Bible Verses by Topic
Bible Verses About Love
The Bible’s clearest word about love is that God Himself is love — He loved us first, and every love we offer is a response to His. Below are some of Scripture’s best-loved verses on the subject, gathered in three movements: the Father’s love for us, our love returned to Him, and the love we then carry to one another. Each one is shown in the Father’s Heart Bible — a fresh translation that renders these passages in the Father’s own voice — and links straight into the chapter so you can read and listen to it free. Read slowly; these are not facts to file away but a Father speaking love over His children.
God's love for you
Before love is anything you do, it is something done to you. These verses show the Father reaching toward His children first.
1 John 3:1
See what kind of love our Father has given to us, that we should be called children of our Father — and so we are!
Read & listen to 1 John 3John 3:16
For our Father so loved the world, that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
Read & listen to John 3Romans 5:8
But our Father shows his own love for us in this: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Read & listen to Romans 5Jeremiah 31:3
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have drawn you to myself with faithful love.”
Read & listen to Jeremiah 31Zephaniah 3:17
Your Father is in your midst, a mighty warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
Read & listen to Zephaniah 3Romans 8:38–39
For I am convinced that neither death nor life… nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of our Father in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Read & listen to Romans 8Loving God in return
Our love is always a response, never the origin. We love because He first loved us — and the greatest command simply invites that love back to its source.
1 John 4:16
And we have known and believed the love that our Father has for us. Our Father is love, and whoever abides in love abides in our Father, and our Father abides in him.
Read & listen to 1 John 4Matthew 22:37–38
“You shall love your Father with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment.”
Read & listen to Matthew 22Loving one another
Love received always overflows. Having been loved by the Father, we are sent to love each other with the same love.
John 13:34–35
“A new commandment I give you: love one another. Just as I have loved you, so you also are to love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.”
Read & listen to John 13John 15:13
No one has greater love than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Read & listen to John 15Ephesians 3:18–19
…may have strength to comprehend… the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of our Father.
Read & listen to Ephesians 3The Love Chapter: 1 Corinthians 13
If one passage defines love, it is this one — read at weddings the world over, yet written to an ordinary, struggling church about how to treat each other. Read it (or listen) slowly, and notice that every line describes the way the Father has already loved you.
Frequently asked questions
What does the Bible say about love?
The Bible says that God Himself is love, that He loved us first, and that we love only in response to Him. It names love as the greatest commandment — to love God with all your heart and your neighbor as yourself — and describes love as patient, kind, and selfless. In the Father's Heart Bible, these passages read in the Father's own voice, framing love as a Father's heart toward His children.
What is the most famous Bible verse about love?
John 3:16 is the most quoted verse about love — "For our Father so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son." The most complete description of love is 1 Corinthians 13, the "Love Chapter," which says love is patient and kind and never fails. Both are read and heard in full in the Father's Heart Bible.
What does the Bible say love is?
1 Corinthians 13 gives the Bible's definition: love is patient and kind; it does not envy or boast; it is not proud or rude; it keeps no record of wrongs; it always protects, trusts, hopes, and perseveres. Scripture also says plainly that God is love (1 John 4:16), so every description of love is ultimately a description of His own heart.
What is the greatest commandment about love?
Jesus said the greatest commandment is to love God with all your heart, soul, and mind (Matthew 22:37–38), and the second is to love your neighbor as yourself. Together they sum up the whole law. In the Father's Heart Bible the first command reads "love your Father," underscoring that we are loving a Father, not merely obeying a rule.
Keep going: read the Love Chapter or the whole Bible free with audio, see our Bible reading guides, learn why the Father’s Heart Bible exists, or get the free book in the resource library. For cross-references, see Blue Letter Bible.
Read the Father’s Heart Bible free
Every verse above is a doorway. Step through and read the whole story — free online with audio, in a fresh translation that reveals God as a loving Father.
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