10 Things You Should Know About Love

The word “love” has many meanings. There is romantic love, physical love, compassionate love, spiritual love, and even the kind of love you have for whatever is entertaining you at the moment.

But what is at the heart of this broadly defined human emotion? Where does it come from? In order to answer these questions, we need to go to the definitive source on love—Scripture.
Here are 10 of the most notable verses on love in the New Testament:

1. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another. — John 13:35

2. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.— 1 John 4:8

3. 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 Corinthians 13:4-8a

4. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. — John 3:16

5. Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends. — John 15:13

6. Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. — 1 Peter 4:8

7. Jesus replied: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself.” — Matthew 22:37-39

8. This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters. — 1 John 3:16

9. Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. — 1 John 4:7

10. And now these three remain: faith, hope and love. But the greatest of these is love. — 1 Corinthians 13:13

The Five Love Languages

When it comes to how we love one another romantically, there is no better book to biblically guide you to a healthy relationship than Dr. Gary Chapman’s The Five Love Languages.

While love is a many splendored thing, it is sometimes a very confusing thing, too. And as people come in all varieties, shapes, and sizes, so do their choices of personal expressions of love. But more often than not, the giver and the receiver express love in two different ways. This can lead to misunderstanding, quarrels, and even divorce. Dr. Gary Chapman identifies five basic languages of love and then guides couples towards a better understanding of their unique languages of love. Learn to speak and understand your mate’s love language, and in no time you will be able to effectively love and truly feel loved in return.