11 Bible Verses That Teach Us About God’s Love
By Chip Ingram
Be reminded of God’s love for you with these encouraging Bible verses.
In a recent sermon series called Real Love in Real Life, I explore the powerful and complex — yet universal — topic of love.
For instance, if it’s such a universal experience, why haven’t we figured out how to make it less complicated? Or, if we’ve experienced God’s grace and love in our life, why do we still struggle to demonstrate that same grace to others?
His love is different than ours, as articulated in this article by All About God. But it’s an example and a reminder that love is not a feeling but a choice.
BARRIERS TO COMMUNICATING LOVE
In a previous article, I touched on the common communication barriers to expressing love to others, like our personal history, gender, personality, and, of course, our sin nature. It’s no wonder we have trouble communicating with one another!
As we discovered, it takes a lot of understanding and grace to communicate effectively, but at the foundation, we need to get right with God. If we can’t grasp His love for us, it will be impossible to demonstrate the kind of grace needed in close relationships.
Here, I want to share Bible verses that teach us foundational principles about God’s love. I hope you’ll be convicted and inspired by His kindness and then find ways to demonstrate His grace to others.
To quickly jump to a verse, use the links below.
- Romans 5:8
- 1 John 4:19
- Proverbs 14:12
- 1 John 4:9–11
- 1 Corinthians 13
- 2 Corinthians 5:14–17
- Colossians 3:12–14
- Ephesians 4:15
- Ephesians 4:32
- Ephesians 5:1–2
- John 3:16
11 Bible Verses That Teach Us About God’s Love
1. Romans 5:8
But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)
The Truth: Without doing a thing, we are ALREADY deeply and completely loved by God.
2. 1 John 4:19
We love because he first loved us. (1 John 4:19)
The Truth: We must receive His love by FAITH before we have the power to love Him, each other, our families, neighbors, and enemies.
3. Proverbs 14:12
There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death. (Proverbs 14:12)
The Truth: Love that isn’t real promises life but DESTROYS us and our relationships.
4. 1 John 4:9–11
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. (1 John 4:9–11)
The Truth: God has a specific DESIGN and process for us to experience REAL love in REAL life.
Keep reading: The 1 Revealing Thing About God’s Perspective of You and Me
5. 1 Corinthians 13
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. If I give all I possess to the poor and give over my body to hardship that I may boast, but do not have love, I gain nothing.
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. For we know in part and we prophesy in part, but when completeness comes, what is in part disappears. When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me. For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.
And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. (1 Corinthians 13)
The Truth: Love NEVER FAILS! It covers our past, our faults, our mistakes, and our sins. It redeems, restores, forgives, and births new life and new relationships.
6. 2 Corinthians 5:14–17
For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died. And he died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for him who died for them and was raised again.
So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! (2 Corinthians 5:14–1)
The Truth: Love is choosing to give another person what they need the most, when they deserve it the least, at great personal cost. This is the example of Jesus.
God loves YOU: 6 Bible Verses That Reveal Profound Truths About God’s Love For Us
7. Colossians 3:12–14
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. (Colossians 3:12–14)
The Truth: Love looks like sacrificial kindness and patience towards others.
8. Ephesians 4:15
Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ. (Ephesians 4:15)
The Truth: Speak the truth in love with honesty.
9. Ephesians 4:32
Be kind to one another; tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in God in Christ also has forgiven you. (Ephesians 4:32)
The Truth: Demonstrate love through forgiveness, humbly being the first to say “I’m sorry.”
10. Ephesians 5:1–2
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God. (Ephesians 5:1–2 ESV)
The Truth: Walk in love by imitating real love embodied: Christ.
11. 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. (John 3:16)
The Truth: There’s a reason this verse is often referred to as the most famous Bible verse. It beautifully articulates God’s love and how that was put into action.
I hope these verses inspire you to receive God’s love and then demonstrate it to others through acts of service, patience, humility, and sacrifice. For those within the Body, the Scriptures teach this is how others will know we belong to Him: “By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” (John 13:35)