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When I was growing up, I had a difficult time understanding who God was. I was not a believer, but one day, someone explained to me that God was a Father who loved us and didn’t want us to get hurt, and He desired to protect us. This was a defining moment in my life because I finally understood the love of God, and I saw Him as a loving Father who cared about His children.
While I did not surrender my life to God at that moment, I do believe the love of God shared with me on that day opened a door to experiencing the love of Christ again and again in the years to come. Just like Paul states in Romans 2:4, God’s love, patience, and kindness led me to repentance. This is why it is so important to understand what the Bible says about love, and memorize bible verses about love, relationships, & marriage.
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 (NIV)
Love is the defining mark of a Christian life. If you are wondering what to do in a specific situation, the Bible is clear that love is a viable strategy for getting through any trial and strengthening every relationship.
But living a life of love is not easy.
God’s Word tells us to be doers of the Word and clearly points out the importance and value of LOVE. Being a disciple of Christ has always been about loving God and loving your neighbor as yourself. Love is always justified in the Bible, and as Paul says in Galatians chapter 5 verse 23, love is a fruit of the Spirit, and against such things there is no law.
The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
Lamentations 3:22-23 (ESV)
What we believe to be true about God matters, and it will have a positive or negative effect on our relationship with Him. While it might be difficult to find God in the hard times of life or when the world feels like there is more bad than good, it is not hard to find the truth of God’s love for us and those around us in His word. God’s Word is the greatest teacher when it comes to love. When life gets tough, the trials are piling up, and it feels like the enemies are lurking around every corner; love is the key to overcoming everything you are facing.
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.
Psalm 143:8 (NIV)
Bible Verses About Love
As a disciple of Christ, we need to understand the unconditional love of God. This kind of love is not always easy to understand. Here are 16 Bible verses about love in the Bible that will inspire you to live a life of love every single day.
1 Corinthians 13:4-7 (NIV):
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.
1 Peter 4:8 (NIV):
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Colossians 3:14 (NIV):
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
1 John 4:7-8 (NIV):
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 4:19 (WEB):
We love him because he first loved us.
Ephesians 4:2-3 (WEB):
with all lowliness and humility, with patience, bearing with one another in love, being eager to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.
1 John 4:16 (WEB):
We know and have believed the love which God has for us. God is love, and he who remains in love remains in God, and God remains in him.
Proverbs 20:6-7 (WEB):
Many men claim to be men of unfailing love, but who can find a faithful man? A righteous man walks in integrity. Blessed are his children after him.
1 Corinthians 16:14 (WEB):
Let all that you do be done in love.
1 John 4:7 (WEB):
Beloved, let’s love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves has been born of God, and knows God.
Ephesians 4:32 (WEB):
And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God also in Christ forgave you.
1 John 4:18 (NIV):
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 Corinthians 13:13 (WEB):
But now faith, hope, and love remain—these three. The greatest of these is love.
1 Corinthians 13:2 (NIV):
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.
1 Corinthians 13:8 (WEB):
Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will be done away with. Where there are various languages, they will cease. Where there is knowledge, it will be done away with.
Ephesians 4:29 (ESV):
Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.
Bible Verses About Love in Relationships
Relationships matter to God. In John 1:13, it states there is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for someone else. The strongest relationships are built on love and care for one another. The problem with relationships is they are not perfect, and so much hurt can happen in a short amount of time. Betrayal and pain shroud our hearts, and it is not always easy to forgive and reconcile. Here are 26 Bible quotes about relationships to help encourage you to cultivate love in every relationship in your life.
Ruth 1:16-17 (WEB):
Ruth said, “Don’t urge me to leave you, and to return from following you, for where you go, I will go; and where you stay, I will stay. Your people will be my people, and your God my God. Where you die, I will die, and there I will be buried. May Yahweh do so to me, and more also, if anything but death parts you and me.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7 (WEB):
Set me as a seal on your heart, as a seal on your arm; for love is strong as death. Jealousy is as cruel as Sheol. Its flashes are flashes of fire, a very flame of Yahweh. Many waters can’t quench love; neither can floods drown it. If a man would give all the wealth of his house for love, he would be utterly scorned.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-12 (NIV):
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.
Proverbs 24:3-4 (WEB):
Through wisdom, a house is built; by understanding it is established; by knowledge the rooms are filled with all rare and beautiful treasure.
Proverbs 22:6 (WEB):
Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.
Philippians 2:2 (ESV):
complete my joy by being of the same mind, having the same love, being in full accord and of one mind.
Ephesians 5:21 (NIV):
Submit to one another out of reverence for Christ.
Romans 12:10 (AMP):
Be devoted to one another with [authentic] brotherly affection [as members of one family], give preference to one another in honor.
1 Thessalonians 3:12 (WEB):
May the Lord make you to increase and abound in love toward one another, and toward all men, even as we also do toward you…
Hebrews 10:24-25 (WEB):
Let’s consider how to provoke one another to love and good works, not forsaking our own assembling together, as the custom of some is, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.
1 Peter 1:22 (WEB):
Seeing you have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth through the Spirit in sincere brotherly affection, love one another from the heart fervently.
Proverbs 3:3-4 (NIV):
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.
Ephesians 4:15 (WEB):
but speaking truth in love, we may grow up in all things into him who is the head, Christ,
Romans 13:8 (WEB):
Owe no one anything, except to love one another; for he who loves his neighbor has fulfilled the law.
John 15:12 (WEB):
This is my commandment, that you love one another, even as I have loved you.
Romans 15:5 (NIV):
May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you the same attitude of mind toward each other that Christ Jesus had.
1 Thessalonians 5:11 (WEB):
Therefore exhort one another, and build each other up, even as you also do.
1 Corinthians 10:24 (WEB):
Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbor’s good.
1 Thessalonians 4:9 (WEB):
But concerning brotherly love, you have no need that one write to you. For you yourselves are taught by God to love one another,
Galatians 5:13 (WEB):
For you, brothers, were called for freedom. Only don’t use your freedom for gain to the flesh, but through love be servants to one another.
1 John 4:11 (WEB):
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
1 Peter 4:8 (NIV):
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
1 John 4:12 (WEB):
No one has seen God at any time. If we love one another, God remains in us, and his love has been perfected in us.
Romans 12:9-10 (WEB):
Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good. In love of the brothers be tenderly affectionate to one another; in honor preferring one another;
1 Peter 3:8 (NIV):
Finally, all of you be like-minded, compassionate, loving as brothers, tenderhearted, courteous,
Proverbs 17:17 (NIV):
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
Marriage Bible Verses
The marriage covenant is designed to be a space of protection and growth. All marriages can be complicated for a lot of people, and they are not free from the pain that often can ruin any relationship.
Love is an important foundation that needs to be found not only in our relationships but also in marriage. Here are 16 of the best Bible verses about marriage that you can cite on your wedding day during the wedding readings. Or you can use these favorite Bible verses about Christian marriages to help you build the foundation of love in your marriage and to encourage you and your spouse for many years to come.
Genesis 2:24 (WEB):
Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother, and will join with his wife, and they will be one flesh.
Ephesians 5:25 (WEB):
Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the assembly, and gave himself up for it…
Proverbs 18:22 (NIV):
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.
Proverbs 31:10 (ESV):
An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels.
Proverbs 31:11 (WEB):
The heart of her husband trusts in her. He shall have no lack of gain.
Ephesians 5:33 (WEB):
Nevertheless, each of you must also love his own wife even as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
Proverbs 19:14 (NIV):
Houses and wealth are inherited from parents, but a prudent wife is from the Lord.
Colossians 3:19 (WEB):
Husbands, love your wives, and don’t be bitter against them.
Ecclesiastes 9:9 (AMP):
Live joyfully with the wife whom you love all the days of your fleeting life which He has given you under the sun—all the days of vanity and futility. For this is your reward in life and in your work in which you have labored under the sun.
Proverbs 12:4 (NIV):
A wife of noble character is her husband’s crown, but a disgraceful wife is like decay in his bones.
Mark 10:9 (NIV):
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Ephesians 5:28 (NIV):
In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself.
1 Peter 3:7 (TPT):
you, in turn, must treat your wives with tenderness, viewing them as feminine partners who deserve to be honored, for they are co-heirs with you of the “divine grace of life,” so that nothing will hinder your prayers.
1 Corinthians 7:14:
the unbelieving husband is sanctified in the wife, and the unbelieving wife is sanctified in the husband. Otherwise, your children would be unclean, but now they are holy.
In-Depth Bible Study and Scripture Memorization
Take time to study these words and cultivate love in your life, relationships, and marriage. Here is a Blank Scripture Journal PDF download you can use to memorize and dive deeper into what the Bible says about love.
Learn more about the author, Heather Bixler, by clicking here.