The definition of love in the bible
The Bible delineates different forms of love, each with its own unique attributes and applications. Understanding these distinctions helps believers grasp the depth and breadth of love’s implications in their spiritual journey.
Agape Love: The Unconditional Love of God
Agape love is often regarded as the highest form of love, representing God’s selfless, sacrificial, and unconditional love for humanity. It transcends human limitations and is exemplified by Christ’s willingness to lay down his life for others.
This divine love is pure, unwavering, and devoid of self-interest. It manifests in acts of grace, mercy, and forgiveness, calling believers to emulate this standard in their interactions with others.
Phileo Love: Brotherly Affection Among Friends
Phileo love embodies the warmth and camaraderie of friendship, a mutual affection that fosters close bonds between individuals. This brotherly love is characterized by loyalty, empathy, and shared experiences.
The Bible encourages believers to cultivate phileo love, emphasizing its importance in creating harmonious communities and fostering deep, meaningful relationships. It is the kind of love that unites people in fellowship and mutual support.
Eros love: Romantic love within the bounds of marriage
Eros love refers to romantic, passionate love within the context of a committed marital relationship. The Bible acknowledges the beauty and sanctity of this form of love, celebrating it as a gift from God meant to be cherished within the confines of marriage.
Eros love is not merely physical attraction but encompasses emotional intimacy and mutual respect. It serves as a foundation for a thriving marriage, symbolizing the profound connection between a husband and wife.
The Bible’s teachings on love provide a comprehensive understanding of its complexities and significance in the life of a believer. By embracing the different facets of love—agape, phileo, and eros—Christians can cultivate richer, more meaningful relationships with God and others, living out their faith with authenticity and depth.
The scriptures used in this blog post are from the New International Version Bible.
God’s unconditional love and protection for humanity
John 3:16
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.
Psalm 91:14
“Because he loves me,” says the Lord, “I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.
Romans 5:5
And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us.
Psalm 103:8
The Lord is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in love.
Psalm 33:5
The Lord loves righteousness and justice; the earth is full of his unfailing love.
1 Peter 5:6-7
Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.
Psalm 136:26
Give thanks to the God of heaven. His love endures forever.
Psalm 86:15
But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.
Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
John 15:9
“As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love.
Psalm 36:5-7
Your love, Lord, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, Lord, preserve both people and animals. How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
Isaiah 54:10
“Though the mountains be shaken and the hills be removed, yet my unfailing love for you will not be shaken nor my covenant of peace be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you.
Lamentations 3:22-23
Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail.
Psalm 100:5
For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations.
Deuteronomy 7:9
Know therefore that the Lord your God is God; he is the faithful God, keeping his covenant of love to a thousand generations of those who love him and keep his commandments.
Jeremiah 31:3
“I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with unfailing kindness.”
1 John 4:10
This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.
Ephesians 2:4-5
But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions—it is by grace you have been saved.
Psalm 63:3
Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you.
Love for God
Joshua 22:5
But be very careful to keep the commandment and the law that Moses the servant of the Lord gave you: to love the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to him, to keep his commands, to hold fast to him and to serve him with all your heart and with all your soul.
Psalm 18:1
I love you, Lord, my strength.
Proverbs 8:17
I love those who love me, and those who seek me find me.
Mark 12:30
Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.
Power of love
1 Corinthians 13:13
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love.
1 John 4:7-8
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 4:18
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.
Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.
Proverbs 10:12
Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs.
1 Corinthians 13:4-8
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.
1 Peter 4:8
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
Galatians 5:22-23
But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law.
Self love and worth
Psalm 139:14
I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.
Galatians 2:20
I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.
2 Timothy 1:7
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
Proverbs 19:8
The one who gets wisdom loves life; the one who cherishes understanding will soon prosper.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies.
Romans 8:37
In all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.
2 Corinthians 5:17
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here!
Philippians 4:13
I can do all this through him who gives me strength.
Isaiah 43:4
Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.
Ephesians 2:10
For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.
1 John 3:1
See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him.
Family love and unity
Ephesians 6:4
Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord.
Titus 2:4
Then they can urge the younger women to love their husbands and children
Colossians 3:14
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
1 Corinthians 16:14
Do everything in love.
1 Timothy 5:8
Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.
1 John 3:18
Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Proverbs 22:6
Start children off on the way they should go, and even when they are old they will not turn from it.
Love and marriage
Genesis 2:24
That is why a man leaves his father and mother and is united to his wife, and they become one flesh.
Song of Songs 4:7
You are altogether beautiful, my darling; there is no flaw in you.
Song of Songs 2:16
My beloved is mine and I am his
Ephesians 5:25-33
Husbands, love your wives, just as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her to make her holy, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word, and to present her to himself as a radiant church, without stain or wrinkle or any other blemish, but holy and blameless. In this same way, husbands ought to love their wives as their own bodies. He who loves his wife loves himself. After all, no one ever hated their own body, but they feed and care for their body, just as Christ does the church— for we are members of his body. “For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh.” This is a profound mystery—but I am talking about Christ and the church. However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.
1 Corinthians 13:1-2
If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have 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 do not have love, I am nothing.
Hosea 2:19
I will betroth you to me forever; I will betroth you in righteousness and justice, in love and compassion.
Proverbs 31:10-12
A wife of noble character who can find? She is worth far more than rubies. Her husband has full confidence in her and lacks nothing of value. She brings him good, not harm, all the days of her life.
Genesis 2:18
The Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.”
Song of Songs 4:9
You have stolen my heart, my sister, my bride; you have stolen my heart with one glance of your eyes, with one jewel of your necklace.
Song of Songs 1:15
How beautiful you are, my darling! Oh, how beautiful! Your eyes are doves.
1 Corinthians 7:3-5
The husband should fulfill his marital duty to his wife, and likewise the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body but yields it to her husband. In the same way, the husband does not have authority over his own body but yields it to his wife. Do not deprive each other except perhaps by mutual consent and for a time, so that you may devote yourselves to prayer. Then come together again so that Satan will not tempt you because of your lack of self-control.
Proverbs 18:22
He who finds a wife finds what is good and receives favor from the Lord.
Mark 10:9
Therefore what God has joined together, let no one separate.
Colossians 3:18-19
Wives, submit yourselves to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord. Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them.
Love and forgiveness
Colossians 3:13
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
Ephesians 4:32
Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.
Luke 17:3-4
“If your brother or sister sins against you, rebuke them; and if they repent, forgive them. Even if they sin against you seven times in a day and seven times come back to you saying ‘I repent,’ you must forgive them.”
Matthew 18:35
“This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive your brother or sister from your heart.”
Matthew 6:14-15
For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.
Friendship, relationships and love
1 John 4:21
And he has given us this command: Anyone who loves God must also love their brother and sister.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
Proverbs 18:24
One who has unreliable friends soon comes to ruin, but there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
1 Thessalonians 4:9
Now about your love for one another we do not need to write to you, for you yourselves have been taught by God to love each other.
Job 6:14
Anyone who withholds kindness from a friend forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
1 Peter 3:8
Finally, all of you, be like-minded, be sympathetic, love one another, be compassionate and humble.
Ephesians 4:2
Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.
John 15:12-13
My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
Proverbs 27:9
Perfume and incense bring joy to the heart, and the pleasantness of a friend springs from their heartfelt advice.
Philippians 2:2-4
Then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.
Romans 13:10
Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
Proverbs 27:6
Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses.
1 John 4:20
Whoever claims to love God yet hates a brother or sister is a liar. For whoever does not love their brother and sister, whom they have seen, cannot love God, whom they have not seen.
Matthew 22:39
Love your neighbor as yourself.
Romans 12:10
Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves.
Romans 13:8
Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law.
John 13:34-35
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.”
1 John 4:11
Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another.
Hebrews 13:1
Keep on loving one another as brothers and sisters.
Galatians 6:2
Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.
Love for enemies
Matthew 5:44
“But I tell you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.”
Luke 6:27-28
“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.”
Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord.
1 John 2:9-10
Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates a brother or sister is still in the darkness. Anyone who loves their brother and sister lives in the light, and there is nothing in them to make them stumble.
Romans 12:14
Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse.
1 Peter 3:9
Do not repay evil with evil or insult with insult. On the contrary, repay evil with blessing, because to this you were called so that you may inherit a blessing.
Proverbs 24:17
Do not gloat when your enemy falls; when they stumble, do not let your heart rejoice.
Luke 6:35
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
Love and care for the poor
Psalm 9:18
But God will never forget the needy; the hope of the afflicted will never perish.
Psalm 107:8-9
Let them give thanks to the Lord for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for mankind, for he satisfies the thirsty and fills the hungry with good things.
Psalm 41:1
Blessed are those who have regard for the weak; the Lord delivers them in times of trouble.
Psalm 82:3-4
Defend the weak and the fatherless; uphold the cause of the poor and the oppressed. Rescue the weak and the needy; deliver them from the hand of the wicked.
Proverbs 3:27
Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.
Proverbs 14:31
Whoever oppresses the poor shows contempt for their Maker, but whoever is kind to the needy honors God.
Proverbs 19:17
Whoever is kind to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will reward them for what they have done.
Proverbs 31:8-9
Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves, for the rights of all who are destitute. Speak up and judge fairly; defend the rights of the poor and needy.
Zechariah 7:9
This is what the Lord Almighty said: “Administer true justice; show mercy and compassion to one another.”
Hebrews 13:16
And do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.
Examples of Jesus’ love
John 13:1
It was just before the Passover Festival. Jesus knew that the hour had come for him to leave this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.
Luke 7:13
When the Lord saw her, his heart went out to her and he said, “Don’t cry.”
Mark 6:34
When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things.
A prayer for love
Heavenly Father,
I come before you with a heart open to the beauty and power of love. You see the deepest desires of my soul and understand the longing within me for meaningful connections.
Grant me the grace to love unconditionally, O Lord, as you love me. Fill my heart with compassion, kindness, and patience, that I may reflect your love to those around me.
Teach me to embrace others as you embrace me, with acceptance and forgiveness. May I be a vessel of your boundless love, extending it to those in need of comfort and solace.
Guide me to nurture relationships built on trust, respect, and selflessness. Help me to honor and cherish the people in my life, striving to serve them with a sincere and joyful heart.
Lord, fill me with your love, that I may be a source of healing and hope to others. Let your love flow through me, touching lives and bringing light to dark places.
In Jesus’ name, I pray,
Amen
