Bible Verses About Love: 15 Verses on God’s Love and Ours

Bible verses about God’s love

Every verse in this guide is quoted from the World English Bible, with a line about where it comes from.

• 1 John 4:8. “He who doesn’t love doesn’t know God, for God is love.” From a late first-century letter that tradition credits to the apostle John, written to churches hurt by a split.
• Romans 5:8. “But God commends his own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.” Paul, writing to Christians in Rome. Commends here means proves.
• Jeremiah 31:3. “Yes, I have loved you with an everlasting love. Therefore I have drawn you with loving kindness.” God’s words through Jeremiah to a nation that had lost nearly everything.
• Zephaniah 3:17. “He will calm you in his love. He will rejoice over you with singing.” The closing promise of a prophet who spent most of his book warning of judgment.

For more, see our full list of Bible verses about God’s love.

Bible verses about loving other people

• Leviticus 19:18. “you shall love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.” Part of the law given to Israel at Sinai. Paul and James both quote it, and in the Gospels so does Jesus.
• 1 Corinthians 13:4. “Love is patient and is kind.” Paul wrote this to a church that was fighting with itself, which is worth remembering the next time you hear it at a wedding.
• 1 John 3:18. “My little children, let’s not love in word only, or with the tongue only, but in deed and truth.” From the same letter as 1 John 4:8. Love has to show up in what you do.
• 1 Corinthians 16:14. “Let all that you do be done in love.” Near the end of Paul’s letter to Corinth, as he says goodbye.

Bible verses about married love

• Song of Solomon 8:7. “Many waters can’t quench love, neither can floods drown it.” From a collection of love poems that tradition credits to Solomon.
• Song of Solomon 2:16. “My beloved is mine, and I am his.” The woman in the poem says this about the man she loves.
• Ephesians 5:25. “Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly and gave himself up for her”. Paul measures a husband’s love by what Christ gave up. Assembly is this translation’s word for the church.

Bible verses about love when it’s hard

• 1 Peter 4:8. “And above all things be earnest in your love among yourselves, for love covers a multitude of sins.” A letter to scattered Christians under pressure. The line means love is willing to forgive a lot.
• Proverbs 10:12. “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all wrongs.” From the proverbs credited to Solomon. Love can end a quarrel that hatred would keep going.
• Exodus 23:5. “If you see the donkey of him who hates you fallen down under his burden, don’t leave him.” From the law given at Sinai. It’s a practical rule: help your enemy with his load.
• Romans 12:21. “Don’t be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” Paul’s last word on what to do when someone has wronged you.

Loving someone who has hurt you usually starts with forgiving them, and our list of Bible verses about forgiveness is a good next read. Love doesn’t ask you to stay in danger, though. If someone is harming you, getting safe comes first.

What does the Bible mean by love?

In everyday English, love usually means a feeling. In the Bible it’s mostly something you do, and keep doing. The Song of Solomon shows there’s plenty of room for the feeling, but the feeling isn’t the measure.

The Old Testament’s key word is hesed, which this translation renders “loving kindness”: loyal love that keeps its promises. The New Testament’s word is agape, love that gives itself for someone else’s good. First John defines it this way: “In this is love, not that we loved God, but that he loved us, and sent his Son as the atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 John 4:10).

That order matters. “We love him, because he first loved us.” (1 John 4:19). The Bible starts with God’s love and treats yours as an answer to it. So the same letter can say that you can’t claim to love God while you hate the person in front of you (1 John 4:20).

What’s a good Bible verse for a Valentine’s card?

Short verses work best in a card. Write the reference under the verse, then add one line of your own.

• For a husband or wife: Song of Solomon 2:16 or 8:7.
• For someone you’re dating: 1 Corinthians 13:4.
• For a friend or a parent: 1 Corinthians 16:14.
• For someone having a hard time: Jeremiah 31:3 or Zephaniah 3:17.

How to keep a verse about love close

1. Choose one verse from this list, the one you need most right now.
2. Read the chapter around it, so you know who is speaking and why.
3. Write it out by hand and read it aloud.
4. Let it change one thing today: a message you send, a reply you hold back, a chore you do for someone.
5. Keep it where you’ll see it: a note on the mirror, or the Lock Screen of your phone.

Our guide to saving and memorizing Bible verses has more ways to make a verse stick.

Common questions