“We love because he first loved us.”
“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.”
“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. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
“Jesus replied: 'Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.' This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: 'Love your neighbor as yourself.'”
“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.”
“Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.”
“Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one's life for one's friends.”
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
“Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
“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.”
“Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her...”
Three things 1 Corinthians 13 teaches about love
1 Corinthians 13 is probably the best-known chapter about love in the Bible. It is read at weddings and funerals, framed in homes, embroidered on cushions. But notice what Paul actually says, and does not say.
First, love is described in active terms, not emotional ones. "Love is patient, love is kind." Not "love feels patient," but does the patient thing. Biblical love is what you do when feelings have left and grace must take over.
Second, love is the indispensable thing. Paul is willing to imagine someone with prophecy, faith, knowledge, and even self-sacrifice, but without love, he says, it is all worthless. You can be theologically correct and unloving and miss the whole point of Christianity.
Third, love outlasts everything. Prophecy will cease. Knowledge will pass. Even faith and hope will be transformed when we see Christ face to face. But love remains. Love is the only thing that crosses unchanged from this world to the next.
Love verses in the KJV: why 1 Corinthians 13 says charity
Many people know 1 Corinthians 13 in the King James Version, and the word love is not in it. The KJV says charity all through the chapter. The Greek word is agape, the same word behind “God is love” (1 John 4:8, KJV), which the KJV translates as love far more often than as charity. Charity comes from the Latin caritas, the word the Latin Bible used for agape. Today most of us hear charity as giving to people in need, so modern translations say love. The meaning has not changed: this is the love that keeps going when it costs something. In Faithero you can read 1 Corinthians 13 in the KJV and have it read aloud.
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth; Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.”
Bible quotes about love
Ten short lines from the King James Version: easy to remember, to write in a card or to share.
- “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him.” (1 John 4:16, KJV)
- “And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity.” (1 Corinthians 13:13, KJV)
- “Let all your things be done with charity.” (1 Corinthians 16:14, KJV)
- “Many waters cannot quench love, neither can the floods drown it” (Song of Solomon 8:7, KJV)
- “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear” (1 John 4:18, KJV)
- “Hatred stirreth up strifes: but love covereth all sins.” (Proverbs 10:12, KJV)
- “Love worketh no ill to his neighbour: therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.” (Romans 13:10, KJV)
- “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” (John 15:12, KJV)
- “My little children, let us not love in word, neither in tongue; but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18, KJV)
- “And above all these things put on charity, which is the bond of perfectness.” (Colossians 3:14, KJV)
Charity, in the KJV, means love: see the note on 1 Corinthians 13 above.
Bible verses about God's love for us
Before the Bible asks us to love, it tells us how we are loved: with a love that is old, patient, costly and glad. These four verses, in the KJV, are worth reading slowly on a day you feel far from it.
“Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.”
“Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God”
“But God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us, Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ”
“The LORD thy God in the midst of thee is mighty; he will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy; he will rest in his love, he will joy over thee with singing.”
Bible verses about loving others
God's love does not stop with us. Jesus makes love for one another His own commandment, and He stretches it to include enemies. Love in marriage is the same love up close: Paul tells husbands to love their wives as Christ loved the church (Ephesians 5:25, in the list above), and there is more in our Bible verses about marriage.
“A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”
“Beloved, let us love one another: for love is of God; and every one that loveth is born of God, and knoweth God.”
“Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.”
“But love ye your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing again; and your reward shall be great, and ye shall be the children of the Highest: for he is kind unto the unthankful and to the evil.”
Love across the New Testament
| Reference | Book | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| John 13:34-35 | John | A new commandment: love one another as I have loved you |
| John 15:9-13 | John | Remain in my love; greater love has no one |
| Romans 12:9-21 | Romans | Practical love: bless persecutors, overcome evil with good |
| 1 Corinthians 13 | 1 Corinthians | Love is the indispensable, eternal thing |
| Galatians 5:22 | Galatians | Love is the first fruit of the Spirit |
| 1 John 4:7-21 | 1 John | God IS love; we love because He loved us first |
Common misconceptions
A few things people often get wrong on this topic.
MythLove is mostly a feeling I can't control.
TruthBiblical love is primarily an act of the will. Feelings come and go; love commits regardless. This is exactly why love can be commanded: Jesus would not command us to feel something, but He does command us to love.
MythGod's love means He approves of everything I do.
TruthGod's love is unconditional but not undiscerning. He loves us too much to leave us as we are. Like a good parent, He loves the child enough to discipline what would harm them. His love is fierce, not flattering.
MythLoving my enemies means becoming a doormat.
TruthLoving your enemies means seeking their good, which sometimes means firm boundaries, even confrontation. Love and accountability are not opposites. Jesus loved the moneychangers in the temple even as He drove them out.
MythI have to feel loving toward everyone.
TruthYou don't have to feel loving toward an abuser, an enemy, or someone who has hurt you. You are called to choose their good: pray for them, refuse to retaliate, leave room for grace. Feelings often follow obedience.
Loving the way Scripture describes
Receive God's love first
Christian love starts with being loved, not loving. Spend time daily letting God's love sink in. Read 1 John 4 slowly. Pray, "Father, let me know how loved I am." Out of that flows love for others.
Pray 1 Corinthians 13 over yourself
Replace "love" with your name and pray it: "[Name] is patient. [Name] is kind. [Name] does not boast..." Where the truth doesn't fit, you've found something to ask God's help with.
Pick one specific person
Don't try to love "everyone" abstractly. Choose one specific person (a difficult coworker, an estranged family member, a neighbor) and ask the Spirit how to love them concretely this week.
Pray for an enemy
Take Jesus literally (Matthew 5:44). Make a short list of people you struggle to love. Pray for each by name daily for a month. Watch what happens, to them and to your heart.
Love through serving
Love that costs nothing rarely is. Find one way to serve sacrificially this week: your time, your money, your attention. Sacrificial love is where biblical love is forged.
Frequently asked
What does the Bible say love is?
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 gives the clearest definition: "Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast..." Notice it is described in terms of action and posture toward others, not feeling. Paul's word is agape: love as goodwill that acts, a settled commitment to another person's good.
How is biblical love different from romantic love?
Biblical love is broader and deeper. Greek had more than one word for love: eros meant passionate desire, while agape meant regard and goodwill. Agape is the word in "God is love" (1 John 4:8) and all through 1 Corinthians 13. It describes a self-giving commitment to another's good, whatever our feelings or their worthiness. Romantic love is real and good, but agape is the kind of love God has for us and calls us to imitate.
What does "God is love" mean?
1 John 4:8 says love is essential to God's being: He does not just love, He IS love. From eternity, the three persons of the Trinity have loved each other. Love is not an emotion God sometimes has; it is the eternal reality at the heart of who He is.
Are Christians required to love their enemies?
Yes. Jesus made this explicit (Matthew 5:44). It does not mean having warm feelings about your enemies; it means choosing their good: praying for them, refusing to retaliate, blessing them when you can. This is the hardest command in the Bible and one of the most distinctively Christian.
What is the greatest commandment?
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind, and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself (Matthew 22:37-39). All the Law and the Prophets, He said, hang on these two. Every other commandment is a specific application of these.
Why does the KJV say charity instead of love?
In 1 Corinthians 13 the King James Version translates the Greek word agape as "charity," as in "Charity suffereth long, and is kind" (1 Corinthians 13:4, KJV). Charity comes from the Latin caritas, the word the Latin Bible used for agape, and it was an English word for Christian love. Most readers now hear charity as giving to people in need, so modern translations say love. The meaning is the same.
Love is what we are called to
On the night before His death, Jesus told His disciples that everyone would know they belonged to Him by their love for one another (John 13:35). Not by doctrinal precision, not by political alignment, not by religious fervor: by love. That has not changed. The mark of a Christian, the visible evidence of an invisible new birth, is love.
And it is impossible. We cannot manufacture this kind of love. The first commandment (to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind) exposes how far short we fall daily. The second (to love neighbor as self) feels nearly equally impossible when the neighbor is difficult. But this is precisely why the Christian life begins with grace: we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). His love floods us first. Then, slowly, it flows out.
12 Bible verses about love
These twelve are quoted from the NIV. The sections further down add the King James wording: 1 Corinthians 13, short lines worth quoting, and more verses on God's love and on loving others.