For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision nor uncircumcision has any value. The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love.”
Colossians 2:2 – “My goal is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely, Christ.”
1 John 3:17 – “If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?”
Matthew 19:18b-19 – ‘You shall not murder, you shall not commit adultery, you shall not steal, you shall not give false testimony, honor your father and mother,’ and ‘love your neighbor as yourself.’
Jude 1:20-21 – “But you, dear friends, by building yourselves up in your most holy faith and praying in the Holy Spirit, keep yourselves in God’s love as you wait for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ to bring you to eternal life.”
