Verses on God's Love in the Bible

1. God’s love is perfect and is a model for how to love.

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Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance. (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)

Can you imagine being loved like this? It would change your life. The truth is this is an accurate description of God’s love for you.

Though this passage is often read at weddings, humans cannot love perfectly as God does. But it makes sense that people strive to have their love for one another reflect these qualities.

Everyone needs this type of love, but if you expect it from another person, you will be let down. God is the only one who can love you perfectly. And when you have a relationship with God and experience His love, it empowers you to love others the way God loves you.

2. When you fully experience God’s love, you have nothing to fear.

Such love has no fear, because perfect love expels all fear. If we are afraid, it is for fear of punishment, and this shows that we have not fully experienced His perfect love. (1 John 4:18)

When you understand that God loves you no matter what, you no longer need to be afraid of your failings causing Him to love you less. If you could only truly know the depth of God’s love, you would have nothing to fear.

God already knows about the wrong things you’ve done as well as any you will do. He still chose to love you.

3. You are secure in your relationship with God: Nothing can separate you from God’s love.

Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean He no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? ... No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us. And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow — not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below — indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:35, 37-39)

God is more powerful than anything in heaven or on earth. When you accept Jesus’ invitation to begin a relationship with God, you are secure in His love forever. There is nothing powerful enough to separate you from God’s love. Even when things are difficult or you feel far from God, it’s not because God stops loving you. The truth is that God will never stop loving you, no matter what you do.

4. God’s love is too great to fully understand.

And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. (Ephesians 3:18-19)

God’s love is so great that we, as mere humans, cannot fully understand it. Humans’ love for one another often depends at least partly on the behavior of the person being loved. God’s love for us does not.

Do you long to be known and loved for who you are? God is the only one who can truly do that.

5. God’s love is a shield surrounding you and keeping you safe.

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But let all who take refuge in You rejoice; let them sing joyful praises forever. Spread Your protection over them, that all who love Your name may be filled with joy. For You bless the godly, O LORD; You surround them with Your shield of love. (Psalm 5:11-12)

God’s love is so much more than the warm fuzzy feeling often associated with the word love. His love is a powerful force, protecting and comforting us. Being in God’s love is a position of not just joy but also safety.

When you run to God for protection, He surrounds you with His shield of love. Think about that image for a while. Experience the security you have because God’s love surrounds you. Let His love flood your mind with a sense of peace and comfort.

6. God will not let you down because His love cannot fail.

Your unfailing love, O LORD, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, Your justice like the ocean depths. You care for people and animals alike, O LORD. How precious is Your unfailing love, O God! All humanity finds shelter in the shadow of Your wings. (Psalm 36:5-7)

You have probably been hurt or betrayed by someone you love at some point in your life. Maybe you have experienced this more than once. Loving and trusting other people is risky. Once one person hurts you, it becomes harder to open up to others.

In contrast, God’s love is truly unconditional. He never fails you or betrays you. You do not need to hold back in your relationship with God, because He is totally trustworthy.

When you feel let down by people, read these verses and remember this: Though people may let you down, God never will.

7. God calls you His child.

See how very much our Father loves us, for He calls us His children, and that is what we are! But the people who belong to this world don’t recognize that we are God’s children because they don’t know Him. (1 John 3:1)

You are a child of God. You may have heard this phrase many times before, but take some time to let it sink in. God, your Father, calls you His child.

When you begin a relationship with God, you don’t just become God’s friend, you become His child. God delights in you and wants the best for you. He wants to fill your life with joy and blessings.

8. God chose to adopt you because He loves you.

God decided in advance to adopt us into His own family by bringing us to Himself through Jesus Christ. This is what He wanted to do, and it gave Him great pleasure. (Ephesians 1:5)

You can have a child by accident, but you cannot adopt a child by accident. When you adopt a child, you choose to love, cherish and care for that child for life. When God adopts you, it’s not an accident. He chooses to love, cherish and care for you forever. He does it because He loves you and wants an eternal relationship with you.

God loves His children as a proud Father. If you have begun a relationship with Him, you are God’s child and He delights in you.

Take a minute to think about how the God of the entire universe loves you personally and chose you to be His child.

9. God loves you so much that He sacrificed His Son for you.

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For this is how God loved the world: He gave His one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life. (John 3:16)

It’s hard to understand if you’re not a parent, but the love parents feel for their children is possibly the deepest love one human can have for another. If you talk to any loving parents, they probably cannot imagine any reason they would willingly let their child die.

They would much rather die than let their child die, because their child’s life is so much more important to them than their own lives.

But God loves you so much that He was willing to let His Son come to earth, be mistreated, and ultimately die for your sins so that you could become His child too. That is love that’s beyond understanding.

10. God loved you enough to die for you when you were still rebelling against Him.

But God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. (Romans 5:8)

No matter how much you have messed up or how far you feel from God, He still loves you and wants a relationship with you.

Parents love their children, no matter how the children behave. If a child says, “I hate you!” it hurts. But loving parents will still love their children even when they say hurtful things or rebel. Even when you were still rebelling against God and saying, “I hate you,” He replied, “I love you” by choosing to die for you so that He could have a relationship with you forever.

You do not need to change or reach a better place before you come to God. He will help you change and get to a better place. All you need to do is accept His sacrifice and say yes to being in a relationship with God.

11. You could never earn or deserve the love God offers you.

But God is so rich in mercy, and He loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, He gave us life when He raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) (Ephesians 2:4-5)

You do not deserve God’s love. No one does. But the amazing news is that He loves you anyway.

This is grace: God loves you so much that He paid the price to offer you the gift of eternal life. No one deserves it based on their own actions or how religious they think they are. God’s love is a precious gift to be treasured.

12. God’s love allows you to change and grow into the person He wants you to be.

Either way, Christ’s love controls us. Since we believe that Christ died for all, we also believe that we have all died to our old life. He died for everyone so that those who receive His new life will no longer live for themselves. Instead, they will live for Christ, who died and was raised for them. (2 Corinthians 5:14-15)

God loves you just as you are, but He also loves you enough to not let you stay how you are. He wants to see you grow and change for the better. He sent Jesus to die for your sins so this would be possible. When you receive God’s forgiveness and accept God’s help, you can begin to work toward positive, lasting change.

This is another way God acts as a loving parent toward you. Parents love their kids as they are, not just as they want them to be one day. Even if they have a toddler that never listens and regularly has meltdowns in public or a teenager on a rebellious streak, parents still love their kids. At the same time, they want to see their children grow, learn and make good choices in life. Good parents love their kids enough to set limits, give them guidance and walk beside them through the good and the bad.

God does this for you. Once you choose to begin a relationship with God, you experience His forgiveness. This allows you to let go of negative aspects of your personal history and move toward positive change. You also receive His Holy Spirit, who guides you, gives you strength and is present with you every day.

13. God gives us the Holy Spirit because He wants us to be filled with His love.

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And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because He has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with His love. (Romans 5:5)

Have you ever had someone in your life you loved so much that you wanted to be with them all the time? God feels that way about you. Not only does God love you and want a relationship with you, but He wants to be present in every moment of your life.

When you begin a relationship with God, the Holy Spirit comes into your life. He is with you through the good and the bad. You can choose to ignore the Holy Spirit’s influence, but He will never leave you. He is always waiting for you to turn back and seek His comfort, wisdom and guidance.

The Holy Spirit can help you experience and have a deeper understanding of God’s love for you. His presence in your life means you are never on your own.

14. God disciplines you to help you learn — because He loves you.

My child, don’t reject the LORD’s discipline, and don’t be upset when He corrects you. For the LORD corrects those He loves, just as a father corrects a child in whom He delights. (Proverbs 3:11-12)

Though people often associate discipline with punishment, this verse shows us that God’s discipline is more about training and teaching. That is why Jesus’ followers were called disciples, or people who follow a teacher.

When you follow Jesus, you become His disciple. In the process of learning from Jesus, some lessons will be hard or even feel like punishment. But God is not out to punish you or hurt you. He is trying to teach you. Your choices have consequences, and God usually allows you to experience those consequences. Facing hard things and overcoming them is one of the best ways to learn.

Don’t let yourself get dragged down by hardships or isolate yourself from God and others. Instead, turn to God for help and discover what He is teaching you in the process.

15. God cares when you are suffering because He loves you.

I will be glad and rejoice in Your unfailing love, for You have seen my troubles, and You care about the anguish of my soul. (Psalm 31:7)

When things are hard, it can be easy to feel alone or like no one cares. But God cares. He cares about your sadness and hardships. He cares about your suffering. Why? Because God loves you.

Even when things seem hopeless, you can still hope in God. God does not promise He will fix our problems in the immediate sense. We will experience pain and suffering and sorrow. But He does promise that one day, everyone who has a relationship with Him will spend eternity in His presence, where suffering and sorrow will be gone forever.

But God is not just telling us, “It will get better later,” and leaving it at that. God hurts when you hurt because He loves you. He is always there to comfort you with His unfailing love as you bring your struggles to Him.

16. Even when things seem hopeless, you can hope in God because He loves You.

I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss. Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this: The faithful love of the LORD never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; His mercies begin afresh each morning. (Lamentations 3:20-23)

Even if you are in the midst of a difficult time or are grieving a great loss, there is still reason for hope. Everything around you may feel like it’s falling apart. Everything inside of you may feel like it’s falling apart. But God’s love and mercy will never fail you.

Ask God to give you hope because of His never-ending love. Ask Him to fill you with His peace that is more powerful than all of the hard things in your life. Every day is a new opportunity to receive God’s mercy and love.

17. God is loving. He does not want to harm you but to show you compassion.

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Though He brings grief, He also shows compassion because of the greatness of His unfailing love. For He does not enjoy hurting people or causing them sorrow. (Lamentations 3:32-33)

When you experience difficult things or see suffering in the world, you may be tempted to think God dislikes you or that He enjoys seeing some people suffer. This is not true. God created a beautiful, perfect world, but people brought imperfection into it.

God is hurt when He sees how much people suffer. He has allowed people to make a mess of the world for a period of time, but He will not leave it that way forever. God will make things right again because He is compassionate and loving.

18. Jesus’ love is an example of what it means to sacrifice and serve others out of love.

Jesus knew that the Father had given Him authority over everything and that He had come from God and would return to God. So He got up from the table, took off His robe, wrapped a towel around His waist, and poured water into a basin. Then He began to wash the disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel He had around Him. ... “So now I am giving you a new commandment: Love each other. Just as I have loved you, you should love each other.” (John 13:3-5, 34)

On His last night with His disciples before He was crucified, Jesus emphasized loving others. He demonstrated what loving others looks like by washing His disciples’ feet.

Washing someone’s dirty feet may seem like a gross enough task today, but during that day, people wore sandals and walked most places. So their feet were much, much dirtier. Washing feet was usually the job of a lowly servant.

Later, one of Jesus’ final commands to His disciples was to love each other as He had loved them.

This passage begins by telling us Jesus knew He had all of God’s authority and power and would soon return to God in heaven. But He showed His disciples He loved them by stepping down from His position of power to take on the role of a lowly servant.

Loving others often requires being willing to step down from your position of power and serve.

19. God is love, so our love for others points them to Him.

God showed how much He loved us by sending His one and only Son into the world so that we might have eternal life through Him. This is real love — not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as a sacrifice to take away our sins. Dear friends, since God loved us that much, we surely ought to love each other. No one has ever seen God. But if we love each other, God lives in us, and His love is brought to full expression in us.” (1 John 4:9-12)

Loving each other gives people a glimpse of God because God is love. It can be difficult for people to understand God, but by loving others in His name, they experience a taste of His love.

Sadly, sometimes Christians are known more for judgment than for love. If you want to help other people know who God is, you can share the message of God’s love and then help them experience it through your love for them.

20. Because God loves us so much, His love should overflow from us into others.

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! (Galatians 5:22-23)

God’s love should not stop with Him loving you, it should overflow into the lives of the people around you. This is the natural result of constantly experiencing God’s loving presence in the form of the Holy Spirit.

When you allow God’s love to grow in you, it will be like a plant that produces fruit. One of the fruits of God’s love is your increasing inclination and ability to love others. His Spirit also allows you to love with a love greater than you could have on your own.

Don’t keep the love of God to yourself; allow Him to use you to show His love to others.

The beauty of God’s love is that He offers it freely. He wants to have a loving relationship with you forever.

The Bible is full of references to God’s love. Below are some longer Bible passages on this theme.

As you read these verses, think about how they inspire you in your relationship with God. Then let the love of God inspire you to act. There are many ways to do this, and below the verses are some suggestions of things you can do.

• Reflect on more of what the Bible teaches you about God’s love: 

  • 1 Corinthians 13

  • 1 John 4:7-21

  • Psalm 107

  • Romans 8:15-39

  • John 15:1-17

• Discover how you can have a personal relationship with the God who loves you. If you have yet to experience the amazing depth of God’s love, you can begin a relationship with Him right now. Find out how to know God personally.
  

• Do you truly believe that God loves you as much as the Bible says He does? 

  • If not, think of a way to remind yourself of God’s love for you throughout the day. Write your favorite verses about God’s love on sticky notes and stick them on your bathroom mirror or around your workspace. Memorize a few of these verses and repeat them to yourself when you are feeling far from God.
     

  • If you believe that God loves you, how does it influence the way you live? Do you believe your Father, who loves you dearly, is the most powerful force in the universe? What would look different in your life if you lived in light of this truth?
    

• Are you allowing God to use you to show His love to others? 

  • Who is one person in your life whom you can show God’s love to today?

  • Send a message of encouragement to someone you know is having a difficult time. 

  • Think of a small act of kindness you can do for someone who is struggling.

    • Stop by to just be with them and listen.

    • Bring them something special, like coffee or flowers.

    • Drop off dinner or have it delivered.

    • If they have kids, offer to watch them for a couple hours.
       

  • Sign up to volunteer at your church or a local organization focused on helping people in need.
    

• Share your favorite verse or insight about God’s love on social media to let people know that God loves them.