Bible Verses About Love

Compiled by The BibleStudyTools Staff on 03/07/2024
Love Bible Verses

The Bible has a lot to say about love. The word "love" is mentioned over 500 times in the Bible, with many verses that speak to love's power, importance, and beauty.

Here, we have gathered a compilation of Bible verses about love for marriage, among friends, and even loving your neighbors and enemies. 

The Bible says that God is love, which makes the Word of God the perfect source to know what true love means and how we can love others as God loves us. Bible verses about love reveal that our world has skewed the meaning of real love, but God's Word remains the steadfast source of divine knowledge and wisdom. 

Download your copy of these beautiful Scripture quotes HERE. Print these beautiful Bible verses to keep by your bed, at work, or anywhere you need to be reminded of the power of God's love in your life.

Popular Bible Verses about Love

Read and meditate on this list of scriptures about love from the Holy Bible and begin seeing the change in your heart and mind that comes from pursuing selfless love! Here are some of the most inspiring and beautiful Bible verses about love:

1 Corinthians 16:14

Let all that you do be done in love.

1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth. Love bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.

Colossians 3:14

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.

1 Corinthians 13:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.

John 15:13

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.

John 3:16

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.

1 John 4:7-8

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.

1 Peter 4:8

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.

Ephesians 5:25

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her,

Ephesians 4:2

With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love,

John 14:15

If you love me, you will keep my commandments.

Find more Bible verses about love by categories below:

Bible Verses About Love

put on love bible verse colossians 3 14

First, we have gathered some of the most famous and popular Bible verses about love. These scriptures on love are well known for their simple yet powerful message of God's love and the love we should share with others. Read and pray with these Bible verses about love:

Let all that you do be done in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14

Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:8

There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love. - 1 John 4:18

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. - John 3:16

Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. - Colossians 3:14

A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another. - John 13:34-35

Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. - John 15:13

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

We love because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:19

Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses. - Proverbs 10:12

Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. - 1 John 4:7

Bible Verses About God's Love

bible verses about love, scriptures on love

If we want the perfect example of love, it is in our creator God. Often, God's love is referred to as agape love which is the highest form of love that is selfless and sacrificial. It is steadfast, unchanging, and unconditional. Below are a few Scripture examples of God's great love for you! May these Bible verses about the love of God inspire courage and compassion.

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:7-8

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. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us. - John 4:9-12

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. This is how love is made complete among us so that we will have confidence on the day of judgment: In this world we are like Jesus. 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. - 1 John 4:16-18

We love because he first loved us. - 1 John 4:19

As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. 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. - John 15:9-10

My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.  - John 15:12-13

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. - John 3:16

Now therefore that the LORD your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations. - Deuteronomy 7:9

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness. - Psalms 86:15

God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us. - Romans 5:8

God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ - by grace you have been saved. - Ephesians 2:4-5

See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are. The reason why the world does not know us is that it did not know him. - 1 John 3:1

Bible Verses About Marriage

God created and instituted marriage. Bible verses about love show us the importance of marriage and how to be a loving spouse through commitment and appreciation. The Bible is the true source for the definition of marriage and the roles of husband and wife. Whether you are looking for Scripture to include in your wedding vows during the ceremony or looking to renew the love in your marriage, this collection of Bible verses about love will provide excellent encouragement and inspiration.

Wives, submit yourselves to your own husbands as you do to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife as Christ is the head of the church, his body, of which he is the Savior. Now as the church submits to Christ, so also wives should submit to their husbands in everything. 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, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church - for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband. - Ephesians 5:22-33

husband love your wives verse ephesians 5:24

Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. - Colossians 3:18-19

He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the LORD. - Proverbs 18:22

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. - Song of Solomon 8:3

I found the one my heart loves. - Song of Solomon 3:4

Then the LORD God made a woman from the rib he had taken out of the man, and he brought her to the man. The man said, “This is now bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; she shall be called ‘woman,’ for she was taken out of man.” That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh. - Genesis 2:22-24

May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. A loving doe, a graceful deer— may her breasts satisfy you always, may you ever be intoxicated with her love. - Proverbs 5:18-19

A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life. - Proverbs 31:10-12

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. Many waters cannot quench love; rivers cannot sweep it away. If one were to give all the wealth of one’s house for love, it would be utterly scorned. - Song of Solomon 8:6

I am my beloved’s and my beloved is mine. - Song of Solomon 8:3

Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken. - Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

But at the beginning of creation God ‘made them male and female.’ ‘For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.’So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let no one s-eparate.  Mark 10:9-6

Bible Verses About Relationships

love each other bible verse

As Christians and followers of Jesus Christ, the Bible tells us that the world will know us by our love. The greatest testimony that we can be is to love those around us - whether family, friends, or strangers. The below Scriptures about love will guide you in choosing to "put on love"! May we know the love of God and share that love with others throughout our life.

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. 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. 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. - 1 Corinthians 13:1-3

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. Love never fails. - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. -  Romans 12:9-10

"The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘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 mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’There is no commandment greater than these." - Mark 12:29-31

Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. -  Romans 13:8

A friend loves at all times. -  Proverbs 17:17

Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law. -  Romans 13:10

Many claim to have unfailing love, but a faithful person who can find? The righteous lead blameless lives; blessed are their children after them. - Proverbs 20:6-7

And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. - 1 Corinthians 13:13

Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love. Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace. -  Ephesians 4:2-3

Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. - 1 Peter 4:8

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. - 1 John 4:7

Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. - 1 John 4:11

And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister. - 1 John 4:21

And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. - Colossians 3:14

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. 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? Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth. -1 John 3:16-18

Do everything in love. - 1 Corinthians 16:14

Bible Verses About Loving Your Enemies

love your enemies scriptures

The idea of loving and forgiving our enemies sounds completely ridiculous at times. It is our human nature to want to defend ourselves and fight back. However, if we are called to be like Jesus, we are called to forgive those who hurt us. Loving your enemy is less about reconciling a relationship and more about the condition of your heart! Here is a collection of Scriptures about love that will bring you peace and encourage forgiveness for those who trespass against us.

But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you." -Luke 6:27-31

But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. - Luke 6:35

You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be children of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that? And if you greet only your own people, what are you doing more than others? Do not even pagans do that? Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect". - Matthew 5:43-48

On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." - Romans 12:20-21

Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. - Proverbs 10:12

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. - Proverbs 3:3-4

A Prayer to Love

Dear God, Thank you that you are a loving, gracious God. Thank you that you’ve offered us forgiveness and the gift of new life in you. Thank you that your love is perfect, it never fails, and that nothing can separate us from your love.

We pray that our lives would be filled and overflowing with the power of your love so we can make a difference in this world and bring honor to you. We ask for your help in reminding us that the most important things are not what we do outwardly, it’s not based on any talent or gift, but the most significant thing we can do in this life is simply to love you and to choose to love others.

Lord thank you that your love is patient. Help us show patience with those around us. Lord thank you that your love is kind. Help us to extend kindness to others. Lord thank you that your love does not take into account a wrong suffered. Lord help us not to hold grudges, but to choose to forgive, even when it’s difficult.

Help us to love as you love. Fill us with your Spirit so that we can choose what is best. We are weak Lord, but we know also, that even when we are weak, you are strong within us. Thank you that it’s not all up to us. Thank you that you equip us to face each day with the power of your love, your forgiveness, and your grace. In Jesus' name, Amen. 

- Debbie McDaniel

Christian Resources on Love