Tap to Read ➤

Scriptures on Love

Mukta Gaikwad
To love and be loved are definitely life's cherished blessings, yet like everything else, love is not a cake walk or a bed of roses. It comes with its pitfalls and its high points. No doubt then, you need divine help to get you through the tough times and even those happy times when you are overwhelmed with love.

Did You Know?

There are four types of love - Eros(sensual love); Philia(love for one another); Storge (love for family) and Agape(divine love).

What is Love?

Love can be this and that, you can interpret this question in a myriad different ways. Love is that one sublime feeling everyone craves for, it can neither be purchased nor sold, it can only make its presence felt when one is receptive.
Of all the things people say of love, one thing is for sure, love liberates, it does not stifle, it does not ask questions, and it does not doubt.
Speaking of love, it is hard not to mention the very famous Shakespeare, who in his sonnet says, "...Love is not love Which alters when it alteration finds..." and it is this unchanging face of love that each of us yearns for and eventually comes to find.
Well, there is love which makes us doubt and lose faith and there is Love, which gives us hope and teaches us patience and understanding. Dwelling deeper on the subject of love, these verses from the scriptures prove to be a ship's sailing mast, one that guides and gives solace when tempest tossed.

Defining Love

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.

But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away. - I Cor. 13:4-8

The Written Word

A new commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another; even as I have loved you, that ye also love one another.
- John 13:34

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 John 4:7-8
And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
- Romans 5:5

Three things will last forever - faith, hope and love - and the greatest of these is love.
- 1 Cor 13:13
For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed," says the LORD, who has compassion on you.
- Isaiah 54:10
Jesus answered, "The most important is, 'Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. And you shall 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: 'You shall love your neighbor as yourself.' There is no other commandment greater than these."
- Mark 12:29-31
You have heard that it was said, 'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.
- Matthew 5:43-44

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.
- 1 John 4:16-17
Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him."
- John 14:21

What Love Entails

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

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

Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned.
Luke 6:37
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32

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 4:1-3
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. We love because he first loved us.
1 John 4:18-19

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

Bound in Matrimony

Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the LORD. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.
Song of Solomon 8:6-7
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.
Ephesians 5:31

Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.
Ephesians 5:25
In the same way, you husbands must give honor to your wives. Treat her with understanding as you live together. She may be weaker than you are, but she is your equal partner in God's gift of new life. If you don't treat her as you should, your prayers will not be heard.
1 Peter 3:7
Enjoy life with your wife, whom you love, all the days of this meaningless life that God has given you under the sun-all your meaningless days. For this is your lot in life and in your toilsome labor under the sun.
Ecclesiastes 9:9

Walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.
Ephesians 5:2

Agape

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.
1 John 4:9-12
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

...but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 5:8
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:37-39
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 107:8-9

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Mark 12:30

I made known to them your name, and I will continue to make it known, that the love with which you have loved me may be in them, and I in them.
John 17:26

And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 5:5

Remember

If I speak in the tongues of men and of angels, but have not 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 have not love, I am nothing.
If I give all I possess to the poor and surrender my body to the flames, but have not love, I gain nothing.
1 Corinthians 13:1-3

We hope these scripture passages help you on your path of love and life. May you have a blessed life and find solace and wisdom through these few passages.