The short answer: the Bible says love starts with God. "God is love" (1 John 4:8, ESV), and He showed it most clearly when "Christ died for us" while we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). "We love because he first loved us" (1 John 4:19, ESV). Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God with everything and to love your neighbour as yourself (Matthew 22:37–39). Below are 20 Bible verses about love in the ESV, each with a short note.
God's Love for You
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.
The most famous verse in the Bible is a love verse. See John 3 and being born again.
Romans 5:8
but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
God did not wait for us to become lovable.
1 John 4:8
Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love.
Love is not just something God does. It is who He is.
Jeremiah 31:3
I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.
God's love has no start date and no expiry date.
Zephaniah 3:17
The LORD your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.
God does not merely tolerate His people. He sings over them.
Romans 8:38–39
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.
Nothing on the list can cut you off from His love, and the list covers everything.
Psalm 136:1
Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.
The whole Psalm repeats the line 26 times. God's steadfast love is the chorus of history.
Ephesians 3:17–19
that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is 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 God.
You will spend forever exploring how big His love is.
What Love Looks Like
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.
Read at weddings, but written to a divided church. It describes everyday love.
1 Corinthians 13:13
So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Faith and hope will one day become sight. Love lasts forever.
John 15:13
Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.
Jesus said this, and then did it.
Colossians 3:14
And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
Love is the garment that holds every other virtue together.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.
Love chooses to forgive and to keep going. See how to forgive.
Love God and Your Neighbour
Matthew 22:37–39
And he said to him, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself."
Jesus summed up the whole law in two loves.
1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us.
Our love is always a response to His.
John 13:34–35
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.
Love is how the world recognises Jesus' followers.
Matthew 5:44
But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you,
The hardest love, and the most like Jesus.
Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfilling of the law.
Every command about how to treat people is love spelled out.
Love in Action
1 John 3:18
Little children, let us not love in word or talk but in deed and in truth.
Love you can see: a meal, a coat, a conversation, a prayer. See how to help homeless neighbours.
1 Corinthians 16:14
Let all that you do be done in love.
All of it: work, family, outreach, business.
How to Live These Verses This Week
- Receive His love first. Read Romans 5:8 and thank God that He loved you before you changed.
- Pick one line from 1 Corinthians 13. Ask God to grow that kind of love in you this week.
- Love someone in deed. One practical act for one person (1 John 3:18).
- Pray for someone hard to love. Name them before God (Matthew 5:44).
- Tell someone about God's love. The good news is the greatest love you can share.
Common Questions
What does the Bible say about love? The Bible says God is love (1 John 4:8), that He showed His love by sending Jesus to die for sinners (Romans 5:8), and that we love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). Jesus said the greatest commandments are to love God and love your neighbour (Matthew 22:37–39).
What is the most famous Bible verse about love? John 3:16 is the most famous: "For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son." 1 Corinthians 13:4–7, which begins "Love is patient and kind," is also widely loved.
What does 1 Corinthians 13 say about love? It says love is patient and kind, not envious, boastful, arrogant, or rude, does not insist on its own way, and bears, believes, hopes, and endures all things (1 Corinthians 13:4–7). It ends: "the greatest of these is love" (1 Corinthians 13:13).
How can I love others like Jesus? Start by receiving God's love, then love in practical deeds and truth (1 John 3:18), forgive, pray for people who are hard to love (Matthew 5:44), and share the good news of Jesus with them.
Loved first. Now love in deed and in truth.
